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The question of life on Mars probably got its start in 1877, when the Italian astronomer Schiaparelli observed strange markings on its surface, and termed them “canali.”
In his language that meant “channels.” He was misinterpreted, though, and the markings became known as “canals,” a term which carries with it the implied meaning that something has been created or constructed artificially, by intelligent beings.
The American astronomer Percival Lowell observed these markings and expressed the open belief that they were canals, constructed by an advanced race of beings who dug them to bring water down from the poles. We know today, however, that those reported canals were made up of unrelated dark spots, put together as continuous features by the observer’s eye and mind.
Flybys of Mars, by various space probes during the past four decades, have shown the surface of Mars to be heavily cratered, possibly by asteroidal impacts. Photos and other data show that Mars resembles no other planet. Scientists, using terrestrial terms, have described the planet as being that of volcanic origin. One of the volcanoes is Olympus Mons, apparently a shield volcano whose caldera is more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide, and whose outer slopes are more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) in diameter. It stands more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) above the surrounding plain—the tallest known mountain in the solar system.
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE, BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK TODAY
In December 2000, Michael C. Malin and Kenneth S. Edgett (Malin Space Science Systems) unveiled some peculiar images of the red planet, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor. The images revealed that thick layers of deposits blanket large portions of the Martian landscape—features that Malin and Edgettattribute to having been formed from ancient lakes.
This theory of ancient lakes caused much immediate criticism. Many people questioned why the craters containing the putative lakes lacked any evidence to show how they could have become filled with water, and why no streams or rivers breached the crater ruins. Elaborate lake-filling theories were proposed, but none has ever been widely accepted.
Then, on Valentine’s Day, 2002, the Mars Odyssey successfully went into a mapping orbit around Mars, and began sending data back to Earth. The preliminary data indicate there are large amounts of hydrogen, a component of water, near the southern pole of Mars.
With this newest data, some scientists now believe that a large ocean may have existed near the north pole of Mars. The Mars Oydssey’s neutron and gamma-ray spectrometers are looking not only for existing water on Mars, in he form of water-ice, but also for water residues like that of sodium chloride (salt). Such findings could verify that standing or flowing water once existed on the planet.
Locating water on Mars would support theories that the environment there once supported (or possibly still does) life. “Our understanding is that the elements necessary to foster and sustain life here on Earth may also exist on Mars,” says Bill Feldman, a principal investigator at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. “If there was standing water on Mars, this means that at some point Mars had a warmer climate and there could have been life, but if there was no life in that warmer climate, we have to ask what makes Earth so special.”
Wherever the moisture went, new data suggest that it might not be gone for good. Evidence is mounting that water lies beneath the Martian surface, he says. Furthermore, every few centuries, the weather conditions might be climate enough for that water to “come and go” on the surface as well.
All of these observations reopen that venerable question: was there or isothere life on Mars?
DOES A MARS ROCK HOLD A CLUE TO LIFE?
Of the tens of thousands of meteorites that have been found on Earth, approximately a dozen may have actually originated on Mars. In 1996, a NASA research team concluded that a meteorite, found in an Antarctic ice field in1984, could be a rock that was blasted from the surface of Mars. The meteorite, age dated at 4.5 billion years, might contain evidence that life indeed existed on Mars 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists now theorize that 3.5 billion years ago, Mars was warmer and wetter, and microscopic life may have formed and left evidence in the rock. Then, 16 million years ago, a huge comet or asteroid smashed into Mars and blasted material—including this rock—out into space.
The rock possibly entered Earth’s atmosphere about 13,000 years ago, and ultimately landed in Antarctica.
These are just a few things to consider when you gaze at Mars. As Jane Houston Jones, President of the Astronomical Association of Northern California notes: “When I look at Mars through my telescope, I see seasonal changes in the polar ice caps. I think of colossal eroded canyons. Think of dust and volcanoes. It makes me ponder life on Earth, and if there was ever life on Mars. Take a look yourself, and show our planetary neighbor to your children and grandchildren. Someday, they may send their own children postcard from the Red Planet.”
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Re: Evening Of Aug 08...star
I think you were looking at the planet...
