Re: Mutant Mir space fungi

From: Jim Scotti (jscotti@jupiter.lpl.Arizona.EDU)
Date: Tue Mar 06 2001 - 12:47:44 PST

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    Sounds like it's about time to re-read "The Andromeda Strain".  Good movie
    too...  The mutant space fungus was apparently not a health problem for the
    inhabitants of Mir, though they certainly had some interaction with it
    according to Dragonfly and some other sources.  Any isolated environment will
    have an evolving biocomplex that will deviate from the norm over time.  It
    will be interesting to see what comes back from our non-Earthly colonies in
    the millenia to come.  Probably a much bigger hazard than dealing with the
    relatively sterile environments native to those worlds upon our arrival.  And
    re-entry is unlikely to protect us from those kinds of dangers.  I presume
    that if there is any life on other solar system worlds, it may have
    originated from Earth anyway and we may already have recieved significant
    recontamination from the other planets.
    
    I think there's a Mir pass here in Tucson on Saturday.  I'll have to pay my
    respects to it then.  I remember watching SkyLab fly over Tucson in July of
    1979 on the morning it re-entered, about 1 or 2 orbits before it finally came
    down.  I prefer my memories of it around x-mas of 1973 when the 3rd crew was
    aboard it, though....  That was one of my earliest memories of satellite
    watching.
    
    Jim.
    
    On Tue, 6 Mar 2001, Dale Ireland wrote:
    
    > Interesting final news story this noon on the Seattle CBS affiliate KIRO TV 7.
    > They say Russian "experts" warn of toxins that may be released by "mutant space fungi" aboard Mir when it crashes into the Pacific.
    > Better look out if you are heading to see the reentry
    >  Dale
    > 
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    Jim Scotti                              
    Lunar & Planetary Laboratory         jscotti@pirl.lpl.arizona.edu 
    University of Arizona                
    Tucson, AZ 85721 USA                 http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/    
    
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