Sunday, October 30, 2005

NASA report lays out the risks of exploring Mars


Top among those risks:

* Martian dust--its corrosiveness, its grittiness, its effect on electrical systems such as computer boards;
* possible Martian "replicating biohazards"--organisms dangerous either to the astronauts or for return to Earth;
* the dynamics of the Martian atmosphere, including dust storms, that might affect landing and takeoff;
* potential sources of water, especially crucial if the first astronauts were to stay on the surface longer than a month.


They left out the obvious menace posed by Bat-Rat-Spiders!

1 comment:

Mac said...

To my disgust, I haven't seen the movie -- yet.