Humans will contaminate Mars with life — the question is how to do it right

If Elon Musk’s Mars colony becomes a reality, he won’t be sending just humans to the Red Planet; he’ll be sending trillions of hitchhiking microbes as well. Such a biological invasion seemingly clashes with a concept known as planetary protection — avoiding the "harmful contamination" of other worlds. Given the likelihood of a human colony to spread microbes, does that put a stop to Musk’s Mars ambitions? Continue reading…