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Scientists believe they have found an underground lake of liquid water on Mars, which makes space explorers all the more eager to visit them.
"It seems like a good time to start landing on BFR." SpaceX engineer charged to ensure that the next big Rocket of Elon Musk, the Big Falcon Rocket, can safely reach the Martian soil. NASA is already planning a Mars return mission in 2020. The agency is also preparing an $ 8 billion mission to the Europa moon of Jupiter that could fly through the plumes of water ejected by the frozen planetoid
space, is exciting for two reasons: First, with the right technology, humans could purify it and use it to produce oxygen and even fuel rocket making long-term exploration much more feasible. Secondly, water offers the tantalizing possibility of extraterrestrial life: scientists believe that life on other planets could evolve in the same way as life on earth.
But that's part of the problem: the microbes on our planet like water to another planet could contaminate it, potentially leading to an invasive species on the scale of the solar system. This would in turn distort scientific research – and, if real extraterrestrial life existed, would potentially disrupt its ecosystem.
Proponents of space exploration often compare the first encounters of Europe with the American continents as a metaphor for their ambitions. . But European explorers took with them bacteria that wiped out indigenous peoples, even as they encountered new diseases that decimated their own delegations. Scientists hope to avoid such unintended consequences on the high border
A global pact to avoid "dangerous contamination"
Ever since the United States began preparing for their assault on the moon in the 1960s, scientists have worried. These concerns were codified in the famous United Nations Treaty on Outer Space of 1967. Article IX requires that space nations traveling to the celestial bodies "avoid their dangerous contamination … and, where appropriate, adopt appropriate measures to this effect "
appropriate" essentially depends on whoever interprets the treaty. "Every space " We can not be afraid of tripping over a microbe every time we want to do something in space. " agency, each country, adopts different," says Michael Listner, lawyer specializing in space law
In recent years, these standards have become more relevant: Scientists are increasingly confident that ice can be on the lunar surface. moons like Europa contain large expanses of water under thick ice caps, and now Mars may also have liquid water. Meanwhile, a new generation of space technology companies are developing less expensive transportation systems and calling for more ambitious missions.
"With the commercial space and Mr. Musk planning to go on Mars, they reopened this whole debate". . "NASA is reviewing the current global protection protocols and saying, from what we have learned from experience, is our interpretation of our obligations under Article IX correct?"
In July, the National Academy of Sciences released a report urging the space agency to modernize and standardize its exploration protocols. In part, he feared that NASA would not have the infrastructure to monitor the latest biotechnologies and ensure that private exploration missions launched from the United States comply with the international obligations flowing from the United States. treaties.
How to maintain the cleanliness of the space?
on Space Research, or COSPAR, is the global forum where space agencies and scientists are trying to find a consensus around global protection. One of them relates to a "bioburden standard" – how many microbes are on a spaceship when it leaves the earth, measured by spores of heat-resistant bacteria The capacity people doing things in the solar system is starting to go beyond the legal framework to protect it. found in samples taken from the vehicle. According to current standards (pdf), anything that lands on Mars to see if life exists must have less than 30 spores in these samples.
To ensure that the Mars Curiosity rover, which landed in 2012, met the standard. Seven NASA technicians collected 47,997 vehicle samples, heated them and placed them in petri dishes to analyze the results. To achieve this level of disinfection, one needs clean rooms and "rabbit suits" – full anti-contamination clothes – as well as frequent cleanings with solvents like ethanol. To go further, the spacecraft can be heated in a dry oven or exposed to hydrogen peroxide vapor, among other techniques.
This kind of painstaking work may not please companies wishing to get to work in space. lunar habitats or trying to visit Mars. But, whether they worry about science themselves or not, these entrepreneurs rely heavily on NASA for help and funding.
"We have to look at this on both sides," says Listner. "The scientific view of this is careful not to contaminate things, [but] we can not be afraid that we are going to stumble over a microbe every time we want to do something in the space."
The sooner the United States and the space powers of the rest of the world hear about how to understand, improve and apply these protocols, the better that the capacity of people to do things in the solar system begins to exceed the legal framework to protect it. [19659002"Ilyaeubeaucoupdediscussionssurla"terraforming"deMarspourlibérerl'eaupiégéeetéventuellementcréerunenvironnementsemblableàlaTerre"adéclaréJamesDunstanunautreavocatspécialisédansledroitdel'espaceàQuartz"Jenevoisriendansl'articleIX(niailleursdanslestraités)thatit'interdiselégalement"
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