{"id":18871,"date":"2017-07-18T19:26:15","date_gmt":"2017-07-18T11:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/the-internet-goes-all-atwitter-over-u-s-rep-dana-rohrabachers-questions-about-mars-civilization\/"},"modified":"2017-07-18T19:26:15","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T11:26:15","slug":"the-internet-goes-all-atwitter-over-u-s-rep-dana-rohrabachers-questions-about-mars-civilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/the-internet-goes-all-atwitter-over-u-s-rep-dana-rohrabachers-questions-about-mars-civilization\/","title":{"rendered":"The internet goes all atwitter over U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher\u2019s questions about Mars civilization"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dana
U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., asks about Mars\u2019 ancient past. (House Science Committee via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What game was U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., playing when he asked Caltech geochemist Kenneth Farley whether there was any evidence of an ancient civilization on Mars?<\/p>\n

The question was an add-on at today\u2019s House Space Subcommittee hearing on NASA\u2019s flagship missions to Mars and to Europa, an ice-covered moon of Jupiter.<\/p>\n

The space agency is planning to launch its next rover to the Red Planet in 2020, and it\u2019s working on a spacecraft that would make repeated passes over Europa to gain data about the ocean \u2013 and perhaps the life forms \u2013 that may lurk beneath the surface. (Congress is pressing for a Europa lander as well.)<\/p>\n

Farley was testifying in his capacity as the project scientist for the 2020 Mars rover, and at the end of Rohrabacher\u2019s allotted time, the congressman asked for one extra question.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have indicated that Mars was totally different thousands of years ago,\u201d he told the panel. \u201cIs it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n