Don asked: "But, you adroitly avoided my question which is "what will you say and do if Beagle 2 comes up empty-handed?" It would be nice if you answered my reasonable question to you instead of attempting to change the subject."

Barry replies: I didn't avoid your question. I thought I answered it. The Martian meteorites show that indigenous organics do exist on Mars though the Viking GCMS did not reveal such; also no putative oxidants have been found to date either.

Should Beagle 2 confirm that additional organic matter exists in the soil and the Viking GCMS was in error, then occams razor swings towards the life conclusion put forth by Levin and Straat. If Beagle 2 finds no organic material and oxidants, then I'll eat my hat. How's that?

BD