uhhh, Mark, what this team did was to advise NASA to treat every sample returned by robotic spacecraft as potentially seriously hazardous until proved otherwise.

They emphatically stated that a fully developed robotic program would be necessary before they would sign off.

As for their earlier evaluation of potential risk, they stated quite clearly:

"If active volcanism, or near-surface liquid water, is discovered on Mars, or if the subsurface environment is found to be considerably less oxidizing and wetter than the surface, the occurrence of extant life on the planet becomes more plausible."

If news reports are correct, Condition 2 is very close to being met by near surface water ice, which may be assumed to become liquid at least occasionally.

While the NAS has asserted its authority over back-contamination for the time being, my guess is that this situation will change once manned Mars flight is even remotely proposed as a serious and real possibility. AT THAT POINT, look for the CDC and NIH to express their views on roles and responsibilities.

My thanks for the link - and by the way, have I mentioned teh commercial possibilities of artificially intelligenct robotic vision systems and autonomous control systems to you before?

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