Mormonism: Mars

Mars is the fourth planet in our solar system. It is smaller than earth and is farther from the sun than Earth, but there is speculation that life might have existed on Mars. Scientists don't expect to find intelligent life on Mars, but many of them hope to find evidence of primitive life. Even though Mars is a smaller planet than earth and is farther from the sun than Earth, it is close enough to the sun that temperatures on Mars might be compatible with life. Astronauts have not walked on Mars, but man-made rovers have explored small parts of the surface of Mars, and satellites are in orbit around Mars photographing the surface and doing other scientific investigations. One controversy in the scientific and political worlds is whether astronauts should be sent to Mars or whether investigations should be accomplished by robots.

From the viewpoint of Mormonism, Mars is one of the worlds created by God. It likely has not been inhabited by children of God, but since LDS believe God works through natural laws, the occurrence of other planets besides earth is to be expected. If primitive life has been (or is) on Mars, LDS will not be surprised, since God uses natural laws to accomplish his tasks. God created this earth as a mortal home for his children, and planets near earth should have and will have conditions that are similar to those on earth, and primitive life could exist on those worlds.

Science articles about Mars are given below.
Researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa NASA Astrobiology Institute (UHNAI) have discovered high concentrations of boron in a Martian meteorite. When present in its oxidized form (borate), boron may have played a key role in the formation of RNA, one of the building blocks for life.
The temperature in the permafrost on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic is nearly as cold as that of the surface of Mars. So the recent discovery by a McGill University led team of scientists of a bacterium that is able to thrive at -15ÂșC, the coldest temperature ever reported for bacterial growth, is exciting. The bacterium offers clues about some of the necessary preconditions for microbial life on both the Saturn moon Enceladus and Mars, where similar briny subzero conditions are thought to exist.
In the first study of its kind, a team of researchers led by faculty at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Baylor College of Medicine, has analyzed data on the impact of prolonged operational confinement on sleep, performance, and mood in astronauts from a groundbreaking international effort to simulate a 520-day space mission to Mars.
Preliminary weather reports from the Curiosity's Remote Environment Monitoring Station (REMS) are showing some surprisingly mild temperatures during the day. Average daytime air temperatures have reached a peak of 6 degrees Celsius at 2pm local time.

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