The 'Happy Face Crater' that was captured in a wide-angle image recorded in 1999 by Mars Global Surveyor's camera
Posted on 07/31/2015 11:20:25 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Suddenly, space is getting interesting again. After decades of going boldly nowhere in low Earth orbit, Man, or rather his robotic emissaries, have made some startling discoveries in our Solar System.
Cold, distant Pluto is – who would have thought it? – turning out to be one of the most interesting planets (yes, it is a planet) in the Solar System. Before the New Horizons probe turned up earlier this month, astronomers assumed it would be a dull, grey cratered rock.
[SNIP]
If we find life of any kind out there – whether it be Martian microbes (we have several probes prodding the Martian surface and observing it from orbit) or a signal from super-intelligent (or even mildly brainy) aliens – it will change everything. ET will force us to confront a deep truth; that humans are not the only game in town, that we live in a possibly crowded (and quite probably threatening) universe.
But here’s the thing. What if they don’t find anything? What if, 10 years, a 100 years, a 1,000 years hence, endless sky-surveys, proddings and pokings of Mars and elsewhere, turn up nothing, save rocks, gas, ice and vacuum. We had better be prepared for this because, I am beginning to believe, this seems to be the most likely result.
ET should be out there. As the physicist Enrico Fermi famously pointed out more than 60 years ago, in a universe of great antiquity and size such as ours, there ought to be many, many civilisations in space, some of which will be far in advance of our own. It is, he said, a paradox that we have not seen any evidence of this.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I guess that if Mars doesn't have any microbes, then we'll never have intelligent life in the solar system....
The heart on Pluto was made by mictobes. Prove me wrong.
The crater is winking at us
Wouldn’t be so sure.
Compared to lo info voters, current Mars IQ may be orders of magnitude higher.
That’s why demos want to go to Mars: for new, more intelligent voters.
That's what They want you to think, man!
Is that a zit or a piercing by the nose?
Just because we don't find ET doesn't mean there isn't life.
No paradox. The universe is what it is. It’s we who don’t know it enough to come to any useful conclusions about it, and whether there is life elsewhere.
I am of the opinion that there is life elsewhere, and that there is very little chance that we will find any sign of it for the next few hundred years or so.
There is so life on Mars. What about “Marvin”? I saw him on the Bugs Bunny Show! Now, tell me that’s not true!
My prediction, where there is liquid water there’s life.
Question for Mars is was there life when it had liquid water?
Bush’s fault. Bush and those damned Martian SUVs.
Martian womyn and minorities were hardest hit.
Damn, they're everywhere...................
The best bet for Mars is to crash it into Venus. The resulting planet would be much closer to Earth in mass, and possibly even able to generate a convection magnetic field like Earth. Then add a bunch of water and you’re getting somewhere.
all your planets are belong to us?
and at the lowest possible cost!...............
Looks like a nosering to me... ;)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.