MARS DIRT EXPERIMENTS MAY PUT EARTH AT RISK

MARS DIRT EXPERIMENTS MAY PUT EARTH AT RISK



LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) – NASA will announce tomorrow (May 29) a mission to bring dirt samples back to Earth, but one nuclear physicist fears it’s far too risky. According to Dr. Franklin Ruehl, the Martian dirt samples could contain alien organisms to which humans have no resistance. Although an earlier study of Martian soil conducted in 1976 showed no risk, Ruehl says the results may be flawed because scientists were not expecting a reaction from terrestrial organisms. Dr. Ruehl says life in Martian soil could have an incubation period of years and may not show up right away. For that reason, Ruehl says that when humans land on Mars, it may be necessary to quarantine them for the rest of their lives to prevent bringing back any harmful organisms.

Mon 05-28-01