Keeping Alien Samples Safe For Study 118
Metrollica writes: "Space.com features an article describing NASA's plans to prepare the Johnson Space Center that could one day house extraterrestrial life." An excerpt from the article: "It's human nature to clean for company more thoroughly than one would for oneself, but nowhere is this truth taken to greater extremes than at the Johnson Space Center. NASA's setting new standards of cleanliness in its labs that handle samples returning from space. And their efforts are laying the groundwork for samples that might some day contain evidence of extraterrestrial life from Mars, Europa, and other points little known."
FP (Score:2)
Andromeda Strain... (Score:5, Interesting)
HOWEVER, it was a good idea, because they didn't know everything they were dealing with yet.
On Mars, Europa, and Io, there exists a remote possibility for life. Retreival missions should be geared to keep this life hermetically isolated from the Earth's biosphere.... Just in case.
Re:Andromeda Strain... (Score:3, Interesting)
This is sort of recent but there was fungus on the outside of mir's glass
google cache of article [google.com]
Mir crashed and this crap is in the ocean now after spending millions of life cycles in had cosmic radiation
Nature at it's best through evolution and man doing stupid things to himself.
Re:Andromeda Strain... (Score:2)
Imagine instead of owning your very own moon rock, you can now grow a patch of spacial goodness of "Space Fungus"!
If they find any alien microbe... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If they find any alien microbe... (Score:2, Funny)
Server down? (Score:2, Interesting)
Humor alert (Score:2)
Re:Humor alert (Score:2)
PROJECT WILDFIRE. STOP.
Ok...what the hell is this lameness filter crap all about. I try to reply with a simple teletype-ish reply, and...grr...
Now I understand what people have been complaining about.
I imagine they cleaned it first... (Score:1)
I know I've seen it and touched it. I'd personally be more worried about all the snotty-nosed kids groping the thing than any Lunar space boogies.
I touched the moon (Score:2)
Well, I did what kids normally do, I touched it and I turned out ok, except for that X-Files episode they based on my life. Dirty bastards...
It'll be used sooner then you think... (Score:4, Interesting)
From what is mentioned on the project webpage it seems that they plan to return the sample to Earth via a capsule to be jettisoned from the space probe when it returns.
While the chances for contamination are relatively low, it certainly can't hurt to be prepared.
More info at
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html
Dangerous stuff (Score:5, Interesting)
Would it be too far-fetched to speculate that perhaps that all higher life forms were wiped out by some virus or bacterial disease?
With the plant and animal life gone, the climate of the planet would change radically -- to the extent that we see today - but the cause of the catastrophy could stil be lurking in the soil.
What guarantees do we have that bringing back a sample of soil or rock from Mars wouldn't expose this planet to the same catastrophic outcome?
From what I read, scientists are still debating whether those odd fossil-like oddities discovered in meteoric fragments from Mars are actually petrified bacteria.
I think it makes a lot of sense to take every possible precaution when it comes to bringing stuff back from Mars. It might even be a good idea to do the initial analysis up in the ISS just in case it's really bad news. After all, how do we know that we could actually contain a pathogen such as that which might be returned from the red planet?
Is it really worth the risk?
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:2)
I have considered the same thing, and also this:
Do we already have Martian bacteria on Earth?
Bacteria is very light and travels well through space.
I remember seeing somewhere that the sun's "atmosphere" extends out past Saturn.
Imagine what would happen to bacteria on Mars after a meteor shower.
I would think that by now we have been exposed to pretty much everything bacterial Mars has to offer. If it (Mars) was still alive & evolving, there would be a problem, but not now.
Well that's what I think anyway!
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:2)
Man, I have got to stop reading Slashdot at three AM...
--
Damn the Empteror!
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:4, Interesting)
I would have thought extra-terrestrial life is likely to have the same kind of effect on us as we would on them. If we can't survive over there, why could they survive here? All in all, it is more like a roll of the evolutionary dice, in a game where the possibilities are huge, and the successful species very few. Not only that, but they have to be more successful than the ones on earth that have evolved already.
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:2)
You see, a well evolved virus will NOT kill the host. If it kills the host it kills itself (difficult to spread from a dead patient).
