Will We Disturb Martian Spotted Owls?

0 Comments | Insight on the News, March 26, 2001 | by John Elvin

Anyone who would like to have a say in the creation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Rover expedition to Mars in 2003 has until April 9 to submit comments to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Two launches from Cape Canaveral, Fla., are scheduled to ferry robotic research vehicles to the red planet.

A question raised by Insight readers concerns the necessity of an EIS when the destination is not known to contain endangered species of any sort -- not even so much as a spotted microbe -- though the possibility of life there is the subject of intense scientific debate. The study, at any rate, struck some as a waste of taxpayers' money.

That could be, but for other reasons. While waiting for a response to our inquiry from NASA spokesman Don Savage, we here in the Briefs Bunker spent a fascinating few hours reading up on what the EIS for this and past NASA projects is all about. For one thing, it isn't necessarily NASA's idea, but it is required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended. The focus is on launches and potential accidents rather than on messing up the environment on Mars. Some of the scientific instruments aboard will contain radioactive material that might be a cause for concern if, say, the rocket went awry and landed in your backyard.

To prevent that kind of scenario, the launches are reviewed in advance for safety factors by a bevy of agencies ranging from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the Environmental Protection Agency. Since the days of the Nixon administration, launches have been similarly scrutinized.

The risk of radioactive contamination in the case of an accident always has been found to be "small," and agencies looking into the matter routinely sign off as having "no objection" to NASA's plans. Since it now has become quite clear that launches from Cape Canaveral are known to produce noise, exhaust fumes and some debris falling near the site, it would seem redundant to do an EIS every time a space vehicle goes aloft.

As for Mars, one area of environmental impact that does raise some concerns is "biocontamination," where an earthly organism could hitch a ride on the spacecraft and take up residence on the planet, leading to a future discovery of "life on Mars."