NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) aim to get Mars samples back to Earth at some point in the 2030s thanks to their incredibly ambitious Mars Sample Return mission.
The new paper highlights the fact that we may find living microbial life in red planet samples, as it may have been lying dormant under the surface for eons. This is because bacteria could survive just under Mars' surface for much longer than previously thought.
The new findings prove that certain strains of bacteria can survive even in Mars' harsh environment, drawing up the possibility that future crewed missions could contaminate the red planet and bring Martian bacteria back to Earth.
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