starship-design: Re: Atmosphere

[KellySt@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/31/97 1:42:49 AM, you wrote:

>Dear Kelly:
>
>	I was wandering through the web and found your site. As I was taking a
>look at the Alien Studies page I saw what you wrote about the
>atmospheric requirements of a planet to support life. Well, I think that
>it was quite rightly demonstrated that the oxigen in our atmosphere came
>AFTER the development of life, specifically photosynthethizing life. Any
>free oxigen in an atmosphere would quicly combine with metals or other
>elements like carbon to generate rust and carbon dioxide, unless life
>processes would continually hamper this. Thanks for your attention, I
>hope it would be of help!
>
>	Yours,
>
>			Milton.
>
>*********************************
>Milton Mendonca Jr.
>Dept. of Biology
>Imperial College at Silwood Park
>Ascot, Berks
>SL5 7PY
>UK
>*********************************


Quite true.  Oxegen polution was a catostophic even in our biosphere history.
 However signs of free oxegen in an atmosphere is considered a good sign of
life, since it would otherwise corode out of the air rapidly.  So Ox isn't
needed for life, but life may be needed for free oxegen in the atmosphere.

Kelly Starks