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Hi Ray;
Thanks for your comments - much appreciated.
Although most of us have been over this same ground a few times already, I was wanting to (kind of) document it all in the one thread, as the launch date for Curiosity is rapidly approaching. I believe this is the first time ever, that any space agency has actually gone looking specifically for life .. so I was also wanting to drill into exactly what it is that they're looking for from a 'what is currently known about life' perspective.
Expectedly, (I suppose), it seems to be a pretty sketchily defined mission objective. There's a lot that doesn't add up (for me) … but once again, somewhat expectedly, this is probably answerable by asking the question: 'how does one go looking for life as we don't know it'?
Along these lines for example, if they don't find anything … does this then mean, (in general), that life doesn't necessarily crop up on water-bearing planets, with similar age and composition as Earth, in 'habitable zones' ? I don't see how this conclusion would be easily avoidable … and it would have significant ramifications on our thinking about exo-life elsewhere in the universe.
It might also just deepen the mystery even further, but mishaps aside, this mission should give us information we haven't ever had access to … ever.
Cheers
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