Posted by tourdemars to Mars Science Laboratory at November 30, 2011 06:24 PM

All NASA spacecraft sent to other planets must undergo meticulous procedures to make sure they don't carry biological contamination from Earth to their destinations. However, a step in these planetary protection measures wasn't adhered to for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity, now en route to the Red Planet, SPACE.com has learned. The incident has become a lessons-learned example of miscommunication in assuring that planetary protection procedures are strictly adhered to.