I have not seen this mentioned or discussed anywhere so.....Will BFS returning from Mars need to be cleaned, de-contaminated etc before landing back on Earth ?Mick.
there’s quite a lot of Mars material on Earth already.
But even if they were, I’m not sure what could be practically done before landing on Earth (eg in LEO) that would be any more effective than the months of travel in deep space to get from Mars back to Earth and then the rigors of re-entry.
Will BFS returning from Mars need to be cleaned, de-contaminated etc before landing back on Earth ?
If you haven't seen the movie "Life", they dive into this exact scenario.
I know that it is a really long shot but what if some kind of Martian matter gets somehow wedged in the landing legs and is carried back to Earth ?Based on Falcon 9 landings the legs will be closed for all but the last few seconds of Earth EDL so, in theory this material could be released into the atmosphere on landing.
But initially until it can be proved, SpaceX most likely have to decontaminate both ways.
There is no law forcing them to do so, but the least SpaceX wants to is to piss off NASA. And this is important for NASA.
I seriously doubt there’s anything that might need to be removed, there’s quite a lot of Mars material on Earth already.
Sterile dirt? Or do you just want to waste money on a "perceived" safety procedure that really does nothing for safety?
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 01/13/2018 08:15 amI seriously doubt there’s anything that might need to be removed, there’s quite a lot of Mars material on Earth already. What mars material are you talking about?
What the scientists fear is that if we 50 years from now find some organism on Mars, then the discussion would be if it really came from Earth with us and adapted to the environment. And that there never was life on mars until we came. Or if it's always been there. Then again, when we colonize mars there is probably no way to avoid contaminating mars. The other way only if mars happens to have organisms. They might not be so friendly for us. Cause diseases etc that we might not be able to stop. Again, that assumes existing life on Mars.
Quote from: moreno7798 on 01/16/2018 10:20 pmSterile dirt? Or do you just want to waste money on a "perceived" safety procedure that really does nothing for safety?First the scientists want to protect Mars from Earth. There are lots of earth organisms that could probably survive and form on mars. There are even organisms living deep in lava stone here on earth. What the scientists fear is that if we 50 years from now find some organism on Mars, then the discussion would be if it really came from Earth with us and adapted to the environment. And that there never was life on mars until we came. Or if it's always been there. Then again, when we colonize mars there is probably no way to avoid contaminating mars. The other way only if mars happens to have organisms. They might not be so friendly for us. Cause diseases etc that we might not be able to stop. Again, that assumes existing life on Mars.
Quote from: ChrML on 01/17/2018 09:58 pmWhat the scientists fear is that if we 50 years from now find some organism on Mars, then the discussion would be if it really came from Earth with us and adapted to the environment. And that there never was life on mars until we came. Or if it's always been there. Then again, when we colonize mars there is probably no way to avoid contaminating mars. The other way only if mars happens to have organisms. They might not be so friendly for us. Cause diseases etc that we might not be able to stop. Again, that assumes existing life on Mars.As for some amazing superbug coming from Mars to hunt humans, it makes for (arguably) good fiction but is patently absurd to anyone with a basic understanding of microbiology.
I agree. I'm not a chemist or a biologist but I'd assume that any martian superbug seeking to do us harm would have to:1. ...have the same biology as human(earth) biology - very unlikely unless it evolved on earth.2. ...be able to interact with our biology. If it evolved with different biology, then to them humans might as well be dead rocks.3. ...want to feed on us. - Again, If it evolved with different biology, then it'd be like impala trying to feed on meat.
The other way only if mars happens to have organisms. They might not be so friendly for us. Cause diseases etc that we might not be able to stop. Again, that assumes existing life on Mars.
If microbial life is found on Mars 50 years from now, it will be very difficult to prove that it did NOT have its origins on Earth, whether from an meteorite from 10,000 years ago, the Mars 2 probe which crashed in 1971 or any of the probes and landers since, or from the first ITS landing, whenever that might be.
If it does, but it doesn't fit on Earth's tree of life, it's either native or derived from meteor transfer very early in the solar system's history (before the most recent common ancestor of all current Earth life).
If it doesn't have DNA/RNA, it's native.If it does, but it doesn't fit on Earth's tree of life, it's either native or derived from meteor transfer very early in the solar system's history (before the most recent common ancestor of all current Earth life).
Quote from: Vultur on 01/26/2018 06:18 amIf it doesn't have DNA/RNA, it's native.If it does, but it doesn't fit on Earth's tree of life, it's either native or derived from meteor transfer very early in the solar system's history (before the most recent common ancestor of all current Earth life).'Native' DNA/RNA just isn't happening.
Quote from: moreno7798 on 01/17/2018 10:56 pmI agree. I'm not a chemist or a biologist but I'd assume that any martian superbug seeking to do us harm would have to:1. ...have the same biology as human(earth) biology - very unlikely unless it evolved on earth.2. ...be able to interact with our biology. If it evolved with different biology, then to them humans might as well be dead rocks.3. ...want to feed on us. - Again, If it evolved with different biology, then it'd be like impala trying to feed on meat.Or just simply be like any microbe taken from the desert and dropped in the ocean - out-competed in seconds by the locals. Microbes develop in particular niches and are in constant competition with other microbes. The idea that some introduced interloper is going to somehow instantly be top dog is silly.And that's the most plausible scenario... the science fiction scenario is that somehow a Mars microbe is a human pathogen, how's that work? The vast vast vast vast (I could go on, Douglas Adams style) majority of microbes on Earth don't have any effect on us - you can inject them into your bloodstream and not have a problem - the minuscule number that are a problem for us have co-evolved with us and other animals on this planet. It's simply impossible for a microbe from Mars to have a deleterious effect on humans.NASA's planetary protection position is simply junk science. It's outdated claptrap.