Missions to Mars: Are they Really Such a Good Thing?

[mawnansmiff]

Over the last few weeks much has been made in the media of various efforts to land on Mars made by several countries.

Though I applaud the technological achievements involved I have very serious misgivings about their missions, or specifically the desire to bring back to Earth samples of bacteria allegedly living on the surface of the 'Red Planet'.

Now I've never been one to follow conspiracy theories but I do have genuine concern that what is brought back may well have a detrimental impact on life on this planet. What if at some time in the distant past life of some greater form actually thrived up there but was wiped out by the very bacteria they wish to collect and bring back here?

I sincerely hope the powers that be have thought this one out and have some sort of provisions in place should it all go pear shaped!

Regards,

Jay.?

 

[Casual]

Any powerful technology can be good or evil, depending on the virtues of the people wielding it. Nuclear bombs or power. Trawling oceans can feed a lot of people or destroy a global food source. Communications networks to allow global communication for people with good intentions…and evil.

I agree with your apprehension that our ability at technology development outstrips our foresight and moral development. The Great Filter, perhaps.

However, there is no way out but through. It is only a matter of time before Jupiter lets one through and we have a replay of the late Cretaceous. I’d like to have have some eggs in another basket by then.

 

[jguss]

They’ve thought it through. The bacteria is inimical to human life and they want it anyway. It’s supposed to be the only thing in our solar system capable of removing oxidation from vulcanite without compromising the material.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I agree.. Then you have the strange shit going on at CERN. Plenty of freaky weird stuff going on these days...

 

[mikethompson]

I think it is a good idea. The more we can learn about how the solar system works, and just the solar system in general the better.

Who is to say that bacteria hasn't come to earth before on an asteroid or something?

 

[lightxmyfire]

Anyone read the andromeda strain?

I agree with @Casual and @mikethompson. There are benefits to learning about what’s out there.

If anyone is a Sci-Fi reader I highly recommend reading the Expanse series, it addresses a lot of interesting ideas about finding things we don’t understand in space and the future of humanity. Really fantastic reads.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Hey, how will we know that it doesn't give us superpowers unless we try it?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Oh come on, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?

 

[verporchting]

Not to worry Jay, Boris Johnson has reassigned the best minds available to study this issue now that they aren’t so busy with Brexit. ?

 

[prairiedruid]

Can't wait for the new Mars Latakia.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"There are benefits to learning about what’s out there."

I agree 100%, we have already learned much and will of course learn much more. My only concern is the bringing back of bacteria of which we know little or nothing about.

Such bacteria could have the potential to be very dangerous to mankind. What precautions have been taken if indeed any have?

Look what happened when non native species of animals or plants have been introduced in places where they were never known to have lived. In most cases it had a detrimental effect to the native species.

This is not science fiction, this is science fact.

Regards,

Jay.?

 

[ashdigger]

Been there done that. Am I the one who knows?

 

[Casual]

What precautions have been taken if indeed any have?

Don‘t worry. We have Level BSL-4 facilities which must house any Category V extraterrestrial samples. They have the best precautions known to man.

Examples are the National Institute in Potter’s Bar, the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[fireground_piper]

It's our history to follow "Can we?" over "Should we?". I can't possibly ever see that mindset changing for our race, for better or for worse.

 

[geopiper]

There's a risk and reward to every human endeavor. Outward-reaching human technological advancement has been on the decline since the 1970's. Most tech advancement since then has led to humans looking inward, not outward (picture humans with their faces buried in a digital screen rather than looking at the real world). Only recently has their been an increased push towards space (partly thanks to Elon Musk). Where else are we going to go? We'll either f-up the Earth's ecosystems to the point it can't sustain human civilization on large scales, or we push outward into the cosmos as a species.

To infinity and beyond....

 

[Grangerous]

OP - “What if at some time in the distant past life of some greater form actually thrived up there but was wiped out by the very bacteria they wish to collect and bring back here?”

Grangers - “What if a frog had pockets? Wouldn’t he carry a pistol to keep the snakes away?”

And besides.. the last Mars lander photographed......

THIS

 

[telescopes]

The timeline for life as we know it, is finite. However, that finite amount of time includes more than a billion years of possibilities yet on our earth. Given what we know about homo sapiens, cleaning up our act as a species might be preferable before we jump outward and advance to the stars. We have the time to do so.

 

[telescopes]

There's a risk and reward to every human endeavor. Outward-reaching human technological advancement has been on the decline since the 1970's. Most tech advancement since then has led to humans looking inward, not outward (picture humans with their faces buried in a digital screen rather than looking at the real world). Only recently has their been an increased push towards space (partly thanks to Elon Musk). Where else are we going to go? We'll either f-up the Earth's ecosystems to the point it can't sustain human civilization on large scales, or we push outward into the cosmos as a species.

To infinity and beyond....

I agree. 100% However, we are not much different than Isabella and Ferdinand. It's the expanse that should be fearful of humans. At least for now.

 

[sablebrush52]

I agree 100%, we have already learned much and will of course learn much more. My only concern is the bringing back of bacteria of which we know little or nothing about.

Jay, I heartily agree with you. Why bring back Martian bacteria that could be deadly when there's plenty of prehistoric pathogens being released on Earth as ice continues to melt? Aren't our domestic deadly pathogens good enough? How many ways do we need to successfully exterminate homo sapiens? Homo sapiens is doing a good job of exterminating itself without artificial or imported help. I say kick their alien pathogen butts back to Olympus Mons!

 

[mso489]

The scenarios are unknown. Some unintended consequences are certain. The possibility of bringing back viable bacteria seems small, but possible. The cultivation of the notion that we can all escape to some "nicer" planet if we destroy this one as a human habitat is a real danger. I still think that taking intellectually and physical gifted people and latching them into a double-wide size space ship for months and years at a time may not be the best use of their lives, despite the romance of exploration. All of the destinations we now propose are totally hostile. Mars surface temperature is about 80 below zero. The moon Europa requires drilling through 14 km of ice to get to the surface. Still, for now, I get a rush watching the rows of people at computers in mission control leaping to their feet in excitement when their vehicle landed. Remember the movie "2001"? Well, it's 2021. Book me on a flight to a nearby star.