QUESTION:
Have you considered conducting aging, radiation exposure, pressure/stress,
or gas/H2O submersion tests of Earth elements and minerals to determine
whether such stresses might result in similar geology to that discovered on
Mars?

The temperature in Antarctica is very low, so is it possible to save money
by experimenting there instead of Mars?

ANSWER from Peter Thomas on August 4, 1997:
Concerning testing of materials in Mars-like environments: Some of this has
been done by experiment, some by models.  By far the most important
environmental concern is the low, but greatly varying temperatures, and the
low, but poorly-known amounts of water in the atmosphere, as well as other
potentially reactive species.  These may affect how things weather on Mars,
hence the kinds and amounts of materials might be mobile geologic building
blocks.  Volcanoes, and impacts clearly provide much of the surface
morphology, and their workings relate to conditions perhaps only secondarily
affected by the Mars surface pressure and radiation in the environment.

ANSWER from Smart Filter on August 5th, 1997:
While it is possible to perform experiments on earth under conditions that
approximate conditions on Mars, ultimately, to find out what Mars is, we
have to experiment on Mars. The choice is between coming up with various
theories about what could be out there or going out there and finding out
for sure.