Book of the Day:
Mars: A Cosmic Stepping Stone; by Kevin Nolan; Copernicus Books, 379pp €22.95 THE UNIVERSE is huge beyond our comprehension. There are billions of galaxies each with billions of stars. We have known for the last decade that stars have solar systems like our own, writes
Ronan McGreevy
We have even found planets like our own. Everywhere we have looked in the universe we have found the elements which sustain life on earth: hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon and the most critical substance of all, water. Yet, to date, the search for life elsewhere in the universe has eluded us.
Mars: A Cosmic Stepping Stoneis an attempt by Irish scientist Kevin Nolan to put our explorations of the Red Planet in the general context of that search. His book could hardly be more timely as Nasa scientists have recently found plumes of methane gas which could originate from microbial life on Mars.
Ever since the infamous episode when the American astronomer and businessman Percival Lowell looked at drawings of Mars and concluded that it must have canals made by a dying race of Martians, the planet has been the repository of the hopes and expectations of those who believe we cannot be alone in the universe.
The consensus among scientists is that, if we find life on Mars, then life is not unique to the Earth, and, if it can be found in two places in our solar system, it must be ubiquitous across the universe.
The finding of microbial life on Mars – there can surely be no other given the Red Planet’s hostile environment – would have profound scientific and spiritual consequences for mankind.
As Nolan points out, even the simplest forms of life are incredibly complex.
No place in our solar system, not even our own moon, is as well known to us as Mars, yet we have literally and metaphorically only scratched the surface. Nolan, a lecturer in physics at Tallaght IT, diligently sets out the history of Mars exploration and how the planet has confounded, confused and surprised in equal measure.
He details the crushing disappointment of the first Nasa Mariner probes to the planet in the 1960s and 1970s which appeared to show a world as lifeless as the moon, to the present day where probes like the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express have found evidence of relatively recent water flowing on the surface of the planet.
The author details how Nasa and the ESA, of which Ireland is a member, have ambitious plans for Mars exploration.
Though the book is pitched at an international audience, the author does manage to express disappointment that Ireland has opted out of the ESA’s Aurora programme, which has the ultimate goal of a manned mission to Mars, the most ambitious technological goal ever set by mankind.
The answer to the question about life on Mars may ultimately only come with a manned mission, but Nolan warns that the medical challenges, particularly in terms of exposure to radiation and zero gravity are so great, that we do not even know if it is possible and that the optimal timeframe with a launch date in 2033 may already be too ambitious.
There have been many books written about Mars, but few are as comprehensive or as lucid as this.
Mars could be the scientific story of this century, but the public have not yet become fully engaged.
The subtitle of the book is Why Mars Matters. It is to the author’s ultimate credit that he has answered that question so thoroughly.
Ronan McGreevy is an
Irish Timesjournalist and a member of Astronomy Ireland