With time and more missions to Mars all of these questions will be answered.

It would seem reasonable to offer hypotheses, guesses, and surmises. What seems silly is the energy which goes into these, the competition over who is right.

Thank God for the thinkers, the guessers, the people doing this. And, I suppose the energy is necessary.

But all this will be known in time. The only problem is a lack of information, and sooner or later we will find out. If we don't manage to do ourselves and/or our economies in before it can be found out.

Arf (The other option is to ask the Flat Earthers, and assume the opposite.)