I was thinking the same thing, and then I also thought - if the long term plans are colonization, is sterilization and non-contamination viable, or even desirable?
While the missions remain scientific I absolutely agree contamination must be avoided. But as soon as we cross into the colony phase, wouldn’t that restriction just make things harder?
If we’re into the colonization phase in the future we’ll be intentionally contaminating the planet trying to grow crops, so yes we’d be past that as a point of consideration.
> But as soon as we cross into the colony phase, wouldn’t that restriction just make things harder?
I think not just harder, because the first colonies will enable scientists to study the pristine environment in more depth, while the colonies itself will be small and costs of a sterilization will be relatively low. So the onset of uncontrolled contamination should probably be delayed until well after the first colony.
While the missions remain scientific I absolutely agree contamination must be avoided. But as soon as we cross into the colony phase, wouldn’t that restriction just make things harder?