The astrobiological potential of RSL sites has some scientistsFake ugg boots stressing caution, contending that the areas should be treated as "special regions" for planetary protection purposes in any Mars exploration plan.
The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) defines special regions on Mars as areas "within which terrestrial organisms are likely to replicate" and states that "any region which is interpreted to have a high potential for the existence of extant Martian life forms is also defined as a special region."
John Rummel, a senior scientist at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Mountain View, Knock off uggsCalifornia, thinks humanity should exercise caution in studying RSL sites.
"One of the central goals for Mars exploration is to determine whether or not Mars is the abode of life … or was in the past. Another is to understand the surface of Mars to ensure that it is, or can be, safe for human exploration," Rummel, a former NASA planetary protection officer and COSPAR panel chair, told Space.com.
"Both of these goals would be harmed, perhaps permanently, by the introduction of Earth organisms into environments on Mars where they could grow and reproduce," fake uggshe added.
The RSL features are indicative, "at the very least," Rummel said, of processes on Mars that involve fluid flows that nobody understands. And it may very well be that the fluid is liquid water, he added.
"To blunder into RSL without cleaning up your rover first, prior to launch, would be a tragic mistake, and a foolish one," Rummel said. "The fact that RSL are on steep slopes where one could very well lose the rover to an unplanned tumble only compounds the problem."
Before we study RSL "in depth," Rummel said, "we need to fake uggs for salebe prepared for the unknown, and clean enough to sink into them if they turn out to be soft spots on the slopes of Mars."
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