While the world is still trying to get rid of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, which has infected more than millions, a researcher found the possibility that extraterrestrial viruses may soon reach the planet.
According to Scott Hubbard, NASA's former Ames director he is concerned that future rock samples brought back by astronauts from Mars will need to be undergone checking and quarantine, as well as the astronauts who returned from a future martian visit.
In an interview, Hubbard shared that he heard from some of his colleagues in the area of human spaceflight that they can see how, in the current status of the environment, the general public could become more alarmed about bringing back some alien microbe that can possibly bring virus or contamination.
Hubbard, who currently teaches aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University, stated that the rock samples brought back the Perseverance rover will have to be quarantined and treated as though they are the Ebola virus until proven safe.
He also noted that the martian rock samples will also need to be baked at high temperatures prior to being safely examined.
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The unmanned rover, which NASA recently named the rover to Perseverance is set to launch on July 17, 2020, and in March, they confirmed that the ongoing pandemic had not yet impacted launch preps of theirs, and they still work continuing on schedule.
Astronauts from Moon missions used to be quarantined upon return to Earth.
Hubbard explained that as for humans, the Apollo astronauts from the first few moon missions were quarantined to make sure they showed no signs of illness. However, once it was found that the moon did not pose any risk, the quarantine protocol was eliminated. But such procedure will undoubtedly be followed for humans returning from Mars.
After returning from the Apollo mission, the first manned mission to the planet's satellite in 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong were quarantined for three weeks to check whether the exploration caused them some illness.
Since the current lockdown brought nostalgia to Aldrin, on his social account he recently recounted his experience during his quarantine.
In an interview in 2019, Collins shared that the trio were just regular astronauts, as the quarantine was dependent upon the health of a colony of white mice that were with them.
Collins confessed that at the time they had a huge colony of white mice and the three of them had gone to the Moon which is either a national, international triumph or it was a total disaster depending on the health of the white mice that they had.
He also added that if the mice lived, then everything was fine.
In addition to its other tasks, the Perseverance rover will attempt to detect whether there is any fossilized evidence of extraterrestrial beings on Mars and once it lands there, it will join the still functioning Curiosity rover and the deceased Opportunity rover.
But unlike Opportunity and Curiosity, this rover will carry the first helicopter that will fly on another planet as part of NASA 's long-term goal to send a manned mission to the Red Planet in the 2030s.
