All the amazing new knowledge that is emerging from Mars is fascinating, but I think that they are asking the wrong questions.
What we are discovering is that Mars not only had water, but now it appears that it had salt water seas. NASA is continually pointing out that this means Mars may have once had life. That’s certainly interesting, but how does it affect our lives?
No, I think the questions they should be asking are these:
If Mars once was covered with water, what events made it all evaporate?
If there was life on Mars, what catastrophic event caused planet-wide extinction?
Don’t you think that those questions should hold more interest here on our water-covered, life-filled planet?
I saw your pictures from the Las Vegas Hilton while I was looking for pictures of Janeway and her dog. I saw your caption wondering about the dog’s name and thought I’d let you know it was Molly (“Caretaker”).
I think that most scientists would agree that Mars lost its water and atmosphere because it didn’t have the mass to hold onto them as long as Earth. I doubt that there are any environmental lessons to be learned there (especially while we face the much more obvious dilemma of the impending depletion of polluting, greenhouse-gas-producing fossil fuels, with no viable alternative in the forseeable future–yet oil companies spend little on research for renewable alternatives like solar and fusion).
I think the most important discovery to come from Mars is more philosophical. Undisputable proof that indigenous life existed there would shake the foundations of Earth’s athropocentric religions to their foundations in a way not seen since Galileo dared claim that the sun did not, in fact, orbit this planet.
Although, a frightening number of people still believe in ‘creation science’ even in the face of a staggering amount of evidence to the contrary. I suppose they think the dinosaurs as seen in ‘Jurassic Park’ are just as much a fantasy as the idea of resurrecting them?