QUESTION:
How would the discovery of possible life on Mars affect the space
exploration program of the United States? 
 
ANSWER from Jack Farmer on December 2, 1997:
The discovery of life on Mars would probably accelerate the exploration
programs we presently have in place and probably more importantly, redirect
the science goals to more directly address the issue of extant life (the
present program is actually balanced scientifcally between the search for
life, understanding the Martian climate and assessing the planet's
resources). The discovery of life would also elevate the importance of
planetary protection (backward contamination) and our approach to human
exploration. Compliance with Global Planetary Protection guidelines would be
mandantory.  We would need to know a lot about the putative life on Mars
before sending humans there, because it would likely be a great challenge to
decontaminate astronauts before returning them to Earth, and we would not
send humans if would could not safely return them. Discovering life would
also impact the ethics of exploration. The prospect of forward contamination
by Earth microbes and the potential impact it could have on a putative
Martian biosphere might constrain our exploration strategy. If there is life
on Mars, we would not want to alter or perhaps even extinguish it before we
understand it. It is also likely we would never want to deliberately
interfere with the life on another planet (e.g. in the spirit of the "Prime
Directive" of Star Trek fame) and this could greatly constrain our approach
to exploration.

Jack Farmer