.
Life on Mars, courtesy NASA 360. It’s a short, simple video that explains why we want to look for (ancient, microscopic) life on Mars, and how we’ll do it.
The Red Planet has been found to have enough similarities to Earth that we are planning to colonize it. It likely had an atmosphere, before some event or events obliterated it. It may have liquid water under the surface, and once did have liquid water over as much as a fifth of the planet.
To me, this is exciting and fascinating, not just because of the science, nor the possible answer to whether we are and always have been the only life in the universe. It’s also thrilling to ponder what will happen if we can indeed colonize the planet. How will we evolve as a species on another planet? How will our societies change? The Mars One mission is one of research and exploration; we won’t find out until many years after that mission whether colonization is truly feasible. If it is, it will be one of the greatest sagas of all time. I hope it happens in my lifetime…
The Heap 