Mars' Past and Its Possible Human Future:
a Planetarium Show
During the current opposition of Mars near perihelion, viewing the planet
is particularly good. It will probably be cloudy on at least one or
more of the 9 P.M., August viewing opportunities on Monday 25, Tuesday
26, Wednesday 27, Thursday 28, and Friday 29. We will meet on the roof
of the college parking garage to view Mars through a telescope; if it is
determined that actually seeing the planet through the clouds is unlikely,
we will adjourn to the planetarium a block away and instead enjoy a planetarium
show about recent discoveries about Mars' history and what we might do
in the future to put human faces on Mars. This will not be a dreamy
"lets go to Mars explore the universe rah rah rah" show!
What do we know about Mars? What is there? What might lead people
to want to go to Mars to make lots of money? This show will not be
an investment seminar! Sending people into space is very expensive
and very risky (at least 27 people have died already and only a few hundred
have traveled into space and most only in near Earth orbit); and we are unlikely
to send humans to Mars unless there is some considerable financial advantage
not tied to basic scientific research. In fact, we do not have the technology
to send humans to Mars and bring them back alive with chemical fueled rockets
without giving them cancer, even under the most optimistic of estimates,
even if cost were no consideration (and cost is always a consideration). If
you just want to learn about the planet Mars, it is certainly much more inexpensive
and safer by at least a factor of a million and maybe a billion to sent robots
as we have done in the past (relative to what is already a few hundred of
millions of dollars for just one robotic spacecraft mission). But there
may be a resource on Mars and on the poles of the Earth's Moon, Luna, and
on the poles of Mercury that will send us to Mars, too. It would not
only make it more economical to go to Mars by a factor of a million, but
possibly make it an economic necessity to go to Mars and the poles of the
Moon and Mercury. What is it? What will we have to find robotically,
or confirm the existence of robotically, to compel us to go there in
person? What will we have to accomplish before it even becomes
possible to intelligently plan sending persons to Mars or even the Moon or
the poles of Mercury? This presentation will be grounded in current
understanding of physics and nuclear chemistry. It will not
be a dreamy visionary assessment.
Montgomery
College's Planetarium home page
Web page by Dr. Harold Alden Williams.
Last changed July 24, 2003.