Mars - "Deathstar"?

Mars itself is kind of an orangy / red colour no? What if along time ago it was inhabited, now basically the planet was so overly developed with metals and technology it bascially looked like the deathstar from starwars.

If that race died of a crazy plague or something. The tech would deteriate, and corrode, leaving the planet orange and red from the metals bein oxidized...so it's not dirt...but rust particles?

I don't know.

Wow. Just wow. Great theory.

Thats actually one of the best theories that is possible that i've ever heard.

You might just have something there, it sure makes alot of sense.
Thats a theory that need to be reviewed further!

But what about the plastic and glass or other metals like copper that turns green when it "rusts" or other metals?

ummm........quite intresting......but what would explain the volcanoes on its surface?

eh?????.......LOOK OUT THERES A CRASHED X-WING!!!!!

There are no other metals other then iron alloys...j/k...copper and such...dunno maybe there is no copper on mars? Possible...plastics would deteriate over a long period of time. A planet of rust? We're talking a really long time.

Glass would be ground into dust over a long time.

The volcanos were always there, over time and the erosion of the overlaying structures would make the volcanos visible?

Starwars...just used the deathstar as a reference because it was a huge ball of metal, and would be a giant orange ball...wait never mind its in space.

[Edit: Volcano]

[edit on 13-12-2004 by _BLiND_]

Mars does not have an atmosphere (or very little), to prove sufficient to oxidise metals. Therefore the structures would still be there now.
Maybe there was an atmosphere there once though ?

Somehow this theory feels right. The idea that Mars was inhabited is sitting in my head already long time ago...This civilization could create some major disaster - end up destroying themselves...
Anyway water on mars is highly possible -latest news with pics:
www.msss.com...

Originally posted by _BLiND_
Mars itself is kind of an orangy / red colour no? What if along time ago it was inhabited, now basically the planet was so overly developed with metals and technology it bascially looked like the deathstar from starwars.

a) the gravity isn't strong enough to hold a good atmosphere
b) the water evaporated long ago
c) there's no evidence it was ever anything other than a planet
d) there's WAY too much rust and it's too evenly distributed.
e) it's similar in composition to the other rocky planets in the solar system
f) it takes more than iron to make a civilization. You also need other metals, hydrocarbons, sillicas, radioactive material (Mars isn't radioactive), etc, etc.
g) the color goes all the way down. Not just one surface layer that blows around.
h) that doesn't explain the rocks (sandstones, apparently.) Metal ores are different than sandstones.

If that race died of a crazy plague or something. The tech would deteriate, and corrode, leaving the planet orange and red from the metals bein oxidized...so it's not dirt...but rust particles?

Well, if they were stuck in an iron age where they just HAD to have everything made of metal. However, metal isn't the best building material.

As tech developed, we moved out of the Iron age and into the Plastic Age. Very little is made out of pure metals these days. Ceramic and plastic and other similar materials are preferable because they're lighter and often stronger. The problem with iron is that it rusts and wears out.

I'm glossing over this; sorry I'm not going into details. Kind of in a rush today and hope that some of our other science experts will add onto this and give you better detail on planet formation, rock formation, observed formations on Mars, etc.

Fascinating theory. I can't say that I actually agree with it, however it does indeed leave a point to ponder. Nice job, and a very good imagination!

I don't think it's an impossibility that mars has an extremely high concentration of iron on it. There is also strong scientific evidence to suggest that water existed on Mars, which would neccessitate an atmosphere (otherwise the water would last only a few hours).

However, I think it's highly improbable that the entire planet is an artificial structure (or even a hollowed-out planet to house a base), for the following reasons:

• The orbit, due to gravitic rotation with unequal mass, would be very eratic.
  
• With no atmosphere, and being closer to the asteroid belt, it stands to reason that massive meteors would have impacted against it far more often. Which would be far more evident in the stressing and collapse of an artificial structure.
  
• There would be far more evidence of artifical lanscape than a few hills and a face. There would be a lot of canyons, cliffs, etc, with perfectly straight lines.
  
• It would actually make more sense to hollow out a giant asteroid if one were to use it as a death star, for the camouflage factor and armor alone, plus the mineral resources right there.
  

It would make more sense that perhaps Mars was once life-filled, but probably a meteor impact poisoned the water and land with enough iron as to kill off a significant portion of the food chain, which caused the rest (or vast majority of it) to die off over time. Most likely the dust from the impact blocked out enough sunlight to kill off what wasn't killed off by the food chain crisis or the iron poisoning. With no viable life left to maintain the natural process of recycling an oxygen/carbon dioxide/nitrogen atmosphere, it would eventually disappear, but long before that point, it would have rusted the iron.

Just found an interesting link:

Evidence is mounting that the time-weathered red planet was once a warm and water-rich world. And a Mars awash with water gives rise to that globe possibly being fit for habitation in its past � and perhaps a distant dwelling for life today.
As sensor-laden orbiters circle the planet, NASA�s twin Mars rovers -- Spirit and Opportunity -- have been tooling about and carrying out exhaustive ground studies for nearly a year.
The Opportunity robot at Meridiani Planum, for instance, has found telltale signs that water came and went repeatedly within that stretch of Martian real estate. While that intermittent water at Meridiani Planum is thought to be highly acidic and salty, its ability to sustain life for some period of time cannot be ruled out.

I think Mars did have life on it once upon a time. They wrecked their planet, an asteroid probally wiped out their civilization, andfragments of their world landed on Earth.
Their probally was an atmosphere, because if their is water on Mars, wouldn't it of risen up into space and frozen, or just froze on the planet?

Blind, i like the theory, ive had a similar one for years! Have you seen "Mission to Mars"? The theory they have in that movie is a good one too.

I think it would be more like Coruscant than the Death Star... The Death Star was a space station, as where Coruscant was a highly developed planet that was all buildings and whatnot.

Of course, it could just be rust caused by minerals in the ground oxidizing. That's what I'll be going with until we find the Martian equivilant of the Arch de Triumph (spell on that one?).

I don't doubt that Mars once harbored life... I just don't think it ever got beyond the more primitave stage. I doubt there was ever a sentient race there. My bet is that while it did have water, the seas were more shallow and sporadic, and that eventually, some catastrophic impacts wiped out the brief period of good living conditions. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they find fossils on Mars resembling pre-cambrian like organisms...

Does Jupiter protect Mars from space debris as it does Earth?

Originally posted by Mephorium
Does Jupiter protect Mars from space debris as it does Earth?

Yeah. In fact, Jupiter protects most of the solar system (I would say.) It harbors thousands of asteroids in its Trojan Points, which trail and lead Jupiter in its orbit by 60 degrees.