We Are The Martians
Once Upon a Time Theories
The popular idea that Mars was populated by intelligent Martians exploded in the late 19th century. Giovanni Schiaparelli's "canali" observations combined with Percival Lowell's books on the subject put forward the standard notion of a planet that was a drying, cooling, dying world with ancient civilizations constructing irrigation works.
Many other observations and proclamations by notable personalities added to what has been termed "Mars Fever". In 1899 while investigating atmospheric radio noise using his receivers in his Colorado Springs lab, inventor Nikola Tesla observed repetitive signals that he later surmised might have been radio communications coming from another planet, possibly Mars. In a 1901 interview, Tesla said: "It was some time afterward when the thought flashed upon my mind that the disturbances I had observed might be due to an intelligent control. Although I could not decipher their meaning, it was impossible for me to think of them as having been entirely accidental. The feeling is constantly growing on me that I had been the first to hear the greeting of one planet to another."
Tesla's theories gained support from William Thompson, Lord Kelvin who, while visiting the United States in 1902, was reported to have said that he thought Tesla had picked up Martian signals being sent to the United States. Kelvin "emphatically" denied this report shortly before departing America: "What I really said was that the inhabitants of Mars, if there are any, were doubtless able to see New York, particularly the glare of the electricity."
In a New York Times article in 1901, Edward Charles Pickering, director of the Harvard College Observatory, said that they had received a telegram from Lowell Observatory in Arizona that seemed to confirm that Mars was trying to communicate with the Earth: “Early in December 1900, we received from Lowell Observatory in Arizona a telegram that a shaft of light had been seen to project from Mars (the Lowell observatory makes a specialty of Mars) lasting seventy minutes. I wired these facts to Europe and sent out neostyle copies through this country. The observer there is a careful, reliable man and there is no reason to doubt that the light existed. It was given as from a well-known geographical point on Mars. That was all. Now the story has gone the world over. In Europe, it is stated that I have been in communication with Mars, and all sorts of exaggerations have sprung up. Whatever the light was, we have no means of knowing. Whether it had intelligence or not, no one can say. It is absolutely inexplicable.”
Pickering later proposed creating a set of mirrors in Texas with the intention of signaling Martians.
In recent decades, the high-resolution mapping of the surface of Mars, culminating in Mars Global Surveyor, revealed no artifacts of habitation by 'intelligent' life, but pseudoscientific speculation about intelligent life on Mars continues from commentators such as Richard C. Hoagland. Reminiscent of the canali controversy, some speculations are based on small-scale features perceived in the spacecraft images, such as 'pyramids' and the 'Face on Mars'. Planetary astronomer Carl Sagan wrote: “Mars has become a kind of mythic arena onto which we have projected our Earthly hopes and fears.”
For much more, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars
Many other observations and proclamations by notable personalities added to what has been termed "Mars Fever". In 1899 while investigating atmospheric radio noise using his receivers in his Colorado Springs lab, inventor Nikola Tesla observed repetitive signals that he later surmised might have been radio communications coming from another planet, possibly Mars. In a 1901 interview, Tesla said: "It was some time afterward when the thought flashed upon my mind that the disturbances I had observed might be due to an intelligent control. Although I could not decipher their meaning, it was impossible for me to think of them as having been entirely accidental. The feeling is constantly growing on me that I had been the first to hear the greeting of one planet to another."
Tesla's theories gained support from William Thompson, Lord Kelvin who, while visiting the United States in 1902, was reported to have said that he thought Tesla had picked up Martian signals being sent to the United States. Kelvin "emphatically" denied this report shortly before departing America: "What I really said was that the inhabitants of Mars, if there are any, were doubtless able to see New York, particularly the glare of the electricity."
