The Pathfinder APXS results are finally debugged and show *NO* detectable carbon at the 0.3% detection limit.

Mars has a little CO2, but far less than models suggest should be present, in the absence of carbonates.

The Neutron/Gamma people are smart and have done a good job. Trust me, this *REALLY* is H in the shallow regolith (<1m).

As for "radioactive environment", the WHOLE PURPOSE of the HEND and GRS experiments is to USE that surface bombardment to measure what is there. They acknowledge the radiation flux, and measure its consequences. To date, they do NOT report large amounts of unstable daughter products of that bombardment. Such products are volumetrically minor, although useful for age dating of exposed surface.

Look, for instance, at the cosmic-ray exposure ages of the SNC meteorites which tell us how long it took for them to float around in space before they encountered the Earth, and how long it was since they fell.

This area of Martian physics is NOT being ignored, it is being measured carefully and used, where appropriate.

"When you find a team describing Mars' radioactive environment, then you can trust their water numbers - not before." In which case, I respectfully suggest that Felbman, Boynton, Ivanov, and all their teams have earned your trust.