The ancient Greeks called it "The God of War". To the Norsemen, it was Tyr, or Tiu, the one-handed god of war, from whence we derive the third day of the week, Tiu’s Day. Tycho and Kepler agonised over its troublesome motion, Schiaparelli said he saw canels on it and Lowell proclaimed evidence of intelligent life. In 1938, Orson Welles created hysteria during his radio narration of HG Wells’ "War of the Worlds".
And now I am held in the hypnotic glare of the red planet, Mars
Our mystical fascination with this planet is as fired up as it was 2500 years ago when the Babylonians recorded regular observations of Mars. The ever-popular questions I have fielded at talks include: "Is or was there life on Mars? Is or was there water on Mars? Who put the face on Mars? When are humans going to Mars?"
In my opinion, if there was any planet other than ours, in the solar system, that should have harboured life, it was Mars. In its present condition, a maximum daily temperature of 20°C just so happens to be rather comfortable. Just add water and life would flourish. The minimum of -140°C is a little off putting, but then again so is Earth’s absolute minimum of -70°C. It’s the air pressure that would really worry me. At around 1% of ours, a glass of water would evaporate explosively on the surface of Mars. Temperature declines so rapidly with altitude that while your ankles were baking at a balmy 20°, your head and shoulders would be showing signs of perma-frost.
I feel something catastrophic happened in the not so distant past that stripped a fairly life-friendly environment of its water supply and atmosphere. I can’t help but add all the bits and pieces together: the smooth northern and highly cratered southern hemisphere, two very oddly shaped satellite moons orbiting close their parent body, the Tharsis Montes range of volcanoes (including the giant Olympus Mons), a 4000km scar (Valles Marineris), ripping across the surface just forward of the volcanoes and … chunks of Martian rock reigning down on Earth.
What happened? What secrets does this god of war withhold from us.
But then, our own Earth still withholds tantalising and frustrating truths that elude our completing the puzzle picture, such as incomplete yet convincing evidence of lost civilisations and ancient technologies. Are their connections and similarities between ours and Mars’ past? There could be as many theories as there are people who ask these questions. Come and chat about your theories at our meetings – I for one, would thoroughly enjoy a friendly debate with you.
In the time being, let’s revel in this once-in-a-lifetime Mars closest approach, and a final warning to all Martians: you are being watched.
Dave Gordon