Is There Life On Mars?
The question of life on Mars probably got its start in 1877, when the Italian astronomer Schiaparelli observed strange markings on its surface, and termed them “canali.”In his language that meant “channels.” He was misinterpreted, though, and the markings became known as “canals,” a term which carries with it the implied meaning that something has been created or constructed artificially, by intelligent beings.
The American astronomer Percival Lowell observed these markings and expressed the open belief that they were canals, constructed by an advanced race of beings who dug them to bring water down from the poles. We know today, however, that those reported canals were made up of unrelated dark spots, put together as continuous features by the observer’s eye and mind.
Flybys of Mars, by various space probes during the past four decades, have shown the surface of Mars to be heavily cratered, possibly by asteroidal impacts. Photos and other data show that Mars resembles no other planet. Scientists, using terrestrial terms, have described the planet as being that of volcanic origin. One of the volcanoes is Olympus Mons, apparently a shield volcano whose caldera is more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide, and whose outer slopes are more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) in diameter. It stands more than 15 miles (24 kilometers) above the surrounding plain—the tallest known mountain in the solar system.
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE, BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK TODAY
In December 2000, Michael C. Malin and Kenneth S. Edgett (Malin Space Science Systems) unveiled some peculiar images of the red planet, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor. The images revealed that thick layers of deposits blanket large portions of the Martian landscape—features that Malin and Edgettattribute to having been formed from ancient lakes.
This theory of ancient lakes caused much immediate criticism. Many people questioned why the craters containing the putative lakes lacked any evidence to show how they could have become filled with water, and why no streams or rivers breached the crater ruins. Elaborate lake-filling theories were proposed, but none has ever been widely accepted.
Then, on Valentine’s Day, 2002, the Mars Odyssey successfully went into a mapping orbit around Mars, and began sending data back to Earth. The preliminary data indicate there are large amounts of hydrogen, a component of water, near the southern pole of Mars.
With this newest data, some scientists now believe that a large ocean may have existed near the north pole of Mars. The Mars Oydssey’s neutron and gamma-ray spectrometers are looking not only for existing water on Mars, in he form of water-ice, but also for water residues like that of sodium chloride (salt). Such findings could verify that standing or flowing water once existed on the planet.
Locating water on Mars would support theories that the environment there once supported (or possibly still does) life. “Our understanding is that the elements necessary to foster and sustain life here on Earth may also exist on Mars,” says Bill Feldman, a principal investigator at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. “If there was standing water on Mars, this means that at some point Mars had a warmer climate and there could have been life, but if there was no life in that warmer climate, we have to ask what makes Earth so special.”
Wherever the moisture went, new data suggest that it might not be gone for good. Evidence is mounting that water lies beneath the Martian surface, he says. Furthermore, every few centuries, the weather conditions might be climate enough for that water to “come and go” on the surface as well.
All of these observations reopen that venerable question: was there or isothere life on Mars?
DOES A MARS ROCK HOLD A CLUE TO LIFE?
Of the tens of thousands of meteorites that have been found on Earth, approximately a dozen may have actually originated on Mars. In 1996, a NASA research team concluded that a meteorite, found in an Antarctic ice field in1984, could be a rock that was blasted from the surface of Mars. The meteorite, age dated at 4.5 billion years, might contain evidence that life indeed existed on Mars 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists now theorize that 3.5 billion years ago, Mars was warmer and wetter, and microscopic life may have formed and left evidence in the rock. Then, 16 million years ago, a huge comet or asteroid smashed into Mars and blasted material—including this rock—out into space.
The rock possibly entered Earth’s atmosphere about 13,000 years ago, and ultimately landed in Antarctica.
These are just a few things to consider when you gaze at Mars. As Jane Houston Jones, President of the Astronomical Association of Northern California notes: “When I look at Mars through my telescope, I see seasonal changes in the polar ice caps. I think of colossal eroded canyons. Think of dust and volcanoes. It makes me ponder life on Earth, and if there was ever life on Mars. Take a look yourself, and show our planetary neighbor to your children and grandchildren. Someday, they may send their own children postcard from the Red Planet.”
