During the broadcast, Catharine Conley, NASA’s planetary protection officer, walks the listener through NASA sterilization procedures, as well as the risk to the Mars mission. The bottom line is that Ms. Conley is troubled by sloppy procedures but not too concerned about the mission since Gale Crater is not expected to have any water or ice, which would be subject to Earth contamination.
Another piece on the matter from The Christian Science Monitor notes:
“Water or ice near the surface in Gale Crater was not a significant probability,” said David Lavery, program executive for solar system exploration at NASA headquarters. “We weighed that against the risks of not having a bit mounted in the drill prior to launch, and the specter of not being able to drill any holes at all on Mars.”
“Of course, there is always a possibility that Mars will surprise us,” Lavery said.
Given the significant investment and hopes related to this mission, it would have been best to follow procedure and not jeopardize any aspect of the critical science. Hopefully, NASA made the right decision. The Monitor article goes on to state:
Conley’s predecessor at NASA, John D. Rummel, a professor of biology at East Carolina University, said, partly in jest: “It will be a sad day for NASA if they do detect ice or water. That’s because the Curiosity project will most likely be told, ‘Gee, that’s nice. Now turn around.'"
I recommend subscribing to the Science Friday podcast. You will also be able to tap into other great Mars stories such as:
-- Martian Lab Made in Manhattan (Aug. 10, 2012):
Curiosity carries one of the most "complicated instruments ever to land on the surface of another planet," according to NASA. The rover's "Sample Analysis at Mars" -- which can take dirt and crushed rock from the Red Planet and analyze those samples for indicators of alien life -- was partly built in the Big Apple by Honeybee Robotics. Flora Lichtman got a tour of the facility.
-- Mars Excitement: Back to the Future (Aug. 08, 2012):
The excitement about the first pictures of Mars' surface coming back from the Curiosity mission to Mars is déjà vu all over again. I recall being at Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the Viking missions to Mars back in the mid 1970s and feeling the joy and exhilaration of seeing the first pictures ever sent back to Earth from another planet when Viking 1 touched down in July 1976. Think about it: The first pictures ever sent back from the surface of another planet!
-- Carl Sagan's Welcome to Mars (Aug. 08, 2012):
Shortly before his death in 1996, astronomer and science broadcaster Carl Sagan recorded a message for future Mars explorers:
"Maybe we’re on Mars because of the magnificent science that can be done there — the gates of the wonder world are opening in our time. Maybe we’re on Mars because we have to be, because there’s a deep nomadic impulse built into us by the evolutionary process — we come, after all, from hunter-gatherers, and for 99.9% of our tenure on Earth we’ve been wanderers. And the next place to wander to is Mars. But whatever the reason you’re on Mars is, I’m glad you’re there. And I wish I was with you."