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The Irish Sun
20-07-2025
- Science
- The Irish Sun
I was sacked by NASA for telling TRUTH about alien mission – now I fear Mars astronauts won't come home alive
A TOP scientist claims she was sacked by Nasa after raising concerns about alien life on Mars. Catharine Conley, the agency's Planetary Protection Officer from 2006 to 2017, also fears SpaceX astronauts won't come home alive. Advertisement 10 Conley claims the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance was not cleaned properly Credit: Getty 10 An image of Mars's surface taken by the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance Credit: AP 10 Catharine Conley worked as Nasa's Planetary Protection Officer for over a decade until she was sacked Credit: NASA/GSFC/BILL HYRBYK Conley first accused officials at the The rover, Its job is to obtain the samples which will then be collected by a future Mars Sample Return Mission. Advertisement But Conley feared any material eventually flown home could be contaminated - and the whole mission scuppered. She claims she was suddenly removed from the position after speaking out - and suspects it was to silence her concerns. Conley told The Sun: 'Nasa decided they didn't want to do the kind of work that I had been doing. 'They didn't want to continue with the kinds of implementation that they had been doing historically. Advertisement Most read in Science Exclusive Exclusive 'That was not something I thought was a good idea, so they decided they needed someone else for the job. "This was basic planetary protection as it had been done for the prior 50 years or so." Mystery space rock blazing through solar system 'may be oldest comet ever seen' Conley, who now works as a researcher, added: 'The Mars 2020 rover was cleaned in a way that was not compatible with prior levels of cleanliness, in particular regarding the amount of contamination that was getting introduced into the samples that were being collected for return. 'I pointed out that having a 0.1% chance of contaminating any individual sample, when you have 40 samples in total, comes out to a 4 per cent chance of having Earth contamination in the samples you're looking at. Advertisement 'That makes it fairly difficult to be confident that you can distinguish between Earth life and Mars life. 'That was not something that the people at headquarters management wanted to hear and they took the steps that they thought were appropriate.' 10 Mars is the fourth planet away from the sun Credit: Getty 10 Retrieving samples from Mars is one of the most pressing priorities in space exploration Credit: Getty Advertisement Conley claims she had been told of staff being careless when using gloves and protective equipment. She also claimed to have been told of staff bringing equipment into assembly rooms that was not properly cleaned, along with an 'attitude of skepticism I encountered regularly at JPL'. Nasa states on its website that Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover remains an active mission. It landed in February 2021 as part of Nasa's Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. Advertisement In January the agency said it was hoping to announce plans for the returning of samples in the second half of 2026. But that has been thrown into doubt following Donald Trump's proposed cuts to Nasa, with MSR a casualty . 10 A photo taken by the Mars Perseverance rover of the Malgosa Crest abrasion patch Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 10 Nasa intends to send a manned mission to Mars some time in the 2030s Credit: Getty Advertisement China is preparing to press ahead with their own plans to return Mars samples. It has scheduled the Tianwen-3 Mars mission for launch in 2028, collecting and bringing samples back by 2031. But Conley still fears the same problem. She said: 'The concerns are similar. I've been looking at some of the reports that have come out about the Chinese proposed missions, and they're saying all the right things to the extent that I can obtain information. Advertisement 'But it is difficult to follow up on what they are actually saying they're doing. 'I certainly had experience within my duties at Nasa of engineers saying one thing and doing something else. 'So it's difficult to know. But if other space agencies are not doing anything more than Nasa did, then I would be surprised if their contamination levels are low enough that you could detect the Mars signal underneath the background from Earth.' Despite the cuts, Trump has proposed no savings on Nasa's plans to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s. Advertisement Nasa's mission to Mars Nasa hopes to send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s. The space company has been working to advance its technologies in a bid to send a human crew to the Red Planet. It would take astronauts up to nine months to reach Mars - which even at its closest is 33.9 million miles away. Astronauts could then spend up to 500 days on the planet's surface before returning to Earth - which would take another nine months. The crew would spend their time on the planet collecting data and assessing the planetary alignment that would allow the spacecraft to land and depart from Mars on the same orbit. Last year, the agency completed a year-long simulated mission that saw four crew members out in a replica habitat in Houston, Texas. They logged 378 days in the 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat called Mars Dune Alpha. But Conley fears that doing so without a sample return mission means a gaping hole in knowledge for what astronauts will encounter. She also questions if astronauts will be allowed home if they fall sick. Conley added: 'Not doing a robotic sample return means we don't have detailed information about what kinds of materials the astronauts are likely to encounter, and possibly bring back to Earth, which could be quite problematic if there is something hazardous in Mars regolith, even if it's not biological. 