Atleast, it won't do so immediatly. The black plague worked so well as it's primary carriers were unaffected, easily spread and quite plentiful. Had adverse affects on humans though
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:2)
European settlers in America gave the natives all sorts of nasty diseases that they had no natural immunity too. Just as they had no natural immunity to our diseases, so we might not have to "space-diseases". In addition, earth virii tend to moderate their lethality. If a virus kills too quickly then it will not be passed on before it has done so. If it kills too many then it will wipe its hosts. Alien virii have not had a chance to tailor themselves to us. Ok, so these are remote possibilities, but you'd only need to be wrong once for it to be a big problem.
not_cub
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:1)
There are rather few inter-species pathogens, and even those are results of thousands or millions of years of evolution, with those same host species present. Space microbe cannot infect human, or any other earthling, because it has never adapted into living in one.
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:1)
Random example: a lot of our antibiotics (and natural ones employed by a variety of organisms) function by disrupting the formation of the bacterial cell wall, causing the internal pressue of the cell to rupture it. Bacteria are developing resistance by making slight changes in the sugars the use and their arrangement in the cell wall. Our imaginary ET bug might not even have a cell wall, or may use a protein-analog, or some totally different system, against which the earthly one is worthless.
Just my thoughts, but given how little we can say with certainty about anything we bring home, why not overdose on precaution. The worse that happens is we laugh at our paranoia in fifty years.
Well as far as life on mars goes, (Score:2)
Do we really know now if life is on mars or not? no air or water on the surface, what about under the surface?? When they drill on mars, or can get a probe to actually land on mars, we will find out.
As far as life on other planets, I'm 99 percent sure theres life on europa, that planet is like the south pole is on earth, alot off ice, and alot of water under the ice, meaning theres bound to be life under the ice, and the life could be intelligent life at that.
Europa would be the planet to check for contact with aliens, the fact that we havent even a probe planned for Europe must mean Nasa isnt trying to discover intelligent life, they wouldnt know how to handle it if they did.
bacteria, thats a life form simplee enough for us to properly handle.
Imaginee us going to Mars or Europa, and bringing back some unknown alien lifeform, will that lifeforms friends send ships to earth and attack us, who says they arent as intelligent as us, now they could be like aliens on earth but some of these other planets had life on them long before earth.
Who knows.
In my opinion i dont see why we need to bring stuff back at all, we can do all of our tests in space to make sure its safe, bring it to a space station. Let astronaughts deal with it.
IF its a live alien why tell the people about that? so they can panic? Let the astronaughts in space interview the alien or run some tests, then send it back to its friends.
Re:Well as far as life on mars goes, (Score:3, Funny)
No Comment [skywebsite.com] ;-)
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:2, Interesting)
A virus dangerous enough to destroy an entire planet would defeat itself - it would be a evolutionary phreak and oculdn't survive. Consider this:
Most scientists rightly consider Ebola virus a 'defunct' virus - not a good one. Ebola will kill a victim in 3 days (or so, maybe a week depending on the strain). By doing so it lessons it chances of infecting the next host. The only reason Ebola is such a (possible) problem today is b/c of things like airlines. In actuality, a ebola 'outbreak' will occur and then will rapidly die out as the hosts die faster than the virus can spread. IN a sense Ebola does one thing perfectly (reproduce extremely fast by consuming bodily tissues) but another very, very badly (destroys the hosts too fast).
A far more 'perfect' virus would be something along the lines of AIDS/HIV. These virus spread very, very slowly and can remain inside their hosts for 10-20 years in some cases. Remember the point of a virus is to Duplicate itself and survive. Ebola just isn't as effective as AIDS in doing so. I.E. 100-200 Ebola deaths a year compared to 5-6 million AIDS deaths a year (and rising with an infection rate of around 60% in some African countries).
Indeed, it would be nearly impossible for a virus to do as you say (wipe out a planet) nor would it make evolutionary sense (no, not a perfect theory but do you really want to argue creationism?). It would most likely burn itself out. No virus ever discovered can travel between more than a few species or genus that I can ever recall hearing about. And don't forget that life has been evolving on this planet for 3-4 billion years far longer than martian life would've had time to evolve and probably a higher mutation rate (due to larger amounts of radiation - closer to sun).
The difference in the organisms make travel impossible between them. Not only that but remember people *Do* survive Ebola and other types of doomsday virus's. The mortality rate may be 90% but that 10% will be immune to the virus from then on.
