Chapter 5: Blues for a Red Planet

Chapter V chronicles the shift from historical speculation to rigorous scientific investigation regarding the possibility of life existing on Mars, a concept long fueled by the planet’s superficial similarities to Earth, such as polar ice caps and a twenty-four-hour day. Early notions included Sumerian writings and Christiaan Huygens' conjectures about Martian inhabitants. This fascination peaked following Giovanni Schiaparelli’s 1877 report of canali (channels or grooves), which were mistakenly translated into English as "canals," implying intelligent design. Percival Lowell dedicated years to sketching an intricate, globe-girdling network of these supposed irrigation ditches, believing they were constructed by an advanced, older Martian civilization battling desiccation by transporting water from the polar caps to equatorial regions. However, this fervent belief was challenged by Alfred Russel Wallace, co-discoverer of evolution, who demonstrated through physical analysis that Mars was far colder than Lowell calculated (below the freezing point of water) and possessed a thinner atmosphere, making the existence of surface liquid water or large-scale, overflowing canals impossible due to rapid evaporation. The advent of space exploration, made possible by the evolution of rocket technology pioneered by individuals like Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Robert Goddard, allowed for close-up scrutiny. While early Soviet attempts to land spacecraft repeatedly failed, sometimes due to enormous global dust storms, the US Viking mission successfully landed two automated laboratories in Chryse and Utopia in 1976. The Viking landers revealed a stark, cold, red environment subject to intense germicidal ultraviolet radiation due to a minimal ozone layer, and an atmosphere too thin to sustain open bodies of liquid water. Terrestrial microbes tested in simulated Martian environments ("Mars Jars") demonstrated that many varieties could survive the harsh conditions by adapting. The Viking biology experiments yielded ambiguous, seemingly positive results, resembling both respiration and photosynthesis. Yet, the organic chemistry experiment found virtually no organic matter in the Martian soil. Subsequent analysis supports the hypothesis that these biological-like reactions were caused by exotic inorganic soil chemistry, specifically montmorillonite clays, which act as catalysts to adsorb gases and facilitate chemical reactions, mimicking life functions in the absence of actual organisms. This evidence currently suggests no compelling proof of life in the fine particles surveyed. Looking forward, the ideal path for further reconnaissance is a mobile, automated rover to explore geologically interesting regions like ancient river beds and volcanic structures. If Mars is confirmed lifeless, the long-term project of terraforming—rendering the planet habitable by increasing the atmospheric pressure, enabling liquid water, and creating an ozone shield—might be accomplished over centuries by seeding genetically engineered dark plants on the polar caps. Ultimately, the author suggests that if this planetary engineering is successful, future Martian inhabitants will be us, fulfilling Lowell's vision of canals and an inhabited world.