Looking for Life
“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” [Psalm 33:6]
Mars is fascinating, and people have been captivated by the sight of the red planet since ancient times. The early observers knew it as a “wandering star.” By the early 1600s, the telescope had been invented and opened the way to visual exploration of Mars. Galileo discovered that Mars had phases during which it was not completely round. Other observers noted the polar caps and other surface features. Not until the 1970s did a space vehicle successfully land on Mars. The first images sent back were sadly lacking in details.
Curiosity, the current Mars rover, landed on the red planet in 2012 to collect data as part of the Mars Science Laboratory Project. The rover contains recent advancements in technology from Russia, Spain, and the United States and truly is a laboratory on wheels. It is about the size of an SUV and is powered by a radioisotope generator which makes energy from radioactive decay. Strong and agile, it has the ability to crawl over obstacles as high as 25 inches. It uses a seven-foot robotic arm to help carry out experiments.
This rover contains an array of powerful tools. A gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, and laser spectrometer compare the different isotopes – variations of elements – found on Mars. Curiosity also has a camera with high definition video capability, a scoop, a drill, and sieving and portioning mechanisms for collecting soil and crushed rock. It uses an X-ray diffraction and fluorescence instrument to identify the types of minerals that are collected.
Curiosity’s goal is to explore the region of Gale Crater for about two years. One of the main purposes of its mission is to assess whether the conditions there are, or were, favorable to supporting microbial life.
It’s natural for humans to be curious. While there is a place for exploration, it seems that mankind is eager to look in all the wrong places to discover the origin of our planet and the life on it. The Bible states the truth very plainly: “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:8,9). God made everything by His word. Our all-powerful God is the originator of all that exists.