Ok, so your perfect virus wiped out 90% of the life on a planet (we will discuss why this is nearly impossible ina second). 10 % remaining. Planet screwed right? Nadda. During the.. oh crap can't remmeber the eon.. I think it was phanerozic - something transition around *98%* of all species on earth died (most likely due to a huge meteor impact). NINETY EIGHT PERCENT. Within 50 mil years afterwards life had recovered, if I am wrong on any of this please some geologist correct me but I think I got the time frame pretty close.
Yet we are still here and the earth fine. You see life expands expotentially (sp?). You oculd wipe out everything on the earth except for a few bacteria (and I mean a FEW one or two) and the earth woudl be ship-shape in a say 100 million years.
At the height of the cold war if the soviet/us/china released all their nuclear weapons at once distrubuted evenly over the earths surfact they wouldn't destroy life on earth. B/c of things like aneorabic bacteria just discovered living miles underground, or deep-sea vent colonies living 10's of kilometers under the sea or mold spores perserved in rock, etc, etc ad nausem.
The final point is this: why the hell would the bacteria be dangerous to us? TO do so martian life would've had to have had a DNA/whatever structure incredibly close to ours. SOooo here we go:
Your virus has to:
A.) Somehow destroy all life on a planet within a relatively short timeframe (say 10,000 years) otherwise life will adapt, and fast.
B.) Be able to infect every single species of life and mutate fast enough to overcome any changes between the species.
C.) Be able to survive for oh, 1 billion or so years on the martian surface blasted by UV, in near freezing conditions with no life to prey upon to reproduce.
D.) Be able to adapt to EARTHS lifeforms somehow.
E.) Somehow this has to make sense evolutionary-wise (remember life always expands, not contracts)
Anyways sorry for the long post.
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:2)
I would be petrified too if I was chased into a piece of rock by a killer virus. Scary stuff.
But wouldn't NASA just have to send a few guys on a field trip into Area 51 and see how they solved the problem? (Training for this mission would of course consist of all-day playing of Half-Life 'til they got it right)
Re:Dangerous stuff (Score:1)
This has already happened - we're it.
Once something leaves a state (Score:1)
On further examination, creation of jobs, further research in foreign regions, and the fact that the proof of the existence of life in other areas besides earth Would be beneficial to this. Also, contamination of the earths population is somewhat... imaginable, but it is still possible. If there was habitation on Mars and Europa, would it be lack of certain things, or the fact that something was there that would cause their extinction.
Re:Once something leaves a state (Score:2)
Am I just nuts, or would a moon base really be helpful as well as awe inspiring for the entire planet?
Yahoo has story if site is Slashdotted (Score:2, Informative)
these preparations are futile... (Score:3, Funny)
we may as well give up now.
No beautiful women should work there... (Score:2)
"The truth is IN there."
I wonder (Score:1)
This sound foolish (Score:2, Interesting)
After all, no matter how carefully they may store these organisms, there is always the possibility that they may somehow escape. Once the terrestrial biosphere is contaminated with foreign organisms, who can say what the result will be? History is rife with examples of non-native species decimating populations of unprepared organisms.
I am not worried so much about macroscopic life forms as microscopic ones, such as bacteria and viruses. Having evolved for millions of years apart from terrestrial macro-organisms, these creatures could devastate our maladapted immune systems.
Didn't you learn anything... (Score:1)
from War of the Worlds, dear?
Maybe they aren't adjusted to our biosphere and will just die after decimating a few cities.
Nope (Score:1)
Re:Nope (Score:1)
You are joking, aren't you? You've never heard of War of the Worlds? Go here [literature.org] and here [waroftheworlds.org].
HGWells book, radio show, film, and countless ripoffs. War of the Worlds is possibly the most famous alien invasion film in history - Independance Day was a poor copy of it (I think they called it an homage).
Re:Nope (Score:2)
Re:This sound foolish (Score:1)
Tons of space dust and comet debris fall to earth every day. Fred Hoyle [cf.ac.uk] and Chandra Wickramsinghe [cf.ac.uk] speculated [cf.ac.uk] that extra-terrestrial microbes routinely cause disease outbreaks.
The elaborate precautions are to keep earth life from contaminating the sample and messing up the science.
