Tomorrow is Feb 18th 2021. Why is that an eventful day? We: NASA/ the human species are placing yet another probe on the planet Mars. This one has a helicopter. The odds of success are about 60%. We are getting better at landing on dots in the Heavens. Math is our friend, you can’t argue logic.
Some will say it is wasted money. Haven’t we: the human’s, always explored? I do believe a queen gave up jewels to fund an exploratory journey to find a new world; so spending money to learn what’s around the next corner is actually the norm. We are curious apes.
The crater where our lander aims for was once a lake of salty brine that dried up long before the dinosaurs walked the earth. Did fish or crawly critters die on the beach and fossilize?
“Perseverance” will take samples to see if micro-biology ever existed. Those samples won’t make it back to earth for examination; another trip is needed in the future. The helicopter deploys a few months after the main probe lands via Sky-Crane. It can only fly a minute or so at a time per day. What will it see as it flies recording the perimeter of this ancient lake?
I followed the first Apollo program and all the moon landings. I watch all the missions to asteroids, moons, planets, comets, dwarf planets and beyond (Voyager I and II). Of all the space missions I have watched, other than the first Moon landing, this one offers the most promising chances of proving life evolved on another planet other than Earth. We are looking for fossils on this trip.
WHAT IF? What would it mean if we could prove life existed on Mars long before it did here on Earth. Panspermia is a theory that suggest life on our home planet came from Mars via microbes trapped in meteors. If we do find micro fossils or macro fossils, doesn’t that mean we aren’t all that special and better start acting like we really are just animals or possibly aliens ourselves. Could we accept such a revelation or would many deny the findings as fake news?