MURDER IN OUTER SPACE ONE OF OUR PLANETS IS MISSING—BUT HOW AND WHY DID IT VANISH? WAS IT BLOWN UP ee a esa a ae (ela THAN-SCIENCE-FICTION ANSWER—REVEALED -. BY A CONSULTANT TO AMERICA’S NATIONAL SPACE COUNCIL! = /sy PAT FRANK me MUM M8 --1 a) a-W =] old = OA OL CLECs Lee) i million-years—a mere tic of an eyelid by cosmic reck- fey a Seer TLC le Ana Colt] 44 eae confined to our own solar system. Probably it RNC Men MCC M UM a Sie) CU em RIC ERO eee FO Mot Miva em eno7 MURDER IN OUTER SPACE other planets in our galaxy, the Milly Way, and planets orbiting billions of stars in distant galaxies were troubled not at all. The war ended with the destruction of Planet X in a cataclysmic explosion. ‘This is not fantasy, but theory based upon facts. ‘The onetime existence of Planet X, and its vio- lent death, has now been proved beyond all doubt by the astronomers of many nations, after 200 years of tireless researeh and inspired deductions. Planet X Wwas a life-bearing sphere that could have been Earth's identical twin, except that it was a bit smaller. It was composed of the same elements as Earth, in almost exactly the same ratio, and had a similar atmