Talk:Forward-contamination

The War of the Worlds reference
Is it accurate to say that the case of The War of the Worlds is a case of forward-contamination? In that story, the aliens didn't introduce microbes from their habitat; they were killed by local ones. ~SunDragon34  (talk )   05:05, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Is Sending A Bacteria-Free Human Being Into Space Really Impossible?

 * Given the impossibility of sending a bacteria-free human being into space, forward-contamination will remain an issue for as long as manned missions continue. Assuming a manned mission eventually reaches Mars, for example, it is inevitable that a microbial soup will be released into the environment of the red planet.

Couldn't forward-contamination be prevented in manned missions through the use of strong antibiotics, alcohol, and bleach? 206.107.103.85 (talk) 20:40, 1 April 2010 (UTC)


 * No, unfortunately. The skin flora alone of a human being consists of over a trillion organisms in 19 different phyla (that's one level higher than vertebra). See Skin flora and Human microbiome. Think of the problems involved in trying to do a planetary protection class sterilisation of a human being same as for a spaceship (just wiping a spacecraft with antibiotics, alcohol and bleach is nowhere good enough for planetary protection). The same applies for humans and more so as humans are just totally covered in micro-organisms - more of them than we have cells in our body (because they are smaller than our cells many of them). The humans would die first for sure - and some of the organisms anyway are symbiots we need in order to to live. Robert Walker (talk)
 * Lots more detail in Manned mission to Mars
 * "strong antibiotics, alcohol, and bleach" dated April 1st. Hmmm Sounds like a day or two after a really out-of-control party.linas (talk) 02:02, 30 August 2012 (UTC)

"Forward-contamination" Related To "Directed panspermia (draft)" Article?
NOTE - A Related Article, Presently In "Draft" Form (?), Can Be Viewed At -> User:AbrahamDavidson/Directed_panspermia - The Main Discussion re This New "Directed panspermia (draft)" Article Is Presently Occuring At -> Talk:Panspermia - Any Comments On This Topic Would Be *Greatly* Appreciated - Enjoy! :) Drbogdan (talk) 15:52, 7 September 2011 (UTC)