Life On Mars
Written by John Carl Villanueva
Because of the planet's proximity and its striking similarities to Earth, science fiction authors, people in the movie industry, E.T. believers, and even scientists have long pondered on the question, "Is there life on Mars?".
Even way back in the mid-17th century, there have already been proofs that ice caps in the polar regions grew and withdrew just like here on Earth. The two planets also share similarities in other features such as length of a day and axial tilt, leading to speculations that perhaps the seasons there were like ours.
Despite having longer years owing to its larger orbit (and hence a lesser amount of heat incident on it), the factors mentioned earlier were too glaring to discount the possibility of life on the Red Planet. As early as the late 1800's there were already literary compositions (e.g. H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds "in 1898) that described a Martian (inhabitants of Mars) invasion.
Some people believed that albedo features, large areas on the surface of a planet that highly contrast with its adjacent areas, on Mars were bodies of water. If water existed, it would provide the means for living creatures to survive.
In 1976, the question "Is there life on Mars?" sprung up once again. In this case, many in the general public were convinced that a Martian civilization could have at least once existed if ever they were no longer there any more – images and efforts to communicate with possible living intelligent lifeforms pointed to the negative.
The widespread speculation was aroused by images brought home by the Viking missions. One of the images taken of the albedo feature Cydonia showed a large formation that resembled a human face. More images of the region also revealed pyramid like structures adjacent to the face, which was widely known as "The Face on Mars".
What further supported the theory that the face was once put up by intelligent creatures were images of a vast region adjacent to the pyramids that seemed very smooth – typical of a dried up ocean.
More recent (and sharper) images of the Face on Mars have since revealed that the 'face' was nothing more than a product of poor image resolution. However, to answer the question, "Is there life on Mars?" with utmost conviction once and for all, scientists have made it the top priority of their missions to find clues for the possible existence of water whether now or in the past.
We've got some related articles here in Universe Today. Try "Cydonia" and "New Image of the Face on Mars."
There's more from NASA: "Unmasking the Face on Mars" and "Mars Shoreline Tests: Massifs in the Cydonia Region"
Here are two episodes at Astronomy Cast that you might want to check out as well:
Stellar Roche Limits, Seeing Black Holes, and Water on Mars
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Filed under: Astronomy
Related stories on Universe Today
- Signs of Underground Life on Mars
- Is There Life on Mars?
- Beagle 2 is Ready for Launch
- Water on Mars
- Imminent Discovery of Life On Mars?
