Happy Red Planet Day!

Wait... what? That's right. Today is Red Planet Day, in honor of Mars. It all began on November 28, 1964, when the Spacecraft Mariner 4 was launched on the first exploration to Mars. Astronauts didn't officially approach Mars until the following July, but that's just a technicality ;)

Big deal, it's just a pint-sized planet (half the size of the Earth) named after the Roman god of war due to its red coloring. Scientists have actually conducted searches on the planet for signs of life and water, some of which have proved successful. In case of the 2012 Apocalypse, Mars is where we plan to go. Unfortunately, although Mars is quite scenic with its huge mountain and bloodred coloring, the planet also hosts the craziest weather patterns in the solar system, regardless of what most people say. Our weather patterns are similar! Yeah, if we were locked in a perpetual hurricane AND tornado season. Not to mention Antarctic-like winters and Equator-style summers. And one of its moons is going to crash into it soon. But, WHATEVER! We love us some Mars!

I mean, it can't be all that bad. Theories suggest that the Egyptians and Mayans had contact with Martians. The pyramids were built as a sort of power source for our friendly extraterrestrials. That HAS to be the only plausible explanation for why two different civilizations figured out pyramids and had the others' inscriptions on them, right? Their pathetic little rafts could not possibly ferry them across the Atlantic Ocean. But, if they could build pyramids with less equipment than we use to build houses anymore, then I'm pretty sure that their little boats had to have been quite successful. But aliens are a more interesting topic, yes?

Whatever there is in store for us on Mars, the most exciting thing I can imagine explaining to children is not "Why is the sky blue?" but rather, "Why is the sky pink?"