🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <5373@lynx.UUCP> neal@lynx.UUCP (Neal Woodall) writes:
>this! What do you mean "not equipped for alien contact." (maybe you have been
>reading too much science fiction) I didn't know that our government or space
>program even had any "rules" for alien contact, much less that they have
>special "equipped for alien contact" shuttles!
>Don't you think that they would seek out some more intelligent examples of our
>species?
>
What I mean by 'not equipped for alien contact' is just that.  What do aliens
breathe?  Are they radioactive?  Do they have microbes that could cause disease
in humans?  What do they eat?  Before you let aliens in the shuttle with you,
you had better know these things, or at least be prepared to deal with them,
or you're asking for real trouble.  You'd want a quarantine area, for starters,
most likely special atmospheric requirements for the aliens, and some idea of
how to speak with them.  It's even possible that the psychological shock of
meeting alien life forms could be too much for some people; you'd want very
stable types on a meeting team.  I'm not saying that the U.S. has any kind of
policy regarding aliens from space (we can barely deal with aliens from 
Nicaragua :-)  ), but I would think that some minimal preparation is necessary.


-- 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Matthew DeLuca                      :
Georgia Institute of Technology     : Remember, wherever you go, there you are.
ARPA: ccoprmd@pyr.gatech.edu        :