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Re: More Martian Meteorites Coming this Way!
> Walter -
> Welcome to the "science" of the "Let's send men to Mars" space
> enthusiasts.
> The most significant reason for not sending men
> to Mars is the problem of biological contamination:
Hash. There is no threat of 'back contamination'. Any microbes from Mars
are going to be completely different from those of Earth. I cannot
believe that they could even survive in such a different environment as
Earth. It is like suggesting that if you dropped off a shark onto the
Serengeti it would outcompete the lions. The whole idea is nonsense, and
sharks and lions live on the same planet! I suggest you go and quiver in
fear from real threats, like Dutch Elm Disease and Tobacco Mosaic virii.
Why don't people die from these? Because they are not evolved for the
human host. Now, how on Earth (sorry, couldn't resist) would a Martian
microbe or virus survive successfully on Earth. First, we have too much
02, which would be a deadly poison to any Martians. Second, they have to
somehow enter the body and *overcome the immune* system. Sorry, it just
ain't gonna happen. Yes, quarantine is a prudent idea for missions to
Mars, but back contamination is not a threat. There is no way that a
foreign germ from a different environment completely unlike Earth can
come down here and compete with other germs that have been evolving here
for 3 billion years. Even if there is life on Mars (and we don't know)
back contamination of Earth is essentially an impossibility.
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