10 The Mars 2020 mission is collecting samples which will ultimately return to Earth for tests for evidence of alien life Credit: Getty Advertisement 10 The image was captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2008 Credit: NASA 'A question that didn't get answered during Apollo and certainly hasn't been addressed since is: if astronauts get sick after contacting Mars and we can't figure out why, should they be allowed to return? 'The fundamental problem, from my perspective, is overconfidence in thinking that we already know everything we need to know about what could happen, when we don't." Conley also warned of Elon Musk's plans to send a manned crew to Mars through his company, SpaceX. Advertisement She added: 'SpaceX say they're planning to launch humans to Mars, but I have serious doubts about whether anyone would be alive when the spacecraft gets there since SpaceX doesn't seem to be developing long-term life support systems along with their rockets. 'Musk has made numerous claims about when he'll land humans on Mars that are distinctly implausible, at least if he wants the humans to be alive when they get there. Read more on the Irish Sun 'Nasa is much more likely to be careful about preserving astronaut health but, ironically, seems not similarly concerned about protecting the Earth from possible Mars contamination.' The Sun has approached Nasa for a response to Conley's allegations. Advertisement 10
Scottish Sun
20-07-2025
- Science
- Scottish Sun
I was sacked by NASA for telling TRUTH about alien mission – now I fear Mars astronauts won't come home alive
The astronomer claims Nasa's mission preparation standards are not up to scratch MARS ATTACKS I was sacked by NASA for telling TRUTH about alien mission – now I fear Mars astronauts won't come home alive Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A TOP scientist claims she was sacked by Nasa after raising concerns about alien life on Mars. Catharine Conley, the agency's Planetary Protection Officer from 2006 to 2017, also fears SpaceX astronauts won't come home alive. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 10 Conley claims the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance was not cleaned properly Credit: Getty 10 An image of Mars's surface taken by the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance Credit: AP 10 Catharine Conley worked as Nasa's Planetary Protection Officer for over a decade until she was sacked Credit: NASA/GSFC/BILL HYRBYK Conley first accused officials at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in California of failing to clean the Mars 2020 rover correctly before its launch. Mars 2020 is Nasa's mission sent to search for samples of the Red Planet to bring home and test for evidence of past or current alien life. The rover, Perseverance, is still crawling around the surface after landing in February 2021. Its job is to obtain the samples which will then be collected by a future Mars Sample Return Mission. But Conley feared any material eventually flown home could be contaminated - and the whole mission scuppered. She claims she was suddenly removed from the position after speaking out - and suspects it was to silence her concerns. Conley told The Sun: 'Nasa decided they didn't want to do the kind of work that I had been doing. 'They didn't want to continue with the kinds of implementation that they had been doing historically. 'That was not something I thought was a good idea, so they decided they needed someone else for the job. "This was basic planetary protection as it had been done for the prior 50 years or so." Mystery space rock blazing through solar system 'may be oldest comet ever seen' Conley, who now works as a researcher, added: 'The Mars 2020 rover was cleaned in a way that was not compatible with prior levels of cleanliness, in particular regarding the amount of contamination that was getting introduced into the samples that were being collected for return. 'I pointed out that having a 0.1% chance of contaminating any individual sample, when you have 40 samples in total, comes out to a 4 per cent chance of having Earth contamination in the samples you're looking at. 'That makes it fairly difficult to be confident that you can distinguish between Earth life and Mars life. 'That was not something that the people at headquarters management wanted to hear and they took the steps that they thought were appropriate.' 10 Mars is the fourth planet away from the sun Credit: Getty 10 Retrieving samples from Mars is one of the most pressing priorities in space exploration Credit: Getty Conley claims she had been told of staff being careless when using gloves and protective equipment. She also claimed to have been told of staff bringing equipment into assembly rooms that was not properly cleaned, along with an 'attitude of skepticism I encountered regularly at JPL'. Nasa states on its website that Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover remains an active mission. It landed in February 2021 as part of Nasa's Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign. In January the agency said it was hoping to announce plans for the returning of samples in the second half of 2026. But that has been thrown into doubt following Donald Trump's proposed cuts to Nasa, with MSR a casualty. 10 A photo taken by the Mars Perseverance rover of the Malgosa Crest abrasion patch Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 10 Nasa intends to send a manned mission to Mars some time in the 2030s Credit: Getty China is preparing to press ahead with their own plans to return Mars samples. It has scheduled the Tianwen-3 Mars mission for launch in 2028, collecting and bringing samples back by 2031. But Conley still fears the same problem. She said: 'The concerns are similar. I've been looking at some of the reports that have come out about the Chinese proposed missions, and they're saying all the right things to the extent that I can obtain information. 'But it is difficult to follow up on what they are actually saying they're doing. 'I certainly had experience within my duties at Nasa of engineers saying one thing and doing something else. 