Lowell 47, 53
Station 37
Nirgal Vallis
Mars
e-mail: "peeblesc@sss.hebes.mr"
Lowell 97, 53
Dear Miranda:
I have a cousin who lives on a geological research station on the moon Ariel which circles Uranus. He can see the moon Miranda from his bedroom window, and he says that, although it's small, it is really beautiful.
You're lucky to be named after such a beautiful thing as a moon. My name, and that of my brother Garnet, comes from the names of two beautiful stones -- red ones, of course, since we were born on the red planet, Mars! My Mom tells me that carnelian is a semi-precious stone which on Earth is polished and sometimes made into jewelry. Garnet, on the other hand, is a precious gem, and is the birthstone for Earth people who are born in January. It is a very deep red colour, almost maroon or burgundy, and is very elegant. Too bad my brother isn't!
You said in your letter that you saw a rainbow ring around the moon! Wow! Dad told me all about Earth rainbows, how they shine in the sky at the end of a storm, and how they are so beautiful that they make you feel happy. We don't have rainbows on Mars, because we never have rain. Dad says you need blue skies, bright sun, and rain to make rainbows, but reading your letter, it sounds as though a bright moon will do, too. Does the moon make a different kind of rainbow? Do you need rain to make a moonbow, or does the moon use something else? Can you ask your Dad these questions and let me know the answers?
Yes, we can see Orion, and the Andromeda Galaxy, and M33, and the North American Nebula, and millions more stars besides! In fact, because we have thin air, no water vapour, and no light pollution, we have fabulous skies at night! It's too bad that you can't do what we did, and that is to tell your government to turn down the lights! It saves energy and money, and makes the sky pretty again. If you want, I can write to your Earth president or queen or whatever you have, and tell them myself!
You ask, "What is a rebreather?" You know, when you use something all the time and everybody else uses it, too, it's really difficult to try to explain it to someone who has never seen it! I asked my Mom and Dad to help me with this part of my letter, and they really had to think about it. Anyway, Mom finally said, "I've got it! See if Miranda knows somebody who does scuba diving! When Earth people swim underwater, they need help breathing, just as we do when we live on Mars." (My Mom's pretty smart!) Good luck finding a diver! I can't imagine why anyone would want to live underwater, but then I suppose lots of Earth people wouldn't understand why I would want to live on Mars, either!
We have a pink sky for the same reason that you have a pink sky at sunrise and sunset, according to my Mom. It's because of airborne dust particles. I'm told that in some places on Earth (the Sahara Desert, for example) there are dust storms that turn the sky pink, or even blood red, for days at a time. Maybe you could check this out for me, as it might just be Navvies talk (the guys at the mine do tend to tell stories to us kids, just to make us laugh).
I was really confused at first about your cast -- what it was, and why you had it -- so I looked it up in my computer's multi-media encyclopedia. You poor thing! Did you break your arm or leg? What happened? I guess I've been lucky so far, and haven't broken anything except one of my front teeth when I fell and hit my rebreather mouthpiece on a big rock. I hope your doctors are as good as ours, but I wonder how they can be when they treat broken bones with big heavy casts! Here, broken bones are mended with personal force fields (I don't know how they work, they just do, and painlessly).
You have squirrels? Are they pets? Do they live in your house with you, or are they wild? Are you ever lucky! There are no animals here at all, not even any insects. My Mom tells me stories about all the beautiful animals and birds on Earth, how the pretty birds flutter in the early morning sunlight and sing to wake you up in the morning, and how the funny little squirrels run through the treetops and wrap their tails around themselves like big thick blankets when they are cold. She says that there are beautiful flowers and magnificent big trees everywhere except in the deserts and in the Arctic. And Dad, whose ancestors lived in the north of Canada years and years ago, tells me about the big animals like moose and deer, and the wise animals like wolves and beavers, and how important they all are to the Earth. I hope that someday there will be animals on Mars. Every year, I ask for a dog and a cat for my birthday, and every year my parents say that as soon as they are allowed, they will get me one. Do you have a dog? Do you know anyone who does? Is he pretty? What does he smell like?
I guess there are good things about every planet, but there are some things on Earth that I know I would like, and sometimes I wish I was there instead of here. But Mars is home, and I love it!
It's even better now, thanks to your letter! I am very happy you wrote to me, and I hope we can be friends! Please write again!
Live long and prosper,
Carnelian Peebles