Mars makes me think small
By Allan R. Andrews, Managing Editor
Pacific Stars
and Stripes, Tokyo, Japan
Originally published September 8, 1996
I have
been to Mars.
As a youth, I traveled the imagination of Ray Bradbury's prose.
The Martian Chronicles introduced me to science fiction,
and it didn't take me long to figure out Bradbury mined sociology
and psychology -- perhaps even theology -- more than adventures
in outer space.
Now, decades later, Mars is in the news and scientists say it
could revolutionize the way we look at ourselves.
NASA scientists, examining a rock found in Antarctica in 1984
at a place called Allan Hills, suggest this rock,-- dubbed ALH84001
-- contains evidence of life that once existed on the Red Planet.
This news came sandwiched by the Olympics and the national political
conventions.
It's difficult to get excited about the possibility of life on
another planet when life on earth is parading its skill and intelligence
-- and lack thereof. Amid our smug self-centeredness, however,
scientists and theologians took notice.
Many who've devoted their lives to cool, detached observation
went ga-ga over ALH84001, about the size of a large potato, and
in their enthusiasm demonstrated that imagination can still grip
the scientific mind.
"This changes our view of ourselves, it changes our view
of the universe,'' said Louis Friedman of The Planetary Society
in Houston.
Cornell University's
Carl Sagan, the dean of informed sources on matters scientific
for the U.S. media, was even more exuberant: "If the results
are verified,'' he said, "it is a turning point in human
history, suggesting that life exists not just on two planets in
one paltry solar system but throughout this magnificent universe.''
Let's back up a bit:
ALH84001 is a 4-and-1/2-pound part of a meteorite thought to have
formed on the planet Mars about 4.5 billion years ago. A mere
16 million years ago, that rock was blasted from Mars and landed
on earth.
According to its finder, Roberta Score, who 12 years ago found
it in the Allan Hills while "cruising around'' Antarctica
on an expedition for the National Science Foundation, "We
knew it would be interesting.''
At that time, Score managed the Antarctic Meteor Lab at the Johnson
Space Center. Now working in Denver, Score told the Associated
Press, "There are 12 Martian meteorites on Earth; this is
the oldest and it's just totally different from any others.''
Analysis of ALH84001 shows it contains minute objects closely
resembling fossilized bacteria. It also contains traces that point
to microbes living in a wet climate, perhaps such as existed on
Mars more than 3 billion years ago.
When NASA announced
its preliminary find in early August, spokesman Daniel Goldin
put it in perspective for those of us who rely on popular conceptions
to envision life on Mars.
"We are not talking about `little green men,' " Goldin
said, attempting to distance NASA's claims from those of Hollywood
sci-fi flicks.
Unfortunately for Mr. Goldin, the damage is done. Call it simply
a telltale chemical compound, scientist and theologian alike support
the view, depending upon how one interprets the action, that life
began with the "dust of the earth.'' Giant oaks from little
acorns grow.
The announcement sent the scientific community into a flurry and
dragged theologians into the deepest of questions.
The discovery, wrote Time magazine writer Leon Jaroff, "raises
that most profound of all human questions: Why does life exist
at all?''
Arden L. Albee, a Caltech scientist who oversees the Mars Observer
project, wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "As a human
being and a scientist, I must also ask how this discovery affects
me. . . . Did life originate independently on another planet?
Is life unique? Did life originate on another planet and migrate
to Earth? Is there life on many planets? Is it like that on Earth?''
Albee's team is preparing to launch a surveyor of Mars from Cape
Canaveral on November 6. His imagination is running as rapidly
as Bradbury's as he ponders the prospects and significance of
his work in the wake of NASA's announcement.
Martin E. Marty,
a church historian and writer at the University of Chicago, notes
that most religious teachings account for "this world and
its human drama.''
Also commenting in the Los Angeles Times on the Mars evidence,
Marty notes that hundreds of years ago NASA scientists would have
been condemned for proposing the possibility of life on another
planet. "None will be put on trial'' this time around, he
notes, "except by skeptical colleagues.''
Marty says it is too soon to know how theologians will interpret
the idea that life exists beyond planet Earth. He's convinced,
however, that history has "prepared the faithful to be ready
for surprise.''
Rabbi James Ruden of the American Jewish Committee suggested the
evidence of life on Mars should be "celebrated.'' Ruden told
CNN that if the findings are conclusive, it would be more evidence
of the power of God.
Bill Goesch of the Institute of Creation Research, a conservative
group that supports "Creation Science'' and efforts to reconcile
science with the Biblical account of Creation, told CNN the NASA
findings are "99 percent hype and one percent fact'' and
pose no threat to Creation Scientist's theories.
Sayyid Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America told CNN
the Koran refers to Allah as God of "worlds'' and does not
preclude God placing life on other planets.
Perhaps most telling is the comment of Professor Anthony Tambasco
of Georgetown University who told CNN the NASA findings provide
"a humbling possibility.''
Except for some
Fundamentalists rattled by any assertion of life not accounted
for in Genesis, most theologians would agree the possibility of
life on Mars urges humankind beyond an "anthropocentric worldview'';
that is, Mars provides us with a kick in the seat of our self-centeredness.
It's nice to hear theologians and scientists talking about something
beyond human experience. It supports my understanding that science
and religion share an attitude of awe and humility when confronting
the mystery of life.
It's nice to see humanity, so often misguided and arrogant in
visualizing itself as the biggest fact in the universe, brought
to a halt by reflection on its smallness.
As I recall, that was the cost of a ticket to board the imagination
of The Martian Chronicles, and it coincided with what I've
been taught constitutes the attitude of faith.
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Allan R. Andrews can be reached at arandrews@aol.com