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VATICAN-MARS Jan-5-2004 (690 words) With photos. xxxi
Vatican astronomers thrilled at Spirit probe landing on Mars
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Engineers at the U.S. space agency, NASA, weren't the only people thrilled at the successful landing of the Spirit on Mars. Vatican astronomers, too, were overjoyed and relieved at the robot's safe touchdown Jan. 3.
"We used to joke about how the Martian star wars defense system was so good because it has been able to keep out so many invading interplanetary probes from Earth," said U.S. Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, an astronomer, planetary scientist and curator of the Vatican meteorite collection.
Only three exploratory probes have made it successfully onto the red planet: the Viking 1 and 2, which both landed in 1976, and the Mars Pathfinder in 1997.
"The Russians have sent a number of probes as well as the Americans and there may still be some hope yet the Beagle 2 will send a signal it has landed," Brother Consolmagno said.
The British-built Beagle 2 landed on Mars Dec. 25, but no radio signal had been received to indicate it survived.
The six-wheeled Spirit robot was to sniff out signs of life or conditions that support life.
"It's an engineering success. A huge breakthrough," said U.S. Jesuit Father George Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory.
"Previous orbital studies of Mars' surface show clearly that there may have been water on Mars. Now with the Spirit on the ground, the probe will dig underneath the planet's dry surface looking for water or chemical evidence that there may have been water," Father Coyne said.
Brother Consolmagno said NASA scientists aimed the probe to land in a large crater that may have been a lake. The robot, he said, will look and test for minerals that would suggest the presence of water.
"Water is needed for life and such a discovery would open up all new questions as to is there life there now or had there been once upon a time," said Brother Consolmagno.
But Father Coyne said there's more at stake than just a mere search for other forms of life.
"What would be truly incredible would be to discover life on Mars that's independent of life on Earth," he said.
"In the early stages of the planets being formed, a lot of material was exchanged between Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Earth. So it is conceivable that life may have transported itself in these primordial exchanges when pieces of planets plummeted into each other," Father Coyne said.
"But what if scientists were to discover life that has nothing to do with the DNA we have here on Earth? That would mean life is absolutely abundant in the universe," Father Coyne said. "If life had two beginnings, one here on Earth and one on Mars, then statistically life could have emerged millions of times elsewhere beyond the solar system."
When asked what the theological impact of such a discovery would be, Father Coyne laughed, "Ask the theologians. It would be very, very interesting."
Brother Consolmagno said that any discoveries made by the Spirit should augment, not necessarily change, one's religious beliefs.
"Science and religion teach you bits and pieces that are true, but as you learn later on, there is more going on than just that," Brother Consolmagno said.
"The challenge for both science and religion is to put the details into a broader picture, a deeper understanding of who we are and why we're here," he said.
Brother Consolmagno said space programs "have been a beacon of hope in a world of bad news."
"They make us feel the wonder and joy of seeing humanity be able to reach up to the sky and touch the stars," he said.
Brother Consolmagno recalled that when he watched the first manned landing of Apollo 11 on the moon in 1969 the turmoil of the Vietnam War was in full force.
"That event of human beings stepping foot for the first time on the moon was so momentous, it made me realize that life's temporary crises will pass. It's the work of the world's scientists and saints that is remembered forever," he said.
END
Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service.
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