Australia鈥檚 astronomers are expecting an invasion from Mars. In a poll, fewer than half of respondents said they trust NASA to protect Earth from organisms brought here in Martian soil.
Sarah Joyce and colleagues at the University of Western Australia in Perth polled 74 people belonging to four Australian astronomical societies about a NASA mission that aims to return soil from Mars after 2020.
Only 36 of the astronomers had 鈥渃omplete confidence鈥� that NASA would protect Earth from contamination 鈥� while 1 in 10 had no confidence at all. And more than a fifth do not believe that NASA will 鈥渉onestly inform the public of the risks鈥� of the mission (Advances in Space Research, DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2007.02.009).
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鈥淣ASA must realise the importance of international risk communication,鈥� says Joyce.
