CBCNEWS - Earthlings plan to send aliens to Mars

As long as there is any chance of life on Mars, this would be a huge
mistake. The Martian biosphere would be altered in unpredictable ways
making it difficult or impossible to determine what Martian life is
(was). That said, I don't actually think the chance of life on Mars is
very high given current evidence.

Andy Doerksen wrote:
>
> ----------
> From: CBCNEWS[SMTP:nwonline@...]
> Sent: June 18, 2001 8:16 AM
> To: neo-reality@...
> Subject: CBCNEWS - Earthlings plan to send aliens to Mars
>
> This email has been sent to you by doerksen@...
> The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE
> at http://cbc.ca/news
> EARTHLINGS PLAN TO SEND ALIENS TO MARS
> WebPosted Tue Jun 5 20:27:27 2001
>
> GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA--A Martian invasion could take place as early as
> 2007 - but it will be Earth invading the Red Planet, instead of the
> other way around.
>
> Researchers at the University of Florida are working to develop
> genetically altered plants they hope to plant in Martian soil.
>
> A robotic gardener would scoop up, analyze and fertilize the red Martian
> soil in miniature greenhouses. These shelters would house germinating
> specimens of a common mustard plant known as thale cress.
>
> Jelly genes
>
> A common weed along roadsides and trails, the plant, also known as
> Arabidopsis thaliana , was picked for the project because of its short
> life cycle, about 5 weeks, its small size, about 18 centimetres and
> because its entire genetic structure has been mapped and sequenced.
>
> Scientists will alter the plant, adding marker genes from other species
> to make it glow in response to environmental stresses like drought,
> extreme temperatures and noxious soils.
>
> One specimen will emit a greenish light in the presence of excessive
> levels of heavy metals. Another will turn blue to signal peroxides.
>
> One of the marker genes comes from aequorea victoria , a jellyfish found
> along the Pacific coast of North America.
>
> Survival skills
>
> The plants will have to be tough - surviving a temperature range from 7
> degrees Celsius during the day to minus 112 degrees Celsius at night.
>
> If Arabidopsis succeeds, the researchers hope it will spark more
> interest in the possibility of "terraforming" Mars – engineering
> its ecosystems to make them more suitable for Earth life.
>
> The researchers are trying to secure a spot for their experiment on a
> NASA-sponsored Mars mission. Rob Ferl at the University of Florida says
> he has no doubt the plants will survive on Mars.
>
> Ferl says when it happens, it will show that Earth-evolved life can
> thrive on distant worlds - and will set the stage for human
> colonization.
>
> Links:
> http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/06/05/alien010605#links
>
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--
Al Globus
aglobus@..., (650) 604-4404
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/~globus/home.html

The dinosaurs weren't spacefaring. We are. I don't think that's an
accident. Maybe we are life's taxi to the stars.