Structure Analysis

Thsis Statement

When Carl Sagan imagined sending humans to Mars in his book "The Cosmic Connec tion," published in 1973, he posed a problem beyond such a mission's cost and complexity: the possibility that life already existed on the red planet and that it might not play nice. "It is possible that on Mars there are pathogens," he wrote, "organisms which, if transported to the terrestrial environment, might do enormous biological damage - a Martian plague." Michael Crichton imagined a related scenario in his novel "The Andromeda Strain." Such situations, in which extraterrestrial samples contain dangerous tagalong organisms, are examples of backward contamination, or the risk of material from other worlds harming Earth's biosphere. "The likelihood that such pathogens exist is probably small," Sagan wrote, "but we cannot take even a small risk with a billion lives."

Essay Outline

• [Sec. #2] - The Mars samples should be handle carefully and pristine.

  No one can yet say for sure they are not harmful to Earthlings. The Mars samples should be held in the special sample receiving facility which is capable of safely containing the most dangerous pathohens. It is also called the standard of Biosafety Level 4, or BSL-4.

• [Sec. #3] - Regular lab is not capable for Mars samples.

  The statement no existing lab was both contained and clean enough for NASA indicates that normal labs is not safe enough for the returned samples. The NASA scientists think that facilities that handled biological horrors, maintain ultra-cleanrooms or manufacture innovative equipment for either purpose might be a better place to keep the samples.

• [Sec. #4] - Materials from Mars is different than before.

  From NASA deems "significant" backward contamination risk we can see that these samples is different from moon rocks and dust, samples from asteroids and particles from solar wind and a comet. We have to treat those samples as if they contain hazardous biological materials. It is reasonable to takes the risks seriously, because we don't know how a planet works.

• [Sec. #5] - How the Mars Sample Return mission begun.

  The mission try to figure out how the planet works, which cannot be done on site because scientists and their myriad instruments cannot travel there yet. The author explain the process of mission in the first paragraph and indicates that it will end optimistically in 2033.

• [Sec. #6] - The technological challenges of the Sample Receiving Facility.

  The Sample Receiving Facility need to satisfied two requirements, Earth doesn't touch the samples and the samples don't touch Earth. , the goal of pristime and the preventtion of backward contamination. Regularly, the cleanrooms require positive air pressure while the high-containment labs need negative air pressure. It is hard to integrate two conditions in the same space. The NASA scientists need to see how clean and contained facilities had kept themselves that way and to hope to determine how to best combine them.

• [Sec. #7] - Problems hided in details.

  The floors, ceilling and walls will coated with epoxy. Researchers will use microscopes, gloveboxes and robotics like "micromanipulators" to handle materials.

  These all could solve problems in general. But such as elevated thresholds or narrow doorways is not suitable for NASA equipment.
• [Sec. #8] - The final decision should be made soon.

  The agency could alter an existing BSL-4 lab to be more pristine or build a new brick-and-mortar facility from the Earth-ground up, uniquely designed for its purposes. No matter which plans NASA choose, they need to decide now. The bureaucratic hangups will cause the delay and present significant programmatic risk to the Mars Sample Return.

• [Sec. #9] - Regulations and the public might also affect the project.

  The project, Sample Receiving Facility and the space craft and its at-home facility should follows different regulations from government agencies. Also, the public is important too. Being transparent with the public, Dr. Rummel said, is key not just to gaining public support but to keeping the effort accountable and safe. By the public interest, second paragraph talk about how to prove the feasibility about the project to the public.

• [Sec. #10] - New problem, new answer and new discovery.

  The Mars Sample Retuen will post extraterrestrial risk to our planet. The samples could let us know about a planet's evolution and what Earth may have been like eans ago, while learning from how to eliminate the risk could provide more benefit to humankind than whatever they learn from the samples.

Coherence & Cohesion

[Sec. #2]

Coherence

• Para #1 - The first two sentences and the sentence No one can for sure...not harmful to Earthlivings of the first paragraph linked back to the thesis statement. By the sentence Because it is not a zero-percent chance, we are doing..., the author made a smooth transition from the risk of backward contamination to how NASA plans to handle the returned samples.
• Para #2 - The first word Carefully in this paragraph is the last word of the first one. It continue the topic of how to handle the returned samples carefully.

Cohesion

• Para #1 - The whole sentence A rover on the red planet... is explaining "Mars Sample Return" in the previous sentence, which use the technique called paraphrasing.
• Para #2 - In the last sentence of the next paragraph But it also has to be pristine..., the author uses a pronoun it to refer to Sample Receiving Facility in the previous statement and create the logical connection.

[Sec. #3]

Coherence

• Para #1 - At the first joint, the sentence Because no existing lab was both contained and clean enough for NASA, ... compare to pristine in the previous section let readers know why NASA need to find planet's most dangerous facilities.
• Para #2 - The first sentence of this paragraph In total, the team visited 18 facilities... is the result of the tour of some of the planet's most dangerous facilities, which link to the previous paragraph.

Cohesion

• Para #1 - In the second sentence of the first joint She was joined ..., the author uses a pronoun She to refer to Dr.Harrington in the previous statement and make the connection.
• Para #2 - In the second sentence of this paragraph ...figure out what has worked at existing labs..., the phrase what is the pronoun of the mentioned techniques of different facilities.

[Sec. #4]

Coherence

• Para #1 - In the second sentence ...NASA deems "significant" backward contamination risk, ... it link to the previous section by the same phrasebackward contamination and further talking about the difference between these mars returned samples and others materials around the solar system. Also, the third last sentence ...even if they are slim and seen like science fiction related to the small risk in thesis statement.

