Life On Mars? Maybe. And Maybe It Came From Earth.

This article about the possibility of life on Mars is quite intersting.

One reason (among several) is that it’s about a scientist who argues that life on Mars is likely.

Another is that it points out something that doesn’t get a lot of attention in the press: Even if there is life on Mars, it may not be native to Mars. In fact, it may be native to Earth.

We already know that rocks occasionally get blasted off one celestial body and deposited on another. In the last few years there have been press stories about rocks from Mars and the Moon that made their way to Earth. The reverse process can occur as well, and these rocks may carry Earth-native microorganisms to new environments. Some of which are very hardy and can survive in very harsh, Mars-like environments (such as the dry valleys of Antarctica). If they find a survivable environment, they may survive.

The article points that out, but I’ve also wondered about another possibility: Some microorganisms make it way up in the atmosphere, and I’m curious about whether some might make their way far enough out of the Earth’s gravity well to be carried along by the solar wind. If so, Earth may be blowing out a constant trail of microorganisms, some of which might make it alive (or in hybernation) as far as Mars.

So even if scientists one day announce that they’ve found clinching proof of life on Mars (or any other body in this solar system), we shouldn’t instantly take that as evidence of parallel evolution (or creation) on another planet. The stuff may have originated here.

A third reason that I like this article is that it suggests using the Moon as a decontamination base rather than bringing stuff directly from potentially biologically-active zones in space (like Mars). If we ever encounter extraterrestrial microorganisms (even ones formerly native to Earth) and bring them back here, we could have a MAJOR plague on our hands. The devastation to Earth’s biosphere could be unimaginable. In my view, as the space program continues, we need to take MUCH, MUCH more stringent measures than we have thus far for preventing bringing dangerous biological material back to Earth.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

4 thoughts on “Life On Mars? Maybe. And Maybe It Came From Earth.”

  1. we could have a MAJOR plague on our hands.”
    This was the premise of one of Michael Chrichton’s books: The Andromeda Strain.
    Good book.

  4. Remember when the Apollo astronauts returned from the moon and spent their first few hours in a quarantine chamber? It looked like a kind of Air-Stream trailer with a big window that they all smiled and waved through. At the time (I was eight) I figured it was a necessary precaution. Years later I remember thinking it was somewhat comical that we had been afraid of “space germs”.
    How time can flip things around!

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