The Planets: "Mars, the Bringer of War," Part 2 (of 10)

October 30, 1938. Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Martians attack, laying waste to the countryside and spreading mass panic. The masterminds behind it all: Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air at the CBS radio studio in New York City.

Seventy years later, Welles' legendary broadcast of H. G. Wells' science-fiction classic, The War of the Worlds, is "arguably the most well-known radio dramatic production in history," and, consequently, perhaps the most famous tale of an invasion from Mars.

Named for the Roman god of war, the Red Planet is frequently depicted as the source of malevolent aliens bent on taking over Earth (Mars Attacks! is my personal favorite). But in reality, it represents one of our greatest hopes in space exploration.

On May 25, 2008, NASA's Phoenix lander successfully landed on Mars. It is part of a long line of machines sent to the fourth planet from the Sun in search of liquid water (or traces of it) and any other hints that Mars may have once harbored life.

RTB scholars Dave Rogstad and Fuz Rana will address the subjects of water and/or life on Mars in their TNRTBs on June 27 and July 3, respectively. Many scientists hope that any remnants of life discovered on Mars will provide a naturalistic explanation for the spontaneous origin of life on Earth. Dave, however, postulates that it is just as easy for life to have been transferred from Earth to Mars via dislodged meteorites. And although Mars did contain liquid water at one time, Fuz points to recent research that says that water may have been far too salty for life to survive.

What intrigues me about our interaction with Mars is the contrast between the eagerness with which we vicariously explore it for opportunities and the terror and violence attributed to it in our stories. Throughout fiction the Red Planet lives up to its namesake; even the Greek names of its two moons, "Phobos (panic/fear) and Deimos (terror/dread)," conjure up less-than-encouraging images. And despite the hope of the NASA explorations, in present reality Mars is as unsympathetic towards indigenous life as Wells' Martians are to Earth life.

Wikipedia explains that several factors beyond the absence or saltiness of liquid water on Mars make that planet unfit for life.

Mars orbits half an astronomical unit beyond this [the habitable] zone and this, along with the planet's thin atmosphere, causes water to freeze on its surface….the planet has little heat transfer across its surface, poor insulation against bombardment and the solar wind, and insufficient atmospheric pressure to retain water in a liquid form…Mars is also nearly, or perhaps totally, geologically dead…

To me, this bleak picture of a vacant planet provides an ideal backdrop for our own gloriously lush home world. Contrasted against the emptiness of Mars, Earth's uniqueness shines all the brighter.

Listen to "Mars, the Bringer of War" here.