Contaminating Planets (broadcast Friday, February 6th, 2009)

The Phoenix lander is sampling soil from trenches it has dug in soil near the Martian north pole. NASA / JPL-Caltech / U. Arizona / TAMU

What steps should planetary explorers take to prevent contaminating other planets with life from Earth? Writing in the journal Science, NASA researcher Chris McKay argues that any future exploration to other planets needs to be be "biologically reversible," so that microbes that have hitchhiked from Earth can be removed. We'll talk to him about why.

Guests

Christopher McKay
Planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, California

Related Links

Segment produced by:Christopher Intagliata

Stories for
Friday, February 6th, 2009

• Contaminating Planets
• Google Ocean?
• Future of the FDA
• Largest Snake
• Caterpillar Mimicry
• Ancient Whale Relative Gave Birth on Land
• A Year of Darwin

Elsewhere on Sciencefriday.com

Explore More

• Planets
• Biology
• Spaceflight