Re: Planetary Protection Programme
I think you probably mistook what you heard. Spacecraft intended to land anywhere there may possibly be life, or which could conceivably crash into such a place after the spacecraft's mission ends (ie., when it's out of fuel) are vigorously and enthusiastically sterilised to within an inch of their lives before they fly. That's one of the reasons they're built in very clean clean rooms like the JPL High Bay:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=2995
Biting the hand that feeds IT
