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Loading contentA human crew cannot be sterilised the way a robotic lander can, so people inevitably carry microbes with them. Protecting Mars from Earthly contamination — which could confuse the search for native life — while also guarding the crew against any possible Martian biology is a difficult balance unique to sending humans to another world.
Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.