Cohesion

• Para #1 - The author mentioned "extraterrestrial material" in the middle of paragraph, which is the repetition of "hazardous biological materials" in the third sentence of this paragraph. Also, the repetition of samples is used frequently in this paragraph.

[Sec. #5]

Coherence

• Para #1 - This paragraph makes a transition to the details of the Mars Sample Return mission, and link to the previous section about the facilities on earth by the last sentence of this section scientists can study the samples with the heavy instrumentation....

Cohesion

• Para #1 - In the second sentence of this paragraph The mission has already begun, author uses demonstrative adjective to emphasize Mars Sample Return. Also, for the next two sentence The samples will then shuttled... the phrase the samples are the repetition of the key words.

[Sec. #6]

Coherence

• Para #1 - The sentence the biggest technological challenge is that the Sample Receiving Facility must meet two crossed purposes connected to the section three about the facilities, which made readers focus on the challenges of keeping these samples. The phrase pristine is also mentioned in section three.
• Para #2 - The fourth sentence particles are forced out, but do not force their way in, linked ot the last sentence of the last paragraph keeping what inside, inside. The author then made an transition from pristine to the opposite system by the linker in this sentence High-containment labs, though, work the opposite way.

Cohesion

• Para #1 - The sentence That is the goal of a pristine, clean facility:... use the pronoun that to refer the purpose Earth doesn't touch the sample mentioned in the last sentence.
• Para #2 - In the second sentence of this paragraph Air always flows, then, from the inside to the outside - from higher pressure to lower pressure repeat the similar phrase in the last sentence pressure inside is higher than that outside by from higher pressure to lower pressure, which use the strategy repetition.

[Sec. #7]

Coherence

• Para #1 - The sentence Both materials could work for NASA's dual purposes made a transition from pristine and keep the samples contained to the exact materials and the structure of the facilities.
• Para #2 - The opening sentence of this paragraph But problems popped up in the details, showing where the state of the state would not work... use linker to make a transition from the newest equiments microscopes, gloveboxes and robotics like "micromanipulators", which mentioned in last paragraph, to more complictaed problems about the existing labs.

Cohesion

• Para #1 - The sentence Both materials could work for NASA's dual purposes used the phrase both materials use the demonstrative adjective strategy to mention epoxy and welded stainless steel in last two sentence.
• Para #2 - The third sentence of this paragraph elevated threshold or narrow doorways made it hard to... use the phrase elevated threshold or narrow doorways to explain way too small for the scale the mission requires in the last sentence. It use the strategy of paraphrasing.

[Sec. #8]

Coherence

• Para #1 - The first sentence of this paragraph the team presented a few possibilities to NASA of what shape a Mars sample facility could take:... introduced the options of the final dicision about Sample Receiving Facility, which conclude the ideas and problems in previous sections about the facilities and equiments.
• Para #2 - The first sentence of second paragraph part of the reason to avoid delay is that there will almost certainly be setbacks connected to the previous statement recommended that NASA spool up certain plans approximately now and made a smooth transition to why need to made the final decision faster.

Cohesion

• Para #1 - The second sentence of first paragraph Or, likely requiring more money and time, ... sue the linker or to continue the topics about the options for the Sample Receiving Facility.
• Para #2 - The sentence The potential for tardiness presented... refers to the last sentence bureaucratic hangups, spawning from new regulatory requirements, the vagaries of goverment money, construction difficulties and imperfect public engagement by the phrase tardiness. It involves the strategy of paraphrasing.

[Sec. #9]

Coherence

• Para #1 - This paragraph mentioned many regulations such as international planetary-protection policies, National Environmental Policy Act process, National Security Presidential Directive 25, etc, which could linked back to the tardiness in the previous paragraph. After the first joint, the sentence But engaging with the public, not just government agencies, was also key to a project's success made a smooth transition from goverment regulations to public interest.
• Para #2 - The author keep the topic on the public by the opening sentence The facility's builders will have to consider public interst, ... and further explain the details about it.

Cohesion

• Para #1 - At the middle of this paragraph This is not to neglect..., the author used the pronoun this to emphasize the situation of the project before this sentence.
• Para #2 - The sentence Not In My Backyard and What's in In For Me, which have to be balanced use the strategy the former/latter to explain NIMBY and WIIFM of the last sentence.

[Sec. #10]

Coherence

• Para #1 - The author mentioned the same phrase technical challenges as previous sections, and provided a new viewpoint about it
• Para #2 - The author connected this paragraph with previous sections with th phrase samples and conclude the articles with what it could bring us.

Cohesion

• Para #1 - The sentence It's going to need a new answer use the pronoun it to refer new problem mentioned in the last sentence.
• Para #2 - The sentence It could bring us a small step... use the pronoun it to refer the samples

Take-home Message

In the last paragraph of the entire essay, the author mentioned the risks of the Mars returned samples and the preparation receiving them. The process of solving these technical challenges for receiving them might frankly, more benefit to humankind. The author also mentioned how valuable about the samples and how much new things the samples could teach us. From these statement, the author shows readers that no matter how much we learn from the samples, we already make many benefits from learning how to receivie them.

Dr. Hanton nevertheless sees, in this extraterrestrial risk, a terrestrial boon. "It feels to me like it's a new problem," he said. "It's going to need a new answer." NASA's investment in building a secure facility could result in better biolabs in general. "There's going to be very interesting technical challenges," he said, "that could provide, frankly, more benefit to humankind than whatever they learn from the sample." Dr. Harrington is, of course, excited about the samples. Mars is a geological and environmental time capsule, revealing what Earth may have been like eons ago. "We'll really be able to tell a lot about the Earth's evolution," Dr. Harrington said. It could bring us a small step closer to understanding how, say, a planet produces beings that produce a spacecraft that goes to another world and then brings that world back to this one.