Evening star., 1952-08-03

OF all the theories about flying
saucers, the most intriguing one holds
that the mysterious craft are visitors
from-as the science fiction pulp
writer's would say-across the dark,
airless void of space.
A hermit, devoid of contact with
the modern world through radio, tele-
vision. periodicals and newspapers.
probably would be the only one of
us to be unaware of the current broad
and intense interest in interplanetary
travel. The reason for this interest,
undoubtedly, is that we are close
enough to the jumping -of point our
selves to be quite ready to believe
that other beings from other worlds
have mastered space travel already.
1t is not only the cultists of the
fantastic who believe that the flying
saucers may come from outer space.
A good many sensible observers, while
not openly subscribing to this be-
lief, are willing to keep an open mind
on the subject.
It is an axiom of science that we
know more about what goes on 100
million miles above our heads than
we do about what prevails 100 miles
under our feet. We are extremely
well informed about our planet neigh
bors in the solar system. We know
enough about most of them so that
astronomers can make a pretty fair
case for or against life as we know
it on the eight other planets.
Where From?
Where might the saucers come
from if they are real and still not
terrestrial in origin?
From Mercury? Hardly. This little
planet. not much larger than our
moon. apparently has neither air nor
water. It seems to keep one side
turned forever to the binding sun,
only 36 million miles away. The other
side is in darkness. Mercury's surface.
directly under the sun, must be hot
enough to melt lead. Its dark side
must be close to the ultimate zero
Of cold.
From Venus? In many ways, Venus
Is the earth's twin sister. But there
are many mysteries about this planet.
It seems always to be swathed in
clouds made up largely of carbon
dioxide. It may have oceans, but
these would have no appreciable
tides, because Venus has no moon.
Venus might sustain life, but it
probably would have to be something
like plant life, which breathes in
carbon dioxide and exhales oxygen
as a by-product.
From Mars? This planet has long
been the favorite habitat Of the
-fictioneer's Bug Eyed Mon
ster. But Mars must be an inhospita-
BILE place, considerably colder than
the earth, almost devoid of water,
and with an atmosphere about as
rare as that on top of Mount Everest.
Most astronomers concede q chance
for life there. but say it probably Is
q rudimentary form like the moses
and lichens we know here.
From the asteroids? Unless these
tiny fragments are a stopping of
place for beings from farther out.
they can be eliminated from con-
sideration right away. Even the big
gest is too small to hold an atmos-
phere--and an atmosphere of some
kind is needed to support any kind
of life we can poStulate.
27O Below
From Jupiter? This granddaddy
among planets must be considered a
far more unlikely source Of visitors
than either Venus or Mars. In vol
ume Jupiter makes 1900 earths and
its gravity is so great that 200
pound man at its surface would
weigh more than quarter of ton.
It's atmosphere is murky mixture
of marsh gas and ammonia. The
latest theory is that this noxioNS
mess, thousands of miles thick, over
lays a heavy covering of ice and a
relatively small rock core. A half-bil-
lion miles from the sun, Jupiter
temperature is about 270 degrees be-
low Fahrenheit zero.
From Saturn or beyond? Saturn
is much like Jupiter in composition.
with a similar atmosphere. These
same conditions apply on the two
other giant planets, Uranus and Nep-
tune. All have temperatures between
800 and 400 degrees below zero. Little
Pluto, between and billion miles
out. is not so well known. In size
and other superficial characteristics
it seems more like the earth than like
Jupiter. But where the earth is warm,
Pluto is unimaginably cold. Where
the earth is brightly lighted by a
nearby sun, Pluto floats in darkness