When is it okay to kill an alien?
In the movies, the answer is usually pretty simple: self-defense is fine, especially if it leads to a touching speech about human exceptionalism. But in the real world, the choices are neither simple nor abstract. Many missions to neighboring worlds can, either accidentally or intentionally, destroy alien life. Under what conditions is it acceptable to lose a few aliens (which could of course be microbes)?
The different views on this issue are diverse, fascinating, and essential to acknowledge as we work to detect life on other planets. Current missions to Mars and upcoming missions to extrasolar moons, including Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Titan, could potentially encounter life beyond Earth. “It’s a question of what our priorities are, whether you’re an astrobiologist or a layperson,” says philosopher Jamie Johnson-Schwartz. A person who has written extensively It’s about the ethics of space exploration.
NASA’s Viking mission, which landed the first robot on Mars in 1976, had a clear answer: It’s okay to kill a few aliens, as long as there’s scientific evidence for it. The Viking landers conducted experiments on Martian soil samples. Some were soaked in nutrients, and some were sterilized at high temperatures. The logic was that the hypothetical microbes that received the spa treatment would be revived and detectable, while the burnt ones would remain silent and provide control.
Leaving aside the fact that the Viking experiment actually detected signs of life, Still controversial Almost 50 years later. (The general consensus is that experiments have found interesting chemical activity, but that it can be explained without creating life.) Imagine if aliens came to Earth, gathered people together, treated one group to a fancy meal, and vaporized the other group to see if they were actually alive. It would be a strange introduction to a new species.
Of course, the thought experiment is inadequate, since microbes are generally considered expendable at the individual level in a way that complex life forms like humans are not. But it still reflects interestingly on our values about first contact. In that sense, we can’t avoid killing a few microbes here and there, whether on Earth or in space, but the entire ecosystem is another story.
The Space Research Council, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to cooperation in space exploration, Any activity is prohibited Anything that could be a threat to an extraterrestrial biosphere, or a threat to life on our world. This “planetary protection” principle aims to prevent life on Earth from moving to other worlds (forward contamination) or extraterrestrial life from returning to Earth (backward contamination).
“The Viking missions took special care to avoid introducing terrestrial organisms that could potentially disrupt the existing Martian biosphere,” David Grinspoon, NASA Headquarters’ chief scientist for astrobiology strategy, said in an email response that included comments from NASA’s planetary protection director, Nick Bernardini.
