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18 Jan 06 - 09:52 PM (#1651315) Subject: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Keef I seem to remember that when the first samples of moon rock were brought back to earth there was a lot of care taken with quarantine just in case there were any interstellar "nasties" therein. Given that comets used to be blamed for outbreaks of plague and suchlike I wonder why there is no mention of similar precautions being taken with the comet dust samples. Scientists were confident that high temperature sterilisation would kill all possible pathogens until the discovery of a new class of "prions" responsible for mad cow disease. And just when I was running out of things to be worried about......... Keef |
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18 Jan 06 - 09:57 PM (#1651317) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Bee-dubya-ell Yes, Comet dust is a bad idea. So is Ajax dust, Bon Ami dust and Dutch Cleanser dust. You should avoid breathing it. |
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18 Jan 06 - 09:59 PM (#1651319) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Rapparee After re-entry the capsule was taken to a temporary clean room at Michael Army Air Field and from there to, I believe, Houston. You can read about it here. It's doubtful that stuff on the outside of the capsule would survive the heat of re-entry, and NASA would take great precautions both to prevent whatever's inside from coming out, but also to prevent Earth-side stuff from contaminatiing whatever was "caught." |
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18 Jan 06 - 10:04 PM (#1651324) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Amos Well, stars are also to blame for PMS, and the moon is responsible for crime, and sunspots for waves of mass lunacy....I dunno, seems like we're stuck in a Bad Luck Pinball Universe, huh? LOL! A |
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19 Jan 06 - 04:47 AM (#1651425) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Paul Burke I think the clean room is more to protect the dust than us. They want to know what's really in a comet's tail, not what's on the researcher's scalp. Given that bacteria and viruses have spent billions of years evolving alongside us, learning to exploit us while our immune systems learn to resist them, the chance of trouble from some spocky-come-lately that only knows how to survive outer space is pretty remote. |
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19 Jan 06 - 06:25 AM (#1651453) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: The Fooles Troupe One of the theories of biological evolution involves 'space dust viruses' infiltrating DNA and causing the organisms to evolve over time. |
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19 Jan 06 - 07:12 AM (#1651472) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Paul Burke There's no need for a theory like that. Things are quite capable of evolving just with cosmic rays, natural radiatioactivity, chemical mutagens, copying failures, etc. that can be demonstrated in the lab. Since we get about 15000 tonnes a year of space muck entering the atmosphere, a few tens of grams isn't likely to make much difference. |
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19 Jan 06 - 07:14 AM (#1651474) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: JohnInKansas The usual relationship assumed for space dust to "living molecules" is the notion that fairly large and complex molecules may be formed in space dust more easily than here and that those large molecules, once they filtered down, may have been the "precursor" molecules from which DNA originated. Since the evolution of new molecular forms is NOT something that happened a long time ago and then stopped, but is something that continues, "space dust" molecules arriving after DNA became common could be incorporated into existing molecules. Since this has presumedly been going on for quite a long time, the likelihood that the capsule will bring back something that hasn't already been here many times before is probably "extremely remote." There's little reason to expect to find a new "godzilla molecule." The comet dust may be expected to contain stuff already here - billions of times before. With the new dust in hand from there, we'll be able to tell which of the crud we live with came from "out there" and to separate it from the homebrew of stuff it's contaminated with in earthly samples. Without contamination by common earthish stuff, we should also be able to learn more about the "pure forms" in space, to separate the specific components in space from earthly stuff that includes those same components from space. Still, when quoting odds, one might well recall those famous (last) words of the great odds-maker, General Sedwick: "Those bastards couldn't hit an elephant from th_." John |
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19 Jan 06 - 05:47 PM (#1651670) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: GUEST,DB I seem to remember reading somewhere, that Hoyle and Wickramasinghe discovered, that interstellar dust clouds had very similar spectral characteristics to freeze dried bacteria ... makes y'think - doesn't it? |
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19 Jan 06 - 06:17 PM (#1651695) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Keef Silly me, I hadn't realised that Nasa and the US government are in charge and they will look after the interests of all of humanity.........There is no cause for alarm. AAAA--TTTTT...CHOOOOOOOOO! Bless Me Wonder if it's bubonic plague or just that old bird flu again By the way, I think that the design of a clean room (Positive air pressure to prevent ingress of contaminants) is the reverse of a bio hazard containment room (negative pressure and absolute filtration to prevent escape of nasties) |
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19 Jan 06 - 07:12 PM (#1651764) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: The Fooles Troupe A tissue, a tissue, we all fall down! |
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19 Jan 06 - 07:25 PM (#1651779) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Bill D with bird flu & AIDS about, worrying about comet dust is about like concern over being run down by an Amish buggy on the freeway..... |
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19 Jan 06 - 08:06 PM (#1651806) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Don Firth Looks kinda like an oversized Christmas pudding. . . . Don Firth |
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20 Jan 06 - 02:16 PM (#1652127) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Emma B Didn't anyone else watch Quatermas? |
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20 Jan 06 - 07:26 PM (#1652372) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Keef The first attempt with the Genesis probe ended up with half the contents splattered across the Utah desert. Of course it was later taken to the "clean room". The latest Pluto probe (Pluto might not enjoy that) contained 22 pounds of Plutonium which NASA judged had only a 1 in 350 chance of being scattered across the globe in the event of a launch accident. It seems the philosophpy of NASA is that if we mess up this planet, well no problem we'll just go out and find us another one someplace. The neo cons reckon that we are in the end times anyway and it is all god swill (Devil made me do that) Why Wurry? |
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20 Jan 06 - 08:01 PM (#1652417) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Bev and Jerry The Pluto probe,like many spacecraft before it, is powered by Radioisotope Thermoelectric Genereators (RTGs) which are cylinders about three feet long and two feet in diameter with a hole down the middle. You connect a bunch of thermocouples between the outside of the cylinder, which gets very cold, and the inside. Then, if you heat the inside, you get electricity. In theory you could heat it by burning coal or wood but the logistics of a long distance space mission require the use of plutonium. Now plutonium is radioactive and decays spontaneously so it's always hot. Just stick it in there and, voile, electricity. Since the plutonium insn't involvded in any chemical or nuclear reaction, it can be totally sealed up. In actuality, it's put in small pellets which are individually sealed and then groups of pellets are further sealed. The result is that if the launch vehicle blows up, it is virtually certain that the plutonium will be entirely contained within the RTG. Even if it blows apart, the pellets are harmless unless you do something stupid like eat one. NASA did a thourough study of what would have happened if the space shuttle Challenger had been carrying one or more RTGs and the answer is nothing. Bev and Jerry |
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20 Jan 06 - 10:07 PM (#1652499) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: HuwG Here is a link to the IMDb entry for The Andromeda Strain, a film version of Michael Crichton's apocalyptic take on what might happen when a space probe carrying a bug from outer space lands in New Mexico. |
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21 Jan 06 - 05:17 PM (#1653053) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: kendall There is a strain of bacteria that lives inside water heaters. There is a type that lives in the boiling water of those hot springs in Yosemite. How about that? |
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21 Jan 06 - 05:25 PM (#1653054) Subject: RE: BS: Comet Dust..bad idea? From: Peace We have some bacteria living in the bowels of us. However, why would people want to dust comets? Like, I live alone and dustin' stuff ain't too high up on my 'things to do today' list. |