In a New York Times article in 1901, Edward Charles Pickering, director of the Harvard College Observatory, said that they had received a telegram from Lowell Observatory in Arizona that seemed to confirm that Mars was trying to communicate with the Earth: “Early in December 1900, we received from Lowell Observatory in Arizona a telegram that a shaft of light had been seen to project from Mars (the Lowell observatory makes a specialty of Mars) lasting seventy minutes. I wired these facts to Europe and sent out neostyle copies through this country. The observer there is a careful, reliable man and there is no reason to doubt that the light existed. It was given as from a well-known geographical point on Mars. That was all. Now the story has gone the world over. In Europe, it is stated that I have been in communication with Mars, and all sorts of exaggerations have sprung up. Whatever the light was, we have no means of knowing. Whether it had intelligence or not, no one can say. It is absolutely inexplicable.”
Pickering later proposed creating a set of mirrors in Texas with the intention of signaling Martians.
In recent decades, the high-resolution mapping of the surface of Mars, culminating in Mars Global Surveyor, revealed no artifacts of habitation by 'intelligent' life, but pseudoscientific speculation about intelligent life on Mars continues from commentators such as Richard C. Hoagland. Reminiscent of the canali controversy, some speculations are based on small-scale features perceived in the spacecraft images, such as 'pyramids' and the 'Face on Mars'. Planetary astronomer Carl Sagan wrote: “Mars has become a kind of mythic arena onto which we have projected our Earthly hopes and fears.”
For much more, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars
Suggested Media
Web Resources
Print:
ANCIENT ASTRONOMY: https://pressbooks.online.ucf.edu/astronomybc/chapter/2-2-ancient-astronomy/
COLONIZATION: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_MarsCOLONIZATION (Multiplanetary Humanity): https://www.spacex.com/human-spaceflight/mars/COLONIZATION AND EVOLUTUION: https://www.astronomy.com/science/colonizing-mars-could-speed-up-human-evolution/MARTIAN COLONIES & INSECTS: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/science/mars-needs-insects.html?
HISTORY OF MARS OBSERVATION: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mars_observation#MARS AND PANSPERMIA: https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a35450915/did-life-start-on-mars/MARS AND PANSPERMIA: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/130905-mars-origin-of-life-earth-panspermia-astrobiologyMARS AND PANSPERMIA: https://www.space.com/22577-earth-life-from-mars-theory.htmlPLANET OVERVIEW: https://www.space.com/47-mars-the-red-planet-fourth-planet-from-the-sun.htmlMARS OCEAN THEORY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_ocean_theoryMARTIAN “CANALS”: https://www.britannica.com/place/canals-of-MarsMARTIAN “CANALS”: https://www.loc.gov/collections/finding-our-place-in-the-cosmos-with-carl-sagan/articles-and-essays/life-on-other-worlds/seeing-and-interpreting-martian-oceans-and-canalsMARTIAN CIVILIZATION: https://www.loc.gov/collections/finding-our-place-in-the-cosmos-with-carl-sagan/articles-and-essays/life-on-other-worlds/envisioning-martian-civilizationsMARTIAN CIVILIZATION: https://www.loc.gov/collections/finding-our-place-in-the-cosmos-with-carl-sagan/articles-and-essays/life-on-other-worlds/envisioning-martian-civilizationsTESLA AND MARS: https://teslauniverse.com/nikola-tesla/articles/world-speaks-world-mysterious-signals-through-vast-space-tesla-electrician
LIFE ON MARS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_MarsLIFE ON MARS: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/02/world/mars-subsurface-habitability-scn-trnd/index.htmlMARS HABITAT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_habitatMARS HABITAT: https://www.npr.org/2024/07/07/nx-s1-5032120/nasa-mars-simulation-volunteers-year?
NASA AND MARS COLONIZATION: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/humans-to-mars/SPACEX AND MARS (update): https://www.planetary.org/articles/20170929-spacex-updated-colonization-plans?
MARS SOCIETY: https://www.marssociety.org/
MARS SOCIETY (Editorial): https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/opinion/mars-simulation-desert-mdrs.html?
