The Phoenix has landed, and so we have another unmanned spacecraft on the planet Mars. And once again we are asking the question in very real terms, “Is there life out there?”
Mars is 171 million miles from Earth, and it took the Phoenix module 10 months to get there. Of course, it didn’t go in a straight line. It had to travel 425 million miles to arrive at the Red Planet and soft land there on Sunday. Now the real work begins.
We want to learn as much about this close neighbor of ours as possible. Mostly, we want to know if there is (probably not) or ever was (probably so) water on the surface. Because that will tell us if there is (possibly so) or ever was (i am going to say, definitely so) life on this planet.
What do you think about this? Do you think it might be so? And what are the implications of this? Have you thought about it? For instance, what would this say about our belief in God? Would our ideas about God suddenly have to get larger? Could we still believe in a God who (to use one example) we think forbids us to marry inter-racially? Or who, we imagine, condemns homosexuality? Or who, we announce, wants us never to use artificial birth control? Or conduct stem cell research? Or who condemns us to everlasting damnation if we are Jewish? Or Muslim? Or Buddhist? Or even Mormon?
If it suddenly becomes clear that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos, what do you think that Life Form could tell us if it could ever find a way to communicate with us?
Make a list here of the Ten Things Intelligent Beings From Outer Space Will Tell Us If And When They Arrive and Make Themselves Known Upon the Earth. I’m anxious to see what you come up with. Then I’ll comment on your comments. We’ll have some fun here…
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