What happens when our rockets unknowingly pick up alien bugs from other planets? This is the question asked to a leading scientist after human spacecrafts start landing on the surface of Mars. Fortunately, the leading scientist assure us that alien microbes that may have hitched a ride to Earth will not be allowed to spread.
“If we bring samples back from either Europa or Mars, we will contain them until hazard testing demonstrates that there is no danger and no life, or continue the containment indefinitely while we study the material,” Dr John Rummel, a scientist at the Seti Institute in California, says.
Extraterrestrial samples like rock and ice from Mars or Jupiter's Europa that were brough back to earth for study will be contained forever if necessary, he adds. Then how about bacteria or virus that are accidentally picked up from other planets?
Some experts are worried about the effects of alien bugs invading Earth. Back in 2001, several types of bacteria were found on the edge of the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists claim they were from space, the Daily Express reports.
According to Dr. Rummel, microbes are hardy and could easily survive the journey back to Earth. This is because bacteria and virus are usually resistant to cold and dry conditions, and as long they are protected from the UV rays of the sun, these microbes can find their way to our planet. Exposed microbes should die off in hours to weeks, but organisms that are able to get inside the spacecraft would survive, the BT News reports.
Dr. Rummel stresses that precautions should be taken to provide a very high degree of containment. Ideally, there would be a strong containment system that will not allow foreign microbes to escape. In a worst case scenario, alien bugs could cause diseases in humans that our immune system would be unlikely to resist.