What if? (Score:1)
Roswell, anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
Although I am seriously skeptical of any actual Alien beings already in captivity (or storage) by the government, I do tend to think that they know somewhat more about the space program in general than they're letting on.
Is it possible that some of this news could be gradually preparing the public to accept the idea that there is proof of life elsewhere in the universe? I imagine most people would not have much of a difficult time accepting this, but there are groups (I believe) that would have a difficult time dealing with the fact that life exists anywhere beyond Earth.
I just wonder if they're preparing for something they might get, or preparing us for what they've already got.
(I could also be listening to Art Bell too much...)
Re:Roswell, anyone? (Score:1)
I don't think so (Score:4, Insightful)
Roswell was most likely just a smokescreen to divert attention from the fact that Nazi scientists were working for the US to develop their rocketry program. They probably realized that if they produced "evidence" of a crashed saucer and then quickly backtracked and denied it (substituting a weather balloon for the saucer) that people would think there was a conspiracy to cover up the alien crash. Worked pretty damn good. Meanwhile, no one is even thinking about having the former enemy on the public payroll.
That, my friend, is the real conspiracy.
Re:I don't think so (Score:2)
Your explanation, sir, is simple, makes perfect sense and is quite reasonable. I'm sure you'll understand that myself and others will have to discredit you by screaming "The truth is out there!" and refusing to listen.
Disclosure (Score:1)
Perhaps they are slowly making the world ready for disclosure of the truth.
What's Really Depressing (Score:1)
So, I checked out the ABC News for Kids [go.com] link... interesting news site for kids. The alien "story" raised an eyebrow or two...
But what was really depressing to me were the 4 headlines for kids...
Alien Secrets
America Attacked!
Anthrax!
Happy Holidays!
Sort of makes me yearn for the good old days when I was growing up. Nothing to worry about back then... except for the 'nukes. Ahhh, the good old nukes...
BR
Sigh...
Nice place you got here! (Score:1)
So maybe (Score:1)
One day? (Score:2)
Silly (Score:2)
Seems Nasa expects to only find bacteria and other simple life.
How are you going to deal with intelligent life, i mean come on bacteria????????? We shouldnt worry about that stuff, we should be worried about how to deal with contact with REAL alien life, meaning stuff that we've never seen before and wont know how to deal with which is as intelligent or more intelligent than us.
well then (Score:1, Offtopic)
religion lol
Re: (Score:1)
What happens if we screw up the containment rooms (Score:4, Funny)
This is a job for the space station (Score:4, Interesting)
Specifically, you have the returning space probe enter Earth orbit. A service vehicle is then dispatched to dock with the probe. Part of the service vehicle is designed to serve as a containment module for whatever beasties the probe brought back.
Then the service vehicle navigates back to the space station and docks. The containment module remains off-limits to personnel, all observation/experiments are performed using machines preinstalled in the containment module.
If the beasties start pulling an Andromeda on us, you jettison the module and send it on its way to the Sun.
Re:This is a job for the space station (Score:3, Interesting)
The whole point of bringing these samples back is to bring the full arsenal of our scientific abilities against them. You can't do that via remotely controlled robots, either on Mars or in the next room of the space station.
Re:This is a job for the space station (Score:2)
Of course we can, and more importantly, it's the only safe way of proceeding. Robots can be controlled easily when they're in the next room and there's no round-trip lag in telemetry/communications and the bandwidth is whatever you want it to be, and any tests not anticipated can be sent up on the next shuttle flight.
And I tell you what, if you want to be a biologist that specializes in the study of alien lifeforms you have better start getting used to the idea of working in zero-g.
To insist otherwise isn't too different than being a marine biologist who refuses to get wet.
Stick to the Discovery Channel.
Re:This is a job for the space station (Score:2)
And if you do your research, you'll learn that most marine biologist spend most of their time on shore. Particularly when they're trying to do lab work. There is no reason for an astrobiologist to go into space, given the costs and the fact that any organisms on the space station would already be out of their habitat (which is why a marine biologist goes into the water, to study critters in their native environments).
And, no, no robot is as good as having a human in there. Ask any lab scientist you know, and they'll confirm: there is no substitute for having a person running the experiments. Machines don't have all of our sense. Half of good science is serendipity, often resulting from someone noticing something really subtle. Machines don't notice things, and by design, have restricted senses.