MARS IN BOOKS: https://marspedia.org/List_of_books_set_on_MarsMARS IN FICTION: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_in_fiction MARS-MARTIANS IN FILM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_set_on_Mars
Video:
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=LnDZTR77ehgCOLONIZING SPACE (The Universe, Season 2, 2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhJTlkxir80COLONIZING MARS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2AyDjcGRrkCOLONIZING MARS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3hPH_bc0Ww**COLONIZING MARS (Caves, Part 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTZQ91q2L24**COLONIZING MARS (Caves, Part 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v97_u4m3As4
TERRAFORMING MARS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzEqmQVov0wCOLONIZING MARS (Mars Society): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jlKDB4gQkkLIVING ON MARS (BBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WifP35fu6Xg
LIVING ON MARS (TEDed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMMPYkRrd4o&t=142s
LIVING ON MARS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2CVaGPdZjM
Living in Martian Caves
by Katherine Kornei© New York TimesUpdated Oct. 30, 2022
The neighborhood is a wild card, and moving there is bound to be expensive. But one of the best options for shelter when humans finally make it to the red planet will be subterranean caves. These rocky hollows, which exist in droves on both Earth and the moon, are natural buffers against the harsh conditions of Mars. In a presentation [in October of 2022] at the Geological Society of America Connects [...] meeting in Denver, researchers pinpointed nine leading cave candidates worthy of future exploration. All of these grottos appear to extend at least some distance underground, and they’re close to landing sites accessible to a lightweight rover. These structures would offer a respite from the challenging Martian environment, said Nicole Bardabelias, a geoscientist at the University of Arizona. “Everything at the surface is subject to harsh radiation, possible meteorite or micrometeorite bombardment and really large day-to-night temperature swings,” she said. To home in on Mars’ most sought-after real estate, Ms. Bardabelias and her colleagues consulted the Mars Global Cave Candidate Catalog. This compendium, based on imagery collected by instruments aboard the Mars Odyssey spacecraft and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, inventories over 1,000 candidate caves and other peculiar-looking features on Mars. (Think of it as the first Martian multiple listing service.) Just as any discerning home buyer would filter search results on Zillow or StreetEasy, the researchers narrowed the catalog by imposing two criteria. First, they required that a cave be within roughly 60 miles of a suitable spacecraft landing site. Second, they stipulated that high-resolution imagery be available. Ms. Bardabelias and her collaborators defined a suitable landing site as one below an elevation of roughly 3,300 feet. Such relatively low-lying locales are favorable landing sites because they give spacecraft more time to slow down as they travel through Mars’ thin atmosphere, Ms. Bardabelias said. “Mars has just enough atmosphere that you can’t discount it, but not enough to actually give you a significant amount of aerobraking,” she said, referring to using a planet’s atmosphere to slow an incoming spacecraft. “If you don’t have enough space between when you hit the top of the atmosphere and where you’re supposed to land, it’s going to be very, very hard for you to do the entry, descent and landing sequence properly.” The team also required that top-shelf imagery be available for each cave candidate. Until brokers appropriate NASA’s Mars Helicopter for Martian real estate photography, that honor belongs to HiRISE, or the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Ms. Bardabelias is lead operations engineer for HiRISE, which is capable of discerning features on Mars as small as about 3 feet across but has imaged less than 5 percent of the planet’s surface to date. 139 apparent caves satisfied the team’s criteria, and Ms. Bardabelias and her collaborators manually examined images of each one. After disregarding features like bridge-shaped rock formations that obviously weren’t caves, the team analyzed the remaining pit-like features. The researchers homed in on only those that appeared to extend some distance underground, which yielded a sample of nine leading cave candidates. These potential caves, the largest of which has an opening that could swallow a football field, are all worth a closer look, Ms. Bardabelias said. But none of the rovers currently operating on Mars are close enough to explore any of these caverns, so that task falls, for now, to spacecraft orbiting the red planet. Follow-up HiRISE images taken from different angles and in different lighting conditions will reveal new details about these caves, Ms. Bardabelias said. You can help the HiRISE team decide what to photograph next by voting for your favorite cave. It’s fitting that we’re looking to caves once again for shelter as we prepare to explore new worlds, said Glen Cushing, a space scientist at the Astrogeology Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey and the creator of the Mars Global Cave Candidate Catalog, not involved in the research. “That takes us all the way back to the dawn of humanity.”
