As the coronavirus continues its killing spree on earth, a section of space experts believe that humans have to think seriously about alien viruses that could reach the earth during space missions.
Even though this concept may seem like a plot directly coming out from a Hollywood sci-fi film, space agencies like NASA and top space scientists are really bothered about viruses from other planets contaminating the earth.
The Mars mission dilemma
It should be noted that NASA and private space companies like SpaceX are gearing up for human Mars missions in the near future. As the Mars colonization mission progresses in full swing, experts warn that strict protocols should be followed to extraterrestrial pollutants attacking earth, as astronauts return back to the ground.
Scott Hubbard, a Stanford professor of aeronautics and astronautics revealed that astronauts returning from the space should live on quarantine for a specific period of time to prevent a possible virus attack from space.
"In my opinion, and that of the science community, the chance that rocks from Mars that are millions of years old will contain an active life form that could infect Earth is extremely low. But, the Mars samples returned by NASA will be quarantined and treated as though they are the Ebola virus until proven safe," Hubbard told Stanford News.
Hubbard also detailed about the standard protocol that should be followed while quarantining astronauts coming back from Mars. "As for humans, the Apollo astronauts from the first few moon missions were quarantined to ensure they showed no signs of illness. Once it was found that the moon did not pose a risk, the quarantine was eliminated. Such a procedure will undoubtedly be followed for humans returning from Mars," added Hubbard.
Alien microbes living on Mars?
The comments from Hubbard can be easily connected with the predictions made by NASA chief scientist Jim Green a few months back. Jim Green had predicted that NASA's upcoming Mars missions will discover alien microbes within 2021.
However, Green also shockingly claimed that humanity is not prepared enough to accept the facts surrounding alien existence. He added that the discovery of alien life could be revolutionary in human history.
