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Cosmic Contamination: The Cold War Quest to Protect Earth from Extraterrestrial Microbes

Category
Dagomar Degroot
Georgetown 카지노게임사이트
Date
카지노 게임 컬렉션“
Location
카지노게임사이트 Club

Event Poster

A reception with light refreshments will follow the lecture.  

As NASA prepared to send astronauts to the Moon in the 1960s, prominent scientists speculated that microbial life had evolved on the lunar surface. If brought to Earth, they warned, lunar microorganisms could contaminate the biosphere and cause a plague rivalling the worst in human history. A network of American scientists, officials, and civil servants therefore developed a quarantine protocol that would isolate astronauts, spacecraft, and Moon rocks brought back to Earth.  

Yet although NASA officials publicly assured policymakers and journalists that they would prevent the accidental release of lunar microorganisms, in private they prioritized probable risks to astronauts over unlikely 카지노 게임 컬렉션“ but potentially catastrophic 카지노 게임 컬렉션“ risks to Earth. As a result, the quarantine protocol developed by the American government was riddled with failures that largely went unnoticed by the public. Today the history of the protocol can reveal how and why large organizations may choose to exacerbate existential risks 카지노 게임 컬렉션“ and how those risks can be mitigated.

Department of History, Queen's 카지노게임사이트

49 Bader Lane, Watson Hall 212
Kingston ON K7L 3N6
Canada

Phone

Please note that the Department of History phone line is not monitored at all times. Please leave a voicemail or email hist.undergrad@muwangwooden.com and we will contact you as soon as we can.

Undergraduate

Queen's 카지노게임사이트 is situated on traditional Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory.