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Will Humanity Living on Mars Cause Harm to the Environment?

Humans invading Mars could possibly mean contaminating the planet and ruin the possibility of it having native life. “If the red planet is sterile, a human presence there would create no moral or ethical dilemmas on this front. But if life does exist on Mars, human explorers could easily lead to the extinction of Martian life.” [4] Is this a risk people are willing to take?

For life to exist there are basic requirements for it to even exist let alone thrive. Water, essential elements (such as oxygen and carbon), energy and a heat source. These are present and could possibly harbour native life on the dusty planet.

Although, scientists have taken every precaution since the 1960’s and held meetings to ensure the sterilization of spacecrafts was followed through as to not contaminate foreign planets and cause harm along with their aim to “balance their scientific goals with limitations of not damaging sensitive equipment, which could potentially lead to mission failures.” [5]

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Robotic rovers that have been sent to Mars have all had to undergo strict sterilization and there is very little cause for worry to contamination to the planet as robotics “likely have an extremely low number of microbial stowaways.” [6]

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“Any terrestrial biota that do manage to hitch rides on the outside of those rovers would have a very hard time surviving the half-year journey from Earth to Mars. The vacuum of space combined with exposure to harsh X-rays, ultraviolet light and cosmic rays would almost certainly sterilize the outsides of any spacecraft sent to Mars.” [7]

So, there is a risk of contamination as humans are living organisms that carry a lot more biota than mechanical robotics do. We produce waste, will be bringing equipment that cannot be sterilized in the same way as rovers can. “Simply by living on Mars, human colonists will contaminate Mars.” [8] Once contaminated you cannot turn back the clock.