[peyton]

> the most reasonable prior "astronauts pick something up that then returns with them intact and is able to survive in highly oxidizing atmosphere" should be near zero

The Soviets had active bioweapons and espionage programs. In a MAD world and with geopolitical dominance at stake, it’s not unreasonable to take precautions against something planted in the lunar module.

Given the demonstrated capabilities and incentives of the actors involved vs. hypothetical AI manifestations, I think it’s way more reasonable to consider moon bugs the greater threat.