Contaminating Mars | MARS

One of the big questions we have is when we get to Mars, how much do we impact it? The scientific community is very worried about Mars being contaminated by our efforts to go there and establish a civilization. Because you don't want human microbes commingling with Martian microbes if we haven't yet discovered that Martian microbes yet exist.

But the fact is that we take ourselves with us wherever we go. When you send humans, by definition, you're bringing Earth life to Mars. Once certain microbes spread around the surface of Mars, then scientists will have a contaminated place to go look at. They won't have a true wilderness, and many of their results will be muddled, if not confused and uncertain.

There are sensible steps I think we can take to satisfy not only the scientific inquiries but also what might be the business interests that would come later. One of the things that we're doing right now is planetary protection. When we send rovers to Mars, we have to be able to sterilize them.

So that's why I really enjoyed this particular next decade without humans, because it gives us this chance to really study Mars in its pristine environment. That's what we want to do first.