'So it's difficult to know. But if other space agencies are not doing anything more than Nasa did, then I would be surprised if their contamination levels are low enough that you could detect the Mars signal underneath the background from Earth.' Despite the cuts, Trump has proposed no savings on Nasa's plans to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s. Nasa's mission to Mars Nasa hopes to send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s. The space company has been working to advance its technologies in a bid to send a human crew to the Red Planet. It would take astronauts up to nine months to reach Mars - which even at its closest is 33.9 million miles away. Astronauts could then spend up to 500 days on the planet's surface before returning to Earth - which would take another nine months. The crew would spend their time on the planet collecting data and assessing the planetary alignment that would allow the spacecraft to land and depart from Mars on the same orbit. Last year, the agency completed a year-long simulated mission that saw four crew members out in a replica habitat in Houston, Texas. They logged 378 days in the 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat called Mars Dune Alpha. But Conley fears that doing so without a sample return mission means a gaping hole in knowledge for what astronauts will encounter. She also questions if astronauts will be allowed home if they fall sick. Conley added: 'Not doing a robotic sample return means we don't have detailed information about what kinds of materials the astronauts are likely to encounter, and possibly bring back to Earth, which could be quite problematic if there is something hazardous in Mars regolith, even if it's not biological. 10 The Mars 2020 mission is collecting samples which will ultimately return to Earth for tests for evidence of alien life Credit: Getty 10 The image was captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2008 Credit: NASA 'A question that didn't get answered during Apollo and certainly hasn't been addressed since is: if astronauts get sick after contacting Mars and we can't figure out why, should they be allowed to return? 'The fundamental problem, from my perspective, is overconfidence in thinking that we already know everything we need to know about what could happen, when we don't." Conley also warned of Elon Musk's plans to send a manned crew to Mars through his company, SpaceX. She added: 'SpaceX say they're planning to launch humans to Mars, but I have serious doubts about whether anyone would be alive when the spacecraft gets there since SpaceX doesn't seem to be developing long-term life support systems along with their rockets. 'Musk has made numerous claims about when he'll land humans on Mars that are distinctly implausible, at least if he wants the humans to be alive when they get there. 'Nasa is much more likely to be careful about preserving astronaut health but, ironically, seems not similarly concerned about protecting the Earth from possible Mars contamination.' The Sun has approached Nasa for a response to Conley's allegations.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Volcanoes on Mars may hold the secret to ancient life on the Red Planet
A new scientific discovery has revealed more information about volcanoes on Mars, and the revelation could hold the secrets to ancient life on the planet being unveiled. With Elon Musk among the most powerful figures in the US, along with his obsession with colonising Mars, it seems like an inevitability that in the next 100 years scientific resources will go towards finding or fostering life on the Red Planet. The news comes as a welcome sign that this could be a possibility. It comes from a study co-authored by a Texas A&M University geobiologist, Dr Michael Tice. The paper is titled Diverse and highly differentiated lava suite in Jezero crater, Mars: Constraints on intracrustal magmatism revealed by Mars 2020 PIXL - and if that means nothing to you, don't worry, it didn't to me at first either. Essentially, Dr Tice and a team of researchers analysed volcanic rocks on Mars in order to gain information about the processes that shaped the region of the planet they were found. This data was gathered by Perseverance, one of NASA's most advanced robot explorers, who travelled to Mars as part of a 2020 mission. It landed in the Jezero Crater in February of 2021, collecting core samples of Martian rock as well as analysing them. Dr Tice has said the jump in information gathered with the Perseverance was massive, saying: 'We're not just looking at pictures - we're getting detailed chemical data, mineral compositions and even microscopic textures. It's like having a mobile lab on another planet.' He went on to say of the Rover and work on Mars: 'Some of the most exciting work is still ahead of us. This study is just the beginning. 'We're seeing things that we never expected, and I think in the next few years, we'll be able to refine our understanding of Mars' geological history in ways we never imagined.' The team found that there were two distinct types of volcanic rocks, with the particular types of each indicating a 'complex volcanic history involving multiple lava flows with varying compositions'. By conducting thermodynamic modelling, simulating the conditions under which the minerals solidified, they discovered that their compositions were the result of a process in which different minerals separate from molten rock as it cools. In addition to this and other processes, Dr Tice commented: 'The processes we see here - fractional crystallization and crustal assimilation - happen in active volcanic systems on Earth. 'It suggests that this part of Mars may have had prolonged volcanic activity, which in turn could have provided a sustained source for different compounds used by life.' The paper states this discovery is 'crucial', saying that if Mars had an active volcanic system for an extended period 'it might have also maintained conditions suitable for life for long portions of Mars' early history'. Dr Tice added: 'We've carefully selected these rocks because they contain clues to Mars' past environments. 'When we get them back to Earth and can analyze them with laboratory instruments, we'll be able to ask much more detailed questions about their history and potential biological signatures.'