And it isn't like Mars rocks are more scary than, say, smallpox or e. coli. We let biologists work with known hazardous organisms (under careful conditions, much like NASA astrobiology lab) here on Earth. And we know for a fact that they are dangerous. Odds are highly weighted against there being any danger in Mars rocks.
Re:This is a job for the space station (Score:2)
If you read the article carefully, you will note that the facility being constructed is not slated for analyzing alien samples but is, rather, simply "laying the groundwork."
And if you do your research, you'll learn that most marine biologist spend most of their time on shore.
This will be true with astrobiologists as well; they will spend most of their time on Earth.
There is no reason for an astrobiologist to go into space, given the costs and the fact that any organisms on the space station would already be out of their habitat...
The organisms being studied are going to be out of the habitat regardless of whether they are here on Earth or on the Space Station.
And there is a reason to send biologists into space to perform these studies... to reduce the risk of accidental contagion here on Earth to zero.
And, no, no robot is as good as having a human in there. Ask any lab scientist you know, and they'll confirm: there is no substitute for having a person running the experiments.
Most if not all lab scientists have never had the opportunity to work with the kind of robots I'm talking about. Recent achievements in minaturization and computer technology can produce an experience that is as good, if not better, than actually being there.
Machines don't have all of our sense. Half of good science is serendipity, often resulting from someone noticing something really subtle. Machines don't notice things, and by design, have restricted senses.
We wouldn't be using the machines to design experiments or analyze the results. And machines have far greater sensory capabilities than we do, and are able to communicate this information to us in ways far more useful than what the unadorned eye or ear otherwise could.
And it isn't like Mars rocks are more scary than, say, smallpox or e. coli.
How do you know this?
And if we really do know this, why spend the money to bring the stuff back?
We let biologists work with known hazardous organisms (under careful conditions, much like NASA astrobiology lab) here on Earth.
Organisms that evolved on Earth.
I've got some movies I'd like you to go see, um, Alien, um, Andromeda Strain, er, War of the Worlds, the Martian Chronicles...
Odds are highly weighted against there being any danger in Mars rocks.
So if the choice is between low, but real, risk and zero risk, you want to take the risk, even if it means that if you are wrong all of humanity might be threatened?
If NASA were really smart, they'd use the return of alien samples as a way of bolstering the funding for the Space Station. We spent the money to put it up there, now let's put it to use!
Re:This is a job for the space station (Score:2)
I'm basing mine on biology. If life on Mars evolved independently of Earth, odds are that it won't infect humans or any other terrestrial species. If you want to see why this is likely, just look at all of the bacteria and virii on Earth today. Only a small fraction of these can infect a human. Now imagine that the bacteria had never as much as seen a human before. What are the odds that it can even live in our systems, let alone thrive and infect?
Organisms that have evolved on Earth are far more likely to be dangerous than Mars rocks (which probably don't even have life to begin with, based on Viking findings). And organism like e. coli which has been SHOWN to infect humans is much scarier than some phantom boogieman from Mars you may have once seen in a movie.
As for the space station: it already gets the lion's share of the NASA budget.
Re:This is a job for the space station (Score:2)
You argue that it is unlikely that any alien organism can pose a threat here, but your arguments are the same as might have been made in years past, when instead of visiting alien worlds we travelled to undiscovered countries.
Look at all of the bacteria and virii on Earth today! Only a small fraction of these can infect a human! So no need to take precautions before we visit these natives over here, or this tribe or that tribe.
And of course, what happened? Whole populations were decimated, and why? Because that one seemingly insignificant bacteria or virii that we didn't give a second thought too was something that the people who lived in these parts of the worlds had never encountered.
History is replete with examples of our causing great destruction borne of nothing but our arrogance.
If we know everything already, then why spend so much money bringing this stuff back?
Re:This is a job for the space station (Score:2)
You are still ignoring the point. Bacteria carried by humans to other populations is still bacteria adapted to humans. To compare it to potential Mars life is silly.
No one is saying that we should take any precautions. That's what this NASA facility is all about. But there are precations and there are undo, overly expensive precautions that cut the amount of viable science dramatically. I am of the opinion that putting the facility on the Space Station is in the latter category.
Re:This is a job for the space station (Score:2)
You are so wrong.
