It’s Time to Protect Ourselves from Space Germs

As missions take us deeper into space, are we prepared for what we might bring back?

In this artist’s concept of the future, an astronaut gathers samples on the surface of Mars, while a robotic explorer stands by to help. Nasa’s Vision for Space Exploration calls for more aggressive human and robotic missions. Image: SSPL/Getty Images

With eyes as starry as the skies, we look to space and wonder, “Are we alone?” It’s a very human question, one that’s based in science as well as philosophy, fiction, and fantasy. It’s also a question we may soon have the answer to. Space agencies around the world are gearing up to travel ever deeper into space to destinations like Jupiter’s moon of Europa, now considered to exist within its own habitable zone because of the presence of water in liquid form. If there is life out there, these missions may well find it.

But it’s not enough just to find life. We intend to study it, too. The plan is to bring back samples from habitable zones to test for, among other things, signs of extraterrestrial life — paying particular attention to any negative impact on the Earth. Space agencies NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency) have united to launch a Mars Sample Return mission from 2020 to 2030. Within the next decade, we may get a chance to meet our cosmic neighbors.

It’s an exciting prospect, but it’s also terrifying. The 2018 Marvel film Venom paints a frightening picture of a sample return mission gone wrong. A malfunctioning spacecraft crash lands on re-entry, and a breached…