Hi Alex,

The sample return mission is a good pioneering program which will serve us not only for Martian materials - but other worlds' materials too.

I see precaution as a necessity.

Unknown elements and pathogens surely do exist out there somewhere. By already spending the bucks now to get a 'redundancy' system in place with the public stamp of approval - we avoid the probable alternative of having a moratorium on all other world samples set up - because of some equivalent of the spotted owl being wiped out by some martian dust.

In Arizona - there is a sickness one gets called 'valley fever' - it is caused by a SPORE in the soil. It is NASTY and can have you hacking your lungs out for a month or two - until your body can develop an effective defense.

I had it for awhile when I first came out to the desert for extended stay - and it does a good imitation of tuberculosis. The spores reproduce in your lungs and your lungs produce mucous to surround the offensive matter. I don't and have never smoked - and my lungs had quite a workout.

No antibiotics are of any real use to such an infection.

If there is a chance anything nasty is out there - I am all for the 'CDC type 'heavy threat' approach.

The way things work in this world - if we don't do it now - it will cost us three times as much in twenty years.

So just do it. Do it well. Be done with it.

Best wishes,

SDAI-Tech1