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NOVA
This NASA Scientist Helps Prevent Mars from Contamination
The spacecraft has to be extremely clean. The entire spacecraft—that includes the rover, the heat shield, the descent stage, and back shell—must contain less than 500,000 bacterial endospores, or spores. Just to give you an idea, a teaspoon of seawater has ten times more bacteria.
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Discover how Homo sapiens outlasted Neanderthals – and how they helped make us who we are today.