Abstract

The Earth, Mars, Titan and the rest of the Solar System formed about 4.6 billion years ago. It appears that life formed very early on the newly formed Earth. The oldest rocks found on Earth, dated at 3.6 billion years old, show evidence of fossilized microbial life. Unfortunately, the geological and atmospheric record of our planet is missing for the Earth's first billion years, the very period when life formed. The Earth's early surface and its geological record have been lost due to the recycling of the surface by the action of plate tectonics and the Earth's early atmosphere has been lost and replaced by the present-day atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen. However, the clues to our cosmic origins may be found in the atmosphere of Titan, the large moon of Saturn, and on the primordial surface of Mars. The lecture will summarize the origin and evolution of life on Earth and why the clues to our cosmic origins may be found outside of our planet, on two distant worlds, Titan and Mars. The lecture will also discuss how ARES (The Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Survey of Mars), NASA's rocket-powered robotic airplane proposed to fly on Mars in 2011, may provide previously unobtainable information on the question of life on Mars and how life formed on Earth.

Light refreshments are served in the Interaction Area (4th floor of the Oceanography/Physics Building) at 4:00 p.m.

All seminars begin at 3:00 p.m. and are held in room 200 of the Oceanography/Physics building.