The question isn't whether the bacteria has adapted to humans.
It's whether the humans have adapted to the bacteria.
I'm going to guess you're either a biologist, or a scientist of some other persuasion. One of the more sobering facts in this life concerns the relative ease with which we award such credentials upon people, regardless of whether they are possessed with the faculties necessary to administer their responsiblities.
All too often they are not.
And more often than not, this is how disaster occurs.
I don't say this in reference to you. Necessarily. It's more of a point aimed at the current crop of "scientists" who inhabit NASA these days. You're right when you point out that they appear ready to sign off on this.
More frightening than even the movie 'Alien'.
The Alien (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, that fell in line nicely with rumors that JSC was actually a Hanger 18 site. And that's why JSC property includes lots of undeveloped land (all those underground facilities). Now days there's a major road and a magnet school along one of the borders that used to be closed off NASA territory.
Of course - its all bunk anyway. But it fit nicely with the Alien Room at the bottom of the (sometimes) locked elevator.
Re:The Alien (Score:2)
Re:The Alien: Underground in Houston? (Score:1)
There is an underground tunnel complex in Houston, with shopping, movies, and parking, so it's possible, using a lot of pumps going all the time I suppose. Last year the entire city got horribly flooded, including those tunnels. Flood maps [dodson-hydro.com]. Think about floodwater deluging a clean room full of alien samples and then surging out across the Texas countryside--which does not drain very well either, and is plenty moist and warm for growing any sort of microbe you want. Heck, they had 2 cases of cholera in Houston when I lived there. Supposedly it arrived in bilge.
Also, the entire region is saturated with noxious chemicals from the petroleum industry. With this witches' brew already in place, I'd rather have the samples go to Iowa or some such high-and-dry location.
Re:The Alien: Underground in Houston? (Score:2)
You think there's a witches brew from the Petroleum industry. Just think about all the chemicals and biological agents dumped in to Houston's bayous from flooded university labs last year.
In any case - JSC does have some degree of underground structures. I'll have to dig up some info on that room and find out exactly how deep it goes. But otherwise, JSC has a somewhat extensive network of underground utility tunnels (although they don't got THAT deep, but I understand they're very wet).
Having said all that - The Alien Room is labled as such because of our sense of humor. Not because of its actual use.
extraterrestrial life from Mars, Europa, and other (Score:1)
extraterrestrial life from Mars, Europa, and (Score:1)
>other points little known
I knew you Americans do know very little about
Europe. But at least you should know, that it's
located on Earth
malana
Re:extraterrestrial life from Mars, Europa, and (Score:1)
Re:extraterrestrial life from Mars, Europa, and (Score:1)
Great use of tax dollars... (Score:1)
Re:Great use of tax dollars... (Score:2)
It's all futile.... (Score:1)
MIB? (Score:1)
Step-by-step (Score:1)
They have alien species captured and contained in your facilities, but must preparing civils step-by-step, because the cultural,religious and social impact will be unprecedent in human history.
Tha lab is marketing to something that already exists for a long time...Now I know why I always felt like an alien in USA (Score:1)
Europa != Europe (Score:1)
Re:Europa != Europe (Score:1)
Listen, in my part of the world the continent where I live is definitively called Europa. And not only in my part (Germany), but in many other parts as well (Spain, Portugal, etc.) You may visit europa.eu.int [eu.int] to learn more about us.
You see, my joke was meant for readers with a tiny bit of cultural background on the Old Continent. Obviously, you don't belong to that group.
Houston not a safe location (Score:3, Interesting)
Houston locals, including the people at NASA-JSC, entertain themselves by betting on where the hurricanes are going to hit. Locals track them on maps--and everybody has maps with latitude and longitude, because they are distributed by local businesses printed on placemats, grocery bags, and such.
Clear Lake has a straight section running directly from the Gulf of Mexico to the south side of Johnson Space Center. Topo map [topozone.com] A big hurricane, hitting at the right point in the tidal cycle, could create a storm surge that would flood everything at JSC up to, maybe including, the second floor.
When I worked there (a long time ago) high-water preparedness consisted of putting the equipment up on tables and desks.
It seems to me that a place which could be sloshing with seawater is not the best location for this lab.
So... (Score:1)
Way's to detect life without samples (Score:2)
Keeping alien samples safe for study (Score:1)