The neighborhood is a wild card, and moving there is bound to be expensive. But one of the best options for shelter when humans finally make it to the red planet will be subterranean caves. These rocky hollows, which exist in droves on both Earth and the moon, are natural buffers against the harsh conditions of Mars. In a presentation [in October of 2022] at the Geological Society of America Connects [...] meeting in Denver, researchers pinpointed nine leading cave candidates worthy of future exploration. All of these grottos appear to extend at least some distance underground, and they’re close to landing sites accessible to a lightweight rover. These structures would offer a respite from the challenging Martian environment, said Nicole Bardabelias, a geoscientist at the University of Arizona. “Everything at the surface is subject to harsh radiation, possible meteorite or micrometeorite bombardment and really large day-to-night temperature swings,” she said. To home in on Mars’ most sought-after real estate, Ms. Bardabelias and her colleagues consulted the Mars Global Cave Candidate Catalog. This compendium, based on imagery collected by instruments aboard the Mars Odyssey spacecraft and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, inventories over 1,000 candidate caves and other peculiar-looking features on Mars. (Think of it as the first Martian multiple listing service.) Just as any discerning home buyer would filter search results on Zillow or StreetEasy, the researchers narrowed the catalog by imposing two criteria. First, they required that a cave be within roughly 60 miles of a suitable spacecraft landing site. Second, they stipulated that high-resolution imagery be available. Ms. Bardabelias and her collaborators defined a suitable landing site as one below an elevation of roughly 3,300 feet. Such relatively low-lying locales are favorable landing sites because they give spacecraft more time to slow down as they travel through Mars’ thin atmosphere, Ms. Bardabelias said. “Mars has just enough atmosphere that you can’t discount it, but not enough to actually give you a significant amount of aerobraking,” she said, referring to using a planet’s atmosphere to slow an incoming spacecraft. “If you don’t have enough space between when you hit the top of the atmosphere and where you’re supposed to land, it’s going to be very, very hard for you to do the entry, descent and landing sequence properly.” The team also required that top-shelf imagery be available for each cave candidate. Until brokers appropriate NASA’s Mars Helicopter for Martian real estate photography, that honor belongs to HiRISE, or the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Ms. Bardabelias is lead operations engineer for HiRISE, which is capable of discerning features on Mars as small as about 3 feet across but has imaged less than 5 percent of the planet’s surface to date. 139 apparent caves satisfied the team’s criteria, and Ms. Bardabelias and her collaborators manually examined images of each one. After disregarding features like bridge-shaped rock formations that obviously weren’t caves, the team analyzed the remaining pit-like features. The researchers homed in on only those that appeared to extend some distance underground, which yielded a sample of nine leading cave candidates. These potential caves, the largest of which has an opening that could swallow a football field, are all worth a closer look, Ms. Bardabelias said. But none of the rovers currently operating on Mars are close enough to explore any of these caverns, so that task falls, for now, to spacecraft orbiting the red planet. Follow-up HiRISE images taken from different angles and in different lighting conditions will reveal new details about these caves, Ms. Bardabelias said. You can help the HiRISE team decide what to photograph next by voting for your favorite cave. It’s fitting that we’re looking to caves once again for shelter as we prepare to explore new worlds, said Glen Cushing, a space scientist at the Astrogeology Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey and the creator of the Mars Global Cave Candidate Catalog, not involved in the research. “That takes us all the way back to the dawn of humanity.”