New ‘planetary quarantine’ report reviews risks of alien contamination of Earth
Thursday, May 7, 2020 - 13:37
in Astronomy & Space
In Michael Crichton’s 1969 novel The Andromeda Strain, a deadly alien microbe hitches a ride to Earth aboard a downed military satellite and scientists must race to contain it. While fictional, the plot explores a very real and longstanding concern shared by NASA and world governments: that spacefaring humans, or our robotic emissaries, may unwittingly contaminate Earth […]