From: "Douglas Causey" <answer8@passport.ivv.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: Are the conditions of the polar caps of the Earth similiar to those of the polar ice caps on Mars.
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 14:00:53 -0400

Ted Schultz
Research Entomologist
Smithsonian Institution
-----Original Message-----
From: onair@passport.ivv.nasa.gov <onair@passport.ivv.nasa.gov>
Date: Tuesday, April 28, 1998 12:43 PM
Subject: Are the conditions of the polar caps of the Earth similiar to those
of the polar ice caps on Mars.


>Michelle D. asks this Question:
>
>Are the conditions of the polar caps of the Earth similiar to those of the
polar ice caps on Mars.
>
>
>Answer:
>
>Hi Michelle!  We don't know.  However, we do know that the Martian
atmosphere today is very different from what we experience on Earth, so that
certainly is different.  Scientists hypothesize that conditions on Mars and
Earth were probably similar very long ago, and that these conditions are
sometimes found here on Earth today.  For example, did you know that there
are bacteria that live inside rock here on Earth?  There are other single
celled animals that are specialized for life at the bottoms of the ocean, in
solid ice, in boiling water, in poisonous ponds, almost everywhere you might
imagine that would impossible for something to live.  Why not Mars?  This
question is something that many scientists are trying to answer right now.