SCIENTISTS TACKLE PROBLEM OF SPACE-BORN VIRUSES

July 15, 1996
Source: Reuter
BIRMINGHAM, England, July 15 (Reuter) - Space scientists from around the globe converged on Birmingham on Monday for a week-long conference covering all aspects of space research including missions to Jupiter and Mars and killer viruses.

About 1,500 scientists are attending the COSPAR 96: International Space Science Meeting in the central English city.

With the Galileo space probe mapping a moon of Jupiter and NASA planning to launch another spacecraft to Mars, one of the first topics they tackled was the likelihood of biological hazards from space.

``It appears that life is a natural product of planetary evolution, so we have to be ready for surprises. Until we find life somewhere else, we don't know what we don't know,'' said John Rummel of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Since the beginning of the space age scientists have been concerned about biological hazards from space.

``The Andromeda Strain,'' Michael Crichton's 1970s novel about a space-born virus theatening the Earth's population, was just science fiction but scientists are still concerned about the real-life possiblily.

They urged a cautious approach to the return to Earth of material from planets such as Mars and from Jupiter's moon Europa.

Scientists presented papers detailing concerns about extraterrestrial materials released into the Earth's biosphere, public perceptions about samples from space and rules developed by NASA's Mars programme to protect the planet from potential space hazards.

``Still, most meeting participants are optimistic that so-called ``sample return'' missions can be conducted effectively and safely and without putting the Earth at risk,'' Rummel added.

COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) is an international, non-political organisation established in 1958 to exchange data on satellites and space probes for scientific purposes.

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