What kinds of safeguards does Chang'e 4, China's lander on the dark side of the moon use, in order to prevent biological contamination on the moon?
How well are they documented?
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4$\begingroup$ It's about as safe as the bags of excrement NASA left on the moon. $\endgroup$– user20636Jan 17 '19 at 18:34
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$\begingroup$ A related but different question: Is it ethical for Chang'e-4 to bring an entire ecosystem to the moon? $\endgroup$– uhohJan 17 '19 at 18:41
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$\begingroup$ Just a thought I had... But this along with the poop NASA left on the moon should be of some concern. I guess I am less concerned after it was clearly pointed out that the moon is and always has been dead. It's just that we don't know all of the ramifications of leaving biological remnants on a place like this. $\endgroup$– KarlomanioJan 17 '19 at 19:05
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4$\begingroup$ The conditions on the Moon are the safeguard against anything biological from Earth reproducing itself outside a lander. Vacuum, temperature, lack of water, intensive UV radiation would kill any living unprotected cells. Moon is a perfect sterilization device. If a cell is not killed during hours there are a lot more days, weeks and months to do the remaining work. $\endgroup$– UweJan 18 '19 at 9:54
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$\begingroup$ @JCRM hold up, hold up... We left bags of poo on the moon? How had I never thought about that before. $\endgroup$– Magic Octopus UrnJan 18 '19 at 18:38
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@Uwe answered my question
The conditions on the Moon are the safeguard against anything biological from Earth reproducing itself outside a lander. Vacuum, temperature, lack of water, intensive UV radiation would kill any living unprotected cells. Moon is a perfect sterilization device. If a cell is not killed during hours there are a lot more days, weeks and months to do the remaining work.
