[ExI] Thoughts on space, on the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing

[Dan]

--- On Sat, 7/18/09, MB <mbb386 at main.nc.us> wrote:
> > In some sense I tend to agree with the option “We
> need to expand, but
> > with biologically modified transhumans”.
> 
> Puts me in mind of James Blish's "The Seedling Stars" from
> so many years ago.

Any reason we should right now start "contaminating" Mars and other bodies in the solar system with Earth life? We could easily start dumping microbes on Mars, for instance. Wouldn't add much cost to any future mission... Of course, then we could never be sure, if we find life there, that it's truly native. And, no doubt, it'll alter any local climate and other systems. So we lose some objects of study... But this is true of any change we make, no?

Regards,

Dan