Could Mars Samples Brought To Earth Contaminating Our Planet With Alien Viruses? @TheCosmosNews

#thecosmosnews Controversy Grows Over whether Mars Samples Endanger Earth Planetary scientists are eager to bring Red Planet rocks, soil and even air to Earth, but critics fear the risk of contaminating our world’s biosphere with alien viruses NASA has plans to retrieve samples the Perseverance rover has collected from the surface of Mars and bring them back to Earth to be studied. These unsterilized samples have some pandemic weary people worried, however, about exactly what might be brought back. The Perseverance rover has been busy since landing on the surface of the Red Planet. One of its objectives has been to collect samples to later be brought back to Earth for study. NASA held two virtual public meetings about the proposed program back in May of this year, in order to inform the public of its plans and to receive feedback. It seems that there are some who have some concerns surrounding the retrieval of the unsterilized samples. The space agency s plan will include the launch of another spacecraft to travel to Mars for retrieval of the samples. Once the samples are secured, it will then travel back to Earth where it will drop the samples somewhere in Utah. At that point, the samples will be delivered to a yet-to-be built facility. All of this is scheduled to take place by 2033. Once at the new facility, scientists will begin studying the Martian soil for microbial life from about 35 samples weighing around 1 pound in total. Along with hopes of finding signs of life from Mars, scientists also hope to gain a better insight and understanding of the Red Planet s geology and climate. This information will also be used for preparations to one day send humans to explore Mars.