Post by Catsmate on Aug 26, 2016 12:47:37 GMT
A quick idea from some reading I've been doing.
That's early as in three to four billion years ago, when the universe was rather younger and Sol itself was a more kid.
Evidence shows that back then Mars had a dense atmosphere, and was sufficiently warm to support oceans of liquid water, more than a hundred metres deep. Was there life? Quite probably, there's fossil evidence of life on Earth when the planet was around 800M years old. There's evidence of tectonic activity on Mars back then, and suggestions of a magnetic field.
This webpage has a NASA animation of the surface of the red planet before it was so red.
An interesting place for a visit, long before any other references to the planet in Doctor Who.
What kind of life might be found? Mere bacteria and protozoa? Is it like Earth during the "Boring Billion"1 with vast mats of bacteria covering the oceans? Or has something intelligent evolved? Is the planet a colony of some alien race? A battleground in one of the wars waged by Gallifrey when the universe was young? The hiding place of a group of the losers in one such war?
What about the fifth planet (Phaeton), was there life there that would eventually develop into the Fendahl?
Anyone for a boat trip?
BTW, if you fancy a quick visit to Earth take care; the photosynthetic cyanobacteria haven't started yet and the atmosphere is mostly free of all that nasty oxygen. Also the moon2 is a lot closer and tides are up to 300m high with nearly constant hurricane strength winds the norm.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
1 The period from around 1.8 billion to 800 million years ago. Not a lot happened on Earth. Link
2 Which was around back then, so the Silurians were sent into hibernation by some other threat.
That's early as in three to four billion years ago, when the universe was rather younger and Sol itself was a more kid.
Evidence shows that back then Mars had a dense atmosphere, and was sufficiently warm to support oceans of liquid water, more than a hundred metres deep. Was there life? Quite probably, there's fossil evidence of life on Earth when the planet was around 800M years old. There's evidence of tectonic activity on Mars back then, and suggestions of a magnetic field.
This webpage has a NASA animation of the surface of the red planet before it was so red.
An interesting place for a visit, long before any other references to the planet in Doctor Who.
What kind of life might be found? Mere bacteria and protozoa? Is it like Earth during the "Boring Billion"1 with vast mats of bacteria covering the oceans? Or has something intelligent evolved? Is the planet a colony of some alien race? A battleground in one of the wars waged by Gallifrey when the universe was young? The hiding place of a group of the losers in one such war?
What about the fifth planet (Phaeton), was there life there that would eventually develop into the Fendahl?
Anyone for a boat trip?
BTW, if you fancy a quick visit to Earth take care; the photosynthetic cyanobacteria haven't started yet and the atmosphere is mostly free of all that nasty oxygen. Also the moon2 is a lot closer and tides are up to 300m high with nearly constant hurricane strength winds the norm.
Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?
1 The period from around 1.8 billion to 800 million years ago. Not a lot happened on Earth. Link
2 Which was around back then, so the Silurians were sent into hibernation by some other threat.
