[meteorite-list] Mars rover pollution

From: Dawn & Gerald Flaherty <grf2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jul 18 21:17:26 2005
Message-ID: <01c201c58bfd$da72f1c0$6502a8c0_at_GerryLaptop>

Come on Doug, you CAN match this wit! Jerry
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sterling K. Webb" <kelly_at_bhil.com>
To: "Dave Harris" <entropydave_at_ntlworld.com>; "metlist"
<meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 8:42 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Mars rover pollution


> Hi, Entropy, Darren, List, and the Bacterial Overlords!
>
> In the "early" days, we worried a lot about contamination -- both
ways!
> Astronauts were ripped out of their capsules and popped into biohazard
sealed
> environments, probes were sterilized, etc.
> The dangers never materialized.
> Now, if we filled the probes up with chasmoendolithic nanobateria such
as
> you mentioned, we might, just might, get a shot at contaminating a planet,
but
> the bugs in the warm mayonnaise on the technicians' balogna sandwiches
(that got
> on the tech's thumb) are not going to become the Bacterial Overlords of
Mars!
> They will die wondering why it's so cold and where all the mayonnaise
went...
> Interesting as the idea of "contaminating" a planet is, it's
scientifically
> a dead issue, or so we think. And you couldn't decontaminate a modern
spacecraft
> like one of the old klutzy "camera in a box" probes. Too much chance of
damaging
> the probe.
> And as far eliminated the bacteria, forget it. The most sterile
operating
> theatre humans can devise still has 100,000's of microbes per cc in the
air.
> Read the marvelous book, "The Life That Lives On Man." (British author,
old
> man!)
> The theme of "contaminating" a planet is well-known in fiction, too.
There's
> a marvelous story about tracking all life on Mars down to the Russia's
crashed
> Cosmos 3 probe. And the author of Red, Green, Blue Mars wrote a really
funny
> piece that was a duel of abstracts of scientific papers over whether
Martian
> bacteria with identical DNA as Earthly bateria were contamination from
Earth or
> the Earth bacteria were descended from Martian meteorite bacteria or
whether
> both came from the same outside source or... It's an insolvable problem!
> Which brings us to the topic of real life on Mars. Your standard issue
> orthodoxy is an odd and schizophrenic hodgepodge. Most "authorities"
believe
> that Mars probably did have life in the old warm wet days but are equally
and
> oppositely certain there is little chance of life today (mustn't excite
the
> public and those tabloids... ugh!).
> I believe this to be a far, far less likely scenario than EITHER the
"no
> life ever" or the "life still lives there today" theories. There's a nice
Rover
> photo of what looks EXACTLY like a dead fish -- from one side, only,
though.
> I want there to be life elsewhere, please, God! It's virtually an
article of
> faith, or a wild hope, or a dream, though.
> LIFE is a virulent, destructive, out-of-control event. Life, even its
most
> minimal, has taken a perfectly decent little planet like the Earth and
RUINED
> it. Its atmosphere is filled, up to 20%, with the second most deadly
reactive
> poison in the universe!
> This suffering Earth is an abnormal distorted nightmare of a world.
Instead
> of a sensible planet like Venus (only with a mere 25 atmospheres of C02
and a
> chilly 250 degree C temperature), this Earth is saturated with deadly
oxygen and
> smothered in liquid H2O -- it's a madhouse, a madhouse! (Movie quiz?)
> Kidding aside, now, guys. LIFE doesn't just hang on by its bacterial
teeth
> for 4 billion years just waiting for things to get just a leeetul bit
better.
> Life is an aggressive expansive dominating positive-feedback process. Life
does
> not Goldilocks around looking for a planet that's just right. Life takes
entire
> planets by the.. well, you know, and MAKES them right!
> From a million billion miles miles away, intelligent life with big
enough
> telescopes can read our spectra and know what we are. If they are
anaerobic
> life, chlorine based life, silicon based life, artificially intelligent
life,
> neutronium life, whatever, they look at us and a chill goes down their
spine at
> the horror of it all: a poisoned world. Think how you'd feel if we found a
> planet with a 6%-8% flourine atmosphere content... Now, what could have
done
> that?
> If Mars had life 4 billion years ago, as the planet cooled, dried, and
> thinned, they, whoever they were, would have FIXED it, maybe not our way,
but
> some way. Life, the most anti-entropic phenomenon in the universe, Entropy
Dave,
> would have been the winner. And winner takes all in this game.
> My attitude, and I misquote William Faulkner here, is that life "will
not
> only endure; it will prevail."
> We win. Go, Life! Hip, Hip, Hoorah, Life!
>
> Sterling K. Webb
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

--
>     While I was typing mine, so was everybody else! I didn't change
anything,
> though. Weren't you complaining that nobody will talk about a serious
topic,
> Dave... The strategy worked, though.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> Dave Harris wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > I find it interesting that I have not heard any comments re my email
> > yesterday regarding NASA's inability to completely sterilise their
Rovers
> > may lead to colonisation of another planet and the consequences of this
> > action.
> >
> > I actually think this is quite an important issue - I will probably be
told
> > wrong forum/off topic" or whatever...
> >
> > People talk for hours on this list about complete rubbish - I thought it
was
> > a very important point hence I raised this as a topic - I received the
same
> > response I got when I emailed NASA! Nothing!
> >
> > just my 2 microbes worth....
> >
> > dave
> > IMCA #0092
> > Sec. BIMS
> > www.bimsociety.org
> >
> > ______________________________________________
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>
>
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Received on Mon 18 Jul 2005 09:04:44 PM PDT