Mars has fascinated us for years. From the time astronomers first turned their telescopes on the planet, we have imagined life there. Science fiction writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury and H.G. Wells have written about life on and invaders from Mars. We have sent
robots to orbit the planet, land on its surface, and sample the rocks and soil. What have we learned about the
planet Mars? Was it once like Earth? Is there or was there
water on Mars? Is there or was there life on Mars?
Origin:
Mars
formed by the clumping, or accretion, of small objects in the early solar system, which took about 100,000 years. Mars grew and developed a larger gravity field, which attracted more bodies. These bodies would fall into Mars, impact, and generate heat. The continued accretion of impacting material and the heat generated caused the material to sort out into a core, mantle, and crust (the crust may have formed and crystallized from a cooling mantle surface). Gases released from the cooling formed a primitive atmosphere.
The question of whether there is water on Mars is a major one, for several reasons:
Human Mars explorers will
need a source of water.
Any life on Mars, past or present, would need water.
The possible terraforming and settling of Mars will require water.
There is evidence that water has flowed on Mars, and may still be there. We have detected water in the
atmosphere and under the polar ice caps. From orbit, we have seen geological features that look like river valleys and water erosion. On Earth, rain flowing down a volcanic ash layer formed the alcove, channel and apron you see below. Similar features have been seen on the Martian gullies.
Furthermore, because of the extreme cold of the Martian surface, there may be large deposits of water in the form of permafrost under the Martian surface. We see permafrost in the polar latitudes on Earth, so the same could be true for Mars. Further robotic exploration of Mars could provide those
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