I think we are there already with our rovers like Curiosity. More of the same is the way to go :). Eventually live streaming back to Earth, and simulated real time exploration on Mars.
Maybe eventually also humans in orbit around Mars controlling robots on the surface by telerobotics.
That way - all of us get to experience what it is like to walk on Mars, not just the very few that go there.
And - that also means that we can keep Mars free of Earth life. To search for life on Mars and at the same time bring it with you in your spaceship - that makes no sense really unless you think it is already totally sterile for present day life at least. And even for search for past life, it's liable to muddy the results a lot, to try to examine what should be pristine samples untouched by any slightest trace of Earth microbes or even amino acids, with humans on Mars.
We have a chance on Mars to study samples that have never had any Earth life anywhere near them. The big problem with meteorites on the Earth is that you never know for sure that they are not at least partly contaminated by Earth life after they got here.
And - there are several lines of evidence that suggest possibilities for habitats on present day Mars. It's by no means ruled out, indeed some modern scientists e.g. Nilton Remmo are up beat about the possibility of finding present day life on Mars even on / near its surface (in his recent "swimming pools for bacteria" remark about Mars).
If we introduce Earth life to Mars and it reproduces there, we can never, from then on, study Mars in its pristine state as it was before our microbes were introduced to it, is no known way to remove a species from a planet - look how hard it is to remove even an invasive species as large as a beetle or a rat or a starfish or cane toads from an island - how could you ever remove a species of microbe from a planet?
Best Places For Droplets, Films And Shallow Flows Of Liquid Water On Mars - Where Microbial Life May Flourish
Maybe eventually also humans in orbit around Mars controlling robots on the surface by telerobotics.
That way - all of us get to experience what it is like to walk on Mars, not just the very few that go there.
And - that also means that we can keep Mars free of Earth life. To search for life on Mars and at the same time bring it with you in your spaceship - that makes no sense really unless you think it is already totally sterile for present day life at least. And even for search for past life, it's liable to muddy the results a lot, to try to examine what should be pristine samples untouched by any slightest trace of Earth microbes or even amino acids, with humans on Mars.
We have a chance on Mars to study samples that have never had any Earth life anywhere near them. The big problem with meteorites on the Earth is that you never know for sure that they are not at least partly contaminated by Earth life after they got here.
And - there are several lines of evidence that suggest possibilities for habitats on present day Mars. It's by no means ruled out, indeed some modern scientists e.g. Nilton Remmo are up beat about the possibility of finding present day life on Mars even on / near its surface (in his recent "swimming pools for bacteria" remark about Mars).
If we introduce Earth life to Mars and it reproduces there, we can never, from then on, study Mars in its pristine state as it was before our microbes were introduced to it, is no known way to remove a species from a planet - look how hard it is to remove even an invasive species as large as a beetle or a rat or a starfish or cane toads from an island - how could you ever remove a species of microbe from a planet?
Best Places For Droplets, Films And Shallow Flows Of Liquid Water On Mars - Where Microbial Life May Flourish
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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