Mariner IV was more than an extraordinary’ technological achievenent, it was an at Ps dT "LS F135 “(DRAFT OF ARTICLE FOR WASHINGTON POST) [Gave ge nfeg & - y J 3 Be Risg Semen 3 oy pee @ XY THE MEANING OF MARINER IV | ee WO 3 ¢: ism \ A Ly ws 3S \ srk S x ; : Law J \ XBruce C. Murray | & Joshua Lederberg” \ a pg SY y WAS. _ : 3 \ ‘ g AS — ae aN » event of major scientific significance. The pictures showing a heavily cratered surface, é e Le Mtn i S Creat af : devoid of evidences of o “queous erosion or mountain building activity, and the observed : divin Rue a eee sh “ absence of a magnetic field are new, fresh clues to the nature and history of Mars. -Not- é am * Sonly has.the public image of the "mysterious planet" been directed away from that of v7. eS ~~ eguAd ft oS 1, “ 4 : intelligent life residing on an earth- like planet by this new information, but the opinions Caan Deut Peel. 09 freee Thay of specialists have also been sharply focused. Mhanterrns with. Ale Asly eG Con cule f the Only a week before/ Mariner IV encounter with Mars in July, a broadly representative ‘pte: me) d Lone | Cee. dew vy roup of scientists was meeting at Wood's Hole Massachusetts under the aegis of the of Q ans ae 4) “T; National Academy of Sciences. Their task was to consider the most important objectives — he, ”~ get “ j, for the lunar and planetary exploration program ; of the United States over the next decade \ ; Mars received particular attention. The search for evidences of an ancient ocean on Mars ake was considered to be among the most important tasks. The geologists in the group discussed \na-e. é At ert ‘ the possibility that layers of sedimentary strata which -had- formed on the bottom of such ancient Aart wt attr, “ eS Tr pay oceans might even be disclosed in close-up shotography by tell-tale erosional patterns. Three A. oh te. be ct cath 2 weeks later the Mariner IV pictures, covering | ess than one percent o} of the surface of the planet at a resolution no better than a mile or two, nevertheless made it clear that’ any large Ber ae ea aaye aka, AAne eds ’ My LA nee Ml’ Arne. toe g « ~ fe scale physiographic relics of ancient Martian oceans , had they ever existed, almost certainly » mara —— \ have been erased by the subsequent meteorite and osteroidal bombardment so vividly recorded Crertmebhed Areraniraly ML f there now. a - Similarly , ‘the scientists at Wood's Hole had pointed out that large scale internal activity such as that which produces mountains and earthquakes on the earth, even the continents VAssoc iate Profess or of 5 Plangta ry Sciences, Division of Geological Sciences, California Inst . of techno ogy, Pasad ena; Associate eel ecreat on Mariner IV Television - Professor of Genetics, Stanford-Medical School, Palo Alto, Calif. Co-chairman, National Academy of Sciences ‘Summer Study "Biology and the Exploration of Mars" (Summer, 1964). Uppers Fog and oceanic basins themselves, should also leave tell-tale topographic signatures on the Martian surface if that planet wer were also internally dynamic. The-degree-of preservation. But Manin 't of the. -present cratered surface, free “from the roe from the, destructive effects of major mountain building activity, is apparent in-the Merino IW ohotocephy. This limited visual reconnaissance . wel heel fry trrgtetians UTR 4) fe Cc ? Rartic, suggests, but does not prove, that Mars has been quiesent! since the present surface formed, if not always. The absence of a detectable magnetic field is an additional strong bit of evidence in favor of a passive planet, particularly because Mars spins on its own axis as rapidly as does the earth. The earth's magnetic field is generally believed to result in some way from the interaction of a liquid. core with its high spin rate. Clank te tr shanarvardl i4- Thus Mariner IV has , in a-veritable-instant, changed even some.of he questions Succi loca a highest preity It has pushed Mars cl hdM scientists-wo ee-at-nig Ie t has 7 Pus ea Mars closer to t oon in cosmic genealogy than many scientists had thought previeusly; it has narrowed-and- sharpened the discussion of the age and nature of Mar's surface. It ‘he beon-« most resounding scientific 1s the set ot oO cant. success because-ft-acquired-andtetumed new new facts about Mars, | facts forever beyond our reach harwnfocTa Ow whl, bo from the surface of the earth, facts even partly beyond our imagination , nie ple a ne bet | he dice plind herisetins urd ee Athy ann ‘-too-li: tle infomation about the siface of Ian upon hich-oven to spocolote althesivaly. perme - Mariner IV was preeminently a scientific exploration; Its success is the\unpredictable result of a bold look at the surface of another planet .. There sisepky was no way eto be pe aelyrornen. sure that et-beast=sonre significant physiographic features would be present in the pictures . i significant oly The Earth itself generatly-woutd not be-teo-interasting-f photographed-in-a-similar manner, * pre Mare urhh Av pene Tt ran ner Cea UL be hla. xcept for-extensive-weter vapor cleo patterns ane: oceans Yet the United States had the imagination to take a chance on exploration and had also the skill to make it succeed — technically. ene ( The meaning of Mariner IV today is that we have reached an historic milestone in Man's exploration of the universe around him: we now have the confident capability to explore directly the nearby-planets. The meaning of Mariner IV for the future is that we can have pose. confidence that that exploration will return even greater scientific dividends. Mariner IV is 1 =3- a spectacular reminder that a wondrous new episode in the Age of Exploration i is beginning. We may expand our consciousness to include the planets if we really wish to . fine ee nee pean poe atte eae ee ee But where next? Isn'¥ Mars so “obviously like the Moon that we should concentrate on some other planet? Isn't it apparent that Mars is lifeless? Our answer to such rhetorical questions would be to emphasize the lessons we have just learned. Explore! If a tiny bit of exploration has been so rewarding, imagine what can be hoped for with the vastly larger capability now becoming available. The «quest for extraterrestrial life is the greatest challenge we can imagine. The surface of Mars is still the best place by far to start that search. Certainly, it would have been particularly exciting if dried up ocean bottoms and ancient river drainage patterns had characterized the terrain. Then we would have felt almost certain that life once existed there. Furthermore, laboratory experiments have shown that even some terrestrial micro- organisms can live and multiply under present Martian surface conditions pierce, many scientists feel that if simple life ever had gotten started on Mars, there should still be some there . The Mariner IV pictures, of course, do not rule out the possibility that Mars did indeed once have oceans and a thick atmosphere with liquid water present at the surface. Although perhaps this seems less likely now than before Mariner IV, it is still possible that such circumstances did prevail at some time in Mar's' history, then gradually disappeared before the present surface was formed. . sth On the other hand, that present surface beet may represent a suitable place for the formation for simple life forms . Mars, unlike the Moon, has a thin atmosphere which must have come from the interior over the course of time. The Martian atmosphere is known to contain substantial amounts of carbon dioxide and about the amount of water to be expected in vapor form over ice, presumably the main constituent of the polar caps of the planet. Now it is most likely that whatever process liberated water and carbon dioxide from the primordial matter of Mars also liberated substantial quantities of organic compounds like methane, Abad OB ADIOS _ nuat aA ? i 3 eb | k gt igsy 238 y SRL Ltn Ads Or. AE Ah. alywugs 4 ears, etinws sardih Be aamrgunrdsA «7 patrul bonis Aare d® hast Bate mre ammonia, and hydrocarbons. Such compounds must have been concentrated at various times e e : o e okt and various places in the Martian soil . TheGurface temperatures | get above freezing just due We mut” Hone, to solar heating in cae regions on Mars, ‘cu theresmommgeetietre isolated internal sources oS << of heat that produce local“"oases" ~- perhaps, the same sources of heat connected with the degassing of the planet itself. Thus, there may well have existed at some places on Mars the chemical and physical conditions necessary for the initiation of simple life forms . Such a "model" is unaffected by the Mariner IV findings; It is, in fact, the picture many biologists and other scientists had developestas a guide to the possible biological exploration of Mars long before Mariner IV. It is primarily on the basis of such a picture, along with secondary hopes of ancient oceans, that the National Academy of Sciences recommended last year to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration a large scale and aggressive program of exploration of Mars leading to eventual | direct tests for, and analysis of, life Maz pructethy , Ue Ate a4 Foo fassnutes, Mace = a gokannsl oot patie TON Alon, Tn teste fara hehe the basis for the NAS) > ‘, forms that may exist there . “vo. “None of the results from Mariner IV significantly change me . as Pa ! | recommendations. Mars is still the best, and a most promising, place to search for extra= i; terrestrial life. Mars is certainly a most exciting and informative place to explore from the =; non-biological point of view as well. ™ rn en enter ee steno eS pa The meaning of Mariner IV to us is-that-we-should-vigorously-and-imaginatively-uti lize-—— dan ror Mrs ehrotlinss Hera our growing space capability, to follow up Mariner's unexpectedly informative "First Close-Up Vie aft vue ow Arve Look" with a rmaal, long range program of Martian exploration, both bioldgical ‘and non- Ptfecge There will be only a brief instant in human history when Man first becomes » Only one or two nations will have the opportunity biological . familiar with the surface of another planet. to carry out this endeavor . Atybt Ci If we but wish it to be; that instant can be the coming decade ia and this nation will remain.at-the forefront of a great human adventure. Banob Arde Kew. 4 J