Mark,

Do own and use a telescope? Curious if you have plans to observe Mars during the August opposiition?

BD

I cannot seem to post anything new on thiis bbs for some reason -except to reply. Hmmm...So even though this is a seperate post, I have no other means to post it on this bbs.

Here we go.

In answer to Mark Eby's constant support of Mars Society President Robert Zubrin's "Martian microbes are raining down upon Earth in meteorites so therefore planetary protection is unnecessary" here is a paper by Dr. Benton Clark (one of the pI's on the NASA Stardust mission) that says:

"Martian meteorites do not eliminate the need for back contamination precautions on sample return missions"

Abstract
The phenomenon of natural transport of material from the surface of Mars to the surface of planet Earth, in the form of martian meteorites, cannot be used as justification to relax or abolish plans and procedures for quarantine and strict sample containment for future Mars sample return missions (MSR). Biosphere upsets, ecological disasters, and species extinctions have been far too numerous and their causes too poorly understood to rule out occasional possible contributions from exogenous biological invaders. In addition, in today's large, highly intertwined global civilizations, even small perturbations to public health, ecological stability, economic balances, or perceived threat of any of these could eclipse the public support that will be needed for space exploration and sample return programs with responsible planetary protection measures.

Advances in Space Research, Volume 30, Issue 6, p. 1593-1600

Dr. Benton Clark's short biography:

Dr. Benton C. Clark is Chief Scientist, Flight Systems, at Lockheed Martin Astronautics. He received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Columbia University in 1968. He was responsible for conceiving and developing the x-ray fluorescence spectrometers used for geochemical analyses of Martian soil samples onboard the Viking landers. He was Co-I for development of the lightflash detector and sunshade for the Particle Impact Analyzer (PIA) experiment, flown successfully on the Giotto mission. He has introduced the concept of key roles for cometary particulates and formation of comet ponds as an enabling step for the abiotic origin of life. He chairs the External Advisory Committee for the NASA Center for Research and Training in Exobiology at the University of California San Diego and Salk Institute. He has received the NASA Public Service Medal, the Wright Brothers Award, the Air Force Service Medal, and has been selected Inventor of the Year for Martin Marietta Corporation and Author of the Year for Martin Marietta Astronautics.

Barry DiGregorio