Re: starship-design: What if...

[KellySt@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/11/97 12:07:57 PM, stk@sunherald.infi.net (kyle) wrote:

>Hello fellow starship designers!
>
>I was thinking about our destination planet, and was wondering: It's
>earthlike,
>so what if there is a pre-industrial society there, or even just a
>presentient
>species there? What should we do? After all, it is their planet, even if
>they are
>extremely primative. 
>
>I know this will sound paranoid, but we must be prepared for all
>possibilities:
>Whit if we find evidence that the planet has been visited in the past by
>a
>starfaring technological race? Even more unlikely, what if we find there
>an
>OPERATIONAL von-neumann colony, or something of that order. I know these
>are
>extremely unlikely possibilities, but we MUST BE PREPARED FOR ANYTHING.
>After
>all, it would not be they, but we who are the aliens.
>
>				Kyle Mcallister


A couple years ago this came up.  I think the runiong assumption was armor
and arm ground exploration vehicals against nasty life forms.  (Armored cars
anyone?)  And stringently quarenteen the returning survey team away from the
ship.  If you can't be sure nothing contaminated them, they don't get back on
the ship.  And if you can't prove the ship is clean.  The ship doesn't get to
slow dow in our starsystem.

As to inteligences.  Try to talk.  If that fails, study them A LOT.

(Hey I never wanted to colonize the planet antway.  ;)  )

Kelly