Exploring Mars and the origin of life
Published 4:32 pm Wednesday, May 7, 2014
The Curiosity Rover has been operating on Mars since August 2012. On Sunday, May 18, 4 p.m., Center Stage at Orcas Center, Chris McKay will discuss efforts to determine the site’s habitability, focusing on searches for organic molecules – in other words “Is there life on Mars?”
“If we find such organics, our next question will be whether they are of biological origin,” he said in a recent press release.
McKay first became interested in space in college and developed a fascination with Mars in particular in graduate school. Now, he is a planetary scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA’s Ames Research Center. His research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origin of life. He is also actively involved in planning for future Mars missions, including human exploration.
But until then, McKay travels to Mars-like environments in the Antarctic Dry Valleys, the Atacama Desert, the Arctic and the Namib Desert to conduct research.
“Images from Mars look very much like desert landscapes,” he said.
The fact that these deserts may be the closest visits he will ever make to that distant planet doesn’t discourage him.
“It is part of the mystery,” he said.
McKay’s love of unsolved puzzles goes way beyond Mars into questions like the origin of life or the evolution of a solar system.
He said it’s important to study these questions because “it helps us understand our place in the universe and, more important, helps us understand what we should do in the universe.”
As for how the answer to these questions could affect our lives, McKay said it’s hard to predict.
“There may come discoveries that do affect our lives,” he said. “But in any case the big questions are of interest in fundamental way even if they do not immediately affect our lives.”
Tickets are $10 and available at Darvill’s Bookstore, online at www.orcascrossroads.org or at the door. Some complimentary tickets are available in advance at the Orcas Senior Center.
For more information about the lecture series, visit www.orcascrossroads.com.
