Are we not actively trying to terraform Mars? Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?
No
> Why is "life contamination" seen as a problem for our solar system rather than a goal?
Because you'll not be sure if eventual life that you found there comes from Earth equipment or was there in the first place
are over
You mean like in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Israel?If we ever find alien life, the Outer Space Treaty prohibits colonisation in the sense we're using here. Of course this is a very easy treaty to sign up to at this point in our development of space travel. If space travel ever becomes cheap enough to enable exploitation of resource on distant planets I imagine those laws will see some amendments.