"Lesley Robertson" <l.a.robertson at tnw.tudelft.nl> wrote in message
news:9602$422c246e$82a1f636$29586 at news2.tudelft.nl...
>> "N10" <limbic_lesion at hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:d0c262$32k$1 at titan.btinternet.com...>>>> I suppose more importantly than microbiologists on Mars we need to send
>> a cleaning crew to MArs to tidy up the junk rapidly accumlualting on its
>> surface
>> Actually, it might be most important to start some sort of protection for
> any Martian specis now before anyone gets clever and wipes them all out
> while trying to terraform the place.... It would be nice to be ahead of
> the game for once!
> Lesley Robertson
>http://www.beijerinck.bt.tudelft.nl>http://kuenen.bt.tudelft.nl>>
HI
Yes your right Lesley I wonder just how much work or thought has gone into
this area already. I cant find anything published on it.
My estimate is that the unmanned spacecraft which have already landed or
impacted on mars may well have been
sterilised by the intense readiation which would have been encountered
during the inbound journey. However such is not a certainy
and some bacterial of fungal spores might had made to it Mars.
When manned flights go its going to be a whole different keetle of fish.
Presumabley the transit craft will be shielded much more efficiently from
radiation.
Any jounery of that magniutude is likely to involve a long stay. At any
landing site they will might be appreciable biological waste to deal with ,
hopefully responsibily and with mimium chance of impaction on the
environment or contamination of the life forms which may be present.
Also what about the waste respiratory output. My space suit is quite old now
lol and I dont know if modern devices vent to external atmosphere by one
way flow or are some how are catalysed or adbsorbed. If vented I presume
the gases would have to be biologically filtered first. Not all areas of
Mars are bombarded with heavey ions (
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/gallery/latestimages/latest2002/march/Fig.3_Marie.html)
some areas are categorised as low risk so I suppose the counter
contamination strategy will be geared to the proposed landing site . I doubt
NASA would send there boys and girls into "hot zones" so the need for
preacauitons asgainst terrestrial cross contaminationis is emphasised.
Lets hope we get it right first time.
The exciting thing is if life exists there and if it is DNA based it would
seem it might have exceptionally elegant nuclearic repair mechanisms.
This is interesting ;-
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2844
Best N10 ( I feel much better and I have complete faith in the Mission)
