Turns out we had the Fermi paradox wrong all this time, it's not the all intelligent space faring civilizations we had to fear, but space MRSA.
Oh the Boeing paradox.
Lets hope it doesn't dim our sun...
I created an account just to say how much I love your comment. I just finished this book, and it was an incredible journey.
I can't recall this being the premise of any book I've read, please let us know the name of the book.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
astrophage
Which book is it?
Project Hail Mary
I'm reading that book right now for the second time. It's even better than The Martian. It's kind of in the same spirit as Delta-V or Critical Mass by Daniel Suarez. Sci-fi with some of the details worked out.
Pretty sure the radiation will be a bigger deal.
war of the worlds in reverse.
remember how NASA had quarantines and all that wasteful and unnecessary things which Elon musk would never waste time or money on?
maybe war of the worlds was a warning about private space exploration more than anything else. imagine being invaded by aliens with good protocols.