Let's hope we DON'T find water on Mars: Nasa's mistake installing drill means we may end up contaminating the planet with microbes



Engineers decided to add one last drill to Curiosity - and ended up doing it in an un-sterile environment

If Curiosity's drill touches water, we may end up 'seeding Mars with life'


Eye of the storm: The drill bit on the Curiosity was screwed in to place in an unsterile environment - sparking fears we may end up 'seeding Mars with life'

When the Curiosity finally extends its drill and bites into the dusty surface of the Red Planet, Nasa scientists will be quietly hoping that the Mars rover will not find ice beneath the surface.

For if it does, it will blow open a scandal that has been 'simmering' inside Nasa for the last year: the fact that the drill bits may well be infected with Earth bacteria - bacteria which could survive on Mars.

The possible contamination occurred six months ago, when engineers peeked inside the drill mechanism without permission in order to attach one more piece.

If the drill touches water, there is every chance the bacteria could live.



This would be a crisis for Nasa: to meddle with the biological make-up of planet which, for all we know so far, may still have native microbes of its own kind.

According to the LA Times, Nasa does not expect to find water - the space agency chose the dry equatorial landing site in Mars' Gale Crater to study the planet's geology, not in a bid to find water or ice.

But, the paper adds: 'If by chance the rover Curiosity does find H2O, a controversy that has simmered at NASA for nearly a year will burst into the open.'

The potential contamination occurred on November 26 last year, after the drill bits had been sterilised and placed in a box, which would not be opened again until a successful touchdown on Mars.

But engineers were worried that a rough landing could damage the drill bits - and opened the box to add one more drill bit and increase their chances of success.

According to the LA Times, the engineers screwed the drill bit directly into the drill - so that if the loading mechanism failed, Curiosity at least had one shot of a successful dig.

Untampered with: Curiosity is returning stunning images of an untouched Martian landscape - unless we have sent microbes to the planet

The paper adds that under Nasa's procedures, the box should not have been opened without 'the knowledge of a NASA scientist who is responsible for guarding Mars against contamination from Earth'

But Planetary protection officer Catharine Conley told the paper: 'They shouldn't have done it without telling me - it is not responsible for us not to follow our own rules.'

The blunder was apparently spotted before launch, but - as it was too close to launch - Nasa officials took a 'calculated risk' to send Curiosity onwards.

David Lavery, program executive for solar system exploration, said: 'Water or ice near the surface in Gale Crater was not a significant probability.

'We weighed that against the risks of not having a bit mounted in the drill prior to launch, and the specter of not being able to drill any holes at all on Mars.

'Of course, there is always a possibility that Mars will surprise us.'

He added that the box was unsealed in a near-sterile environment, and Nasa later altered the mission scenario to say that Curiosity could interact with the surface of Mars 'as long as there is no ice or water'.

Lastly, the LA Times spoke to John D. Rummel, a professor of biology at East Carolina University, who said: 'It will be a sad day for NASA if they do detect ice or water.

'That's because the Curiosity project will most likely be told, "Gee, that's nice. Now turn around".'

Many microbes have proven - both through controlled tests and accidental exposure - that they can survive the vacuum and cosmic radiation of space, and at least one species has survived Martian-like conditions in the laboratory.

With dust cover: The Curiosity rover used a camera located on its arm to obtain this self portrait, taken before engineers removed its dust cover

Nasa today revealed stunning new images of Curiosity's wheel on the martian surface taken using the high resolution Mahli camera, which had its dustcover removed for the first time

Open: The reclosable dust cover on Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) was opened for the first time during the 33rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars