What Happened to Mars?

Ancient Mars

As a kid back in the 80s and 90s, I had a fascination with Mars in the sense that I really believed it was a home to an ancient civilization that apparently saw its end. I even believed that maybe spirits currently exist there which belong to that lost civilization.

The famous face on Mars fueled this fascination as well as the supposed pyramids that were lined up very much like the three pyramids of Egypt: Great Pyramid of Giza, Pyramid of Khafre, and Pyramid of Menkaure. Both sets of pyramids between Earth and Mars (I probably read from some pseudo-science article) served as ancient interplanetary telecommunications devices between both planets. And interestingly, both were lined up to match the three stars in Orion's belt. We're delving into some serious alien conspiracy theories with all of this. But I can’t say I want to completely part with my fantastic beliefs of Mars.

But, seriously, do I still believe it? Well, it's interesting. Yet I think we've proven that the artifacts on Mars were simply natural geographic formations that probably don't exist anymore as the surface of Mars changes from all the wind. 

I still have a fascination with Mars and its ancient history. You see, Mars wasn’t always the lifeless desert we see today. Billions of years ago, it was likely a warmer, wetter world with conditions that might have supported life. Its transformation into an arid wasteland was largely due to the loss of its magnetic field and atmosphere, which resulted in drastic climate change.

Satellite imagery, rover data, and rock analyses have revealed that Mars once had liquid water on its surface. Features such as dried-up riverbeds, deltas, and mineral deposits (like clays) suggest that water flowed there billions of years ago. NASA’s Curiosity rover even found chemical evidence of ancient lakes and streams, which could have been hospitable to microbial life.

Mars may have once had a magnetic field like Earth's, which would have shielded the planet from harmful solar radiation and helped retain its atmosphere.

Early Mars likely had a thicker atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide, which could have created a greenhouse effect, keeping the planet warm enough for liquid water to exist.

While we haven't found direct evidence of past or present life, Mars’ ancient environment seems to have been capable of supporting microbial life billions of years ago. Conditions in its early lakes, rivers, and underground aquifers might have been similar to environments on Earth where life thrives.

It sounds like another Planet Earth in the making. So what happened? 

Well, around 4 billion years ago, Mars’ core cooled, and its magnetic field disappeared. Without this protection, the planet became vulnerable to solar wind (streams of charged particles from the Sun). These winds stripped away much of Mars’ atmosphere over time, leaving it thin and unable to trap heat.

As the atmosphere thinned, the surface pressure dropped. This caused liquid water to either freeze or evaporate, leaving Mars in its current state: dry and barren. Today, Mars’ atmosphere is about 100 times thinner than Earth’s.

With the loss of its atmosphere and greenhouse effect, Mars’ surface temperatures plummeted. Average temperatures now hover around -60°C (-80°F), making it too cold for liquid water to persist on the surface.

What's more? Without an atmosphere or magnetic field, the surface of Mars is bombarded by solar and cosmic radiation, making conditions hostile to life as we know it.

Despite this, Mars continues to captivate scientists and dreamers with the possibility of understanding its past, and what it might teach us about planets, including our own.