[chuckles]

The whole reason Mars has no atmosphere of any gas is that it's mass is not great enough to hold any gas close to the surface. Are they saying Mars was bigger back then? If we released an atmosphere on Mars it would just dissipate into space in a short time. It would never be thick enough to breath for any length of time. Ergo my theory that we are looking for life that never could have existed.

Anytime I see this stuff, I always look at some study group looking for grant money.

[HerrBlucher]

Yup, Mars is a runt.

[Moonman62]

Mars owes its dry and dusty appearance to its wispy atmosphere, less than 1 percent of the thickness of the Earth's. But it wasn't always that way: The Red Planet formerly had a much thicker atmosphere that probably allowed for liquid water on the surface, an atmosphere that was depleted when the planet's magnetic field faded away.

[njslim]

Mars does not have a magnetic field like earth

Over the eons charged particles from solar wind stripped off the atmosphere