Three cheers for the robots! Hip Hip, Hip Hip, Hip Hip HOORAY!All the science and none of the B.S. that humans appear to require in order to get themselves out of low Earth orbit.
Quote from: demorcef on 08/04/2011 07:10 pmThree cheers for the robots! Hip Hip, Hip Hip, Hip Hip HOORAY!All the science and none of the B.S. that humans appear to require in order to get themselves out of low Earth orbit.Well, really what it shows is just how hard it is to make a detailed examination of a process with just remote sensing. Robotic missions are great for surveying, but fairly atrocious at detailed investigation. And if you want to see "B.S. required to get out of earth orbit", just look at the MSL budget (>$2 Billion)...
Probably a separate topic, but given the clean environment used to build MSL, what would it take to build a vehicle that would not raise the contamination fear?
Making the top half of the TV news here........as much as they've ballsed it up as per usual
Quote from: mjcrsmith on 08/04/2011 07:26 pmProbably a separate topic, but given the clean environment used to build MSL, what would it take to build a vehicle that would not raise the contamination fear?For Mars--I think--the requirement is that you only have to do the high level of sterilization if it is a life detection mission. In other words, you don't want to bring bugs to the surface and then detect those bugs.
God, how we are supposed to EVER land humans anywhere if we fear contamination? Will we also bake humans?
Quote from: gospacex on 08/04/2011 08:10 pmGod, how we are supposed to EVER land humans anywhere if we fear contamination? Will we also bake humans? Once that big day comes and we finally start landing humans on Mars, this requirement will obviously be out the door. Why is that so hard to grasp?
That doesn't mean we have to use every other opportunity *before* that moment to contaminate away, especially since we're so eager to search for any indigenous life there.
Water, eh? So when are we leaving? I must remember to bring some tea bags for Chris…
A number of people seem to be getting rattled by the thread title, so edited it a bit.
IIRC, the Viking landers underwent an extended soak in an atmosphere of ethylene oxide as well as baking.
God, how we are supposed to EVER land humans anywhere if we fear contamination? Will we also bake humans? Will we make it a requirement that humans live all their lives on Mars in triple-layered steel shells "because they can contaminate possible Martian life"
That aside, am I the only one looking forward to Paul Spudis and Bob Zubrin squaring up for a Moon First vs. Mars First debate in the light of the MRO and Chandaryaan-1 findings?