The Scoop: Pack a sweater if you’re off to Mars
The United States has invested some $800 million in space probes currently heading to Mars with the hope scientists may be able to determine if the planet has ever held intelligent life.
I say they could save the $800 million and send a team of scientists to Arkansas to try and answer the same question.
Mars has been the hot topic in the news this week because the Red Planet orbited closer to Earth this Wednesday than it had in 60,000 years. Seeing as not even my grandpa has a memory that dates back that far, I don’t know how astronomers are so sure of this fact.
Scientists have traced the first signs of human life back 60,000 years. I doubt those people, who lived in caves and had to fight every day just to survive, looked up at the sky and said, “Look Thag, that bright light is Mars. It won’t be this close to the Earth for another 60,000 years.”
What we do know about Mars is sketchy, mainly because only three of our nine attempts to reach the planet’s surface have been successful. Despite that less-than-glowing success rate, astronomers have compiled some interesting information about what is known as the Red Planet.
Here is what scientists know and what that information means to you:
• Fact – Mars has an average temperature of minus 67 degrees and temperatures can plummet to as low as minus 225 degrees. That’s a stark contrast to Earth which has an average temperature of 57 degrees.
• What this means to you – If you happen to be planning a weekend getaway to Mars, you better pack a sweater.
• Fact – Since Mars is roughly half the size of Earth, and its mass is one-tenth the mass of Earth, the gravitational pull on Mars is just a fraction of that on Earth. Dropping all the scientific lingo, that means objects weigh less on Mars than they do here.
For example, a 200-pound man would weigh a mere 76 pounds on Mars. A 300-pound man would weigh 114 pounds.
• What this means to you – With such a weight scale, I can’t help but think a Ryan’s restaurant would do extremely well on Mars. Gimmick weight loss plans (“Eat all the foods you love and lose 30 pounds in six days”) could be a thing of the past with the new Mars diet.
• Fact – Scientists have recently discovered an enormous ice cap on Mars which boosts the theory the planet may have at one time supported water. One of the things scientists want to determine with their current probes is whether the planet now has underground water.
• What this means to you – While scientists aren’t sure about water on Mars, there’s word they might have discovered a Coke machine outside the Golden Gallon there.
• Fact – Despite its small size, Mars actually has two moons. They have been named Phobos and Deimos.
• What this means to you – Earthlings should be offended. Here we have known about our moon for centuries and we’re still just calling it “the moon.” That’s like all the folks who get a dog and they don’t bother to name it. They just call it “dog.”
We discover two moons for Mars and give them really snazzy, mythological names like Phobos and Deimos. We’ve given our moon the shaft on this one.
• Fact – Scientists are fascinated by a recent discovery of ridges and canyons on the Mars surface. They believe this lends further proof to the fact the planet once supported bodies of water.
• What this means to you – We have some scientists who are too easily entertained. They should leave the lab more often. If all it takes to fascinate them are a few big hills, maybe someone ought to give them a ride to Spencer.
(James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)