From page 2 (closing on page 3).

Hi Dan: Here are some additional questions:

Hello, Johannes.

It was a hectic day here at WorldCom. Massive layoffs, and my workload just tripled.

Anyway...

There are theories that claim ‘space’ or other planets as the origination of life on Earth.
These theories have no basis, other than the possibility. Even then, the life remnants that may one day be found on other worlds could still very well be from Earth. Nanodes (much smaller than microbes) live within our atmosphere, and have for many billions of years. They have been discovered in the upper reaches of the stratosphere, and theory holds that they are buoyant enough to escape Earth’s gravity, along with our bits of hydrogen. That other fossils may be found in the Solar system is possible, but they would still be a Solar species, one related to us.



So, the question is; did Earth contaminate the Solar system with life or was Earth contaminated from space. ;-)





I would have to say it most probably did -- if there is evidence out there. And this evidence could predate life on Earth by tens, even hundreds of millions of years, and still be considered ours -- Earth’s -- for a terrestrial form that might have escaped prior to the great impact that formed our Moon.

The Earth orbits within the habitable zone of the Solar system. It is here that life would be expected, simply because it is here that it is so easily found.

For such nanodes, or even microbes, to journey as such across the vastness of interstellar space would require many billions of years -- and the Universe is theorized to be only about 14 billion years old.



Depending on their speed. I suppose that travelling at 900 km/s for 14 billion years they could be some distance away by now. I wonder if they could be accelerated to the speeds that the high energy cosmic rays have?





As for the environment of Mars, there is no magnetosphere to protect what little atmosphere she holds, and there is no shield against the Solar wind, meteor storms, or coronal mass ejections. It’s a radio-hot planet, one we will need to be very prepared for when we eventually go.



Do you have links to that information?





* Mars: Magnetic Field and Magnetosphere
J. G. Luhmann & C. T. Russell
Encyclopedia of Planetary Sciences -- 1997

* New Research from Colorado University Reveals Mars' Lumpy Magnetic Field
David A. Brain</font
Colorado University, Boulder -- Nov. 27, 2001</font



* Magnetic Fields and Mars
Theresa Valentine & Mario Acuña</font
NASA -- 12 February 2001</font

* The Solar Wind at Mars
Dr. Tony Phillips</font
Science@NASA -- January 31, 2001</font

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast31jan%5F1.htm

* Momentum Transport in the Solar Wind Erosion of the Mars Ionosphere (pdf format)
(Same site in html format)
H. Pérez-de-Tejada</font
Institute of Geophysics, National University of Mexico, México, D.F. -- 1999</font

Earth shares the habitable zone with both Mars and Venus, but the two bracketing planets are by far the least habitable of the three.

* Solar Wind Erosion of the Venus Polar Ionosphere (pdf format)
(Same site in html format)
H. Pérez-de-Tejada</font
Institute of Geophysics, National University of Mexico, México, D.F. -- 1999</font

At least there is 'water' or ice on the planet, should make it easier to quench our thirst. ;-)



Oh, that water exists is not the question. The question remains one of quantity. No probe that has ever been sent to Mars was ever designed for serious geo-study. There is not even an example of a vessel scraping the surface to reveal what might be underneath. All our knowledge of Mars is from surface imaging, and mostly in still frames.

I suppose it depends on money .





Always, as do size and weight. Space on any multi-million dollar venture comes at an expensive premium.

Mars is such a fascinating place, I’m amazed we’re not already there. Geology in all its naked glory. An entire planet, exposed to the raw elements of space, an atmosphere less than 1% Earth’s density, torn by impact events that mirrored our own, but with a planet exposing the events of history to us from afar -- and here we still sit, comfortably wondering.



How was the atmospheric pressure measured on Mars? I have been under the impression that the atmospheric density is related to the quantity of a planets mass and its density. If Mars was the same size as the Earth then there would be about the same amount of atmosphere around it. Since Mars is smaller by a certain proportion; I would expect that there would be only a proportionate decrease of atmosphere, since Mars has more than that 1% of Earth’s mass, would that not make it likely that the atmosphere of Mars is also more than 1% of Earth’s.





Mars has the same approximate land-mass as Earth, but without vast oceans this measurement describes a much smaller planet.

Mars, from Bill Arnett’s The Nine Planets web site.

What if the evidence would indicate the existence of intelligent life on the planet, would we be comfortable while wondering about it? :-)

Not at all. We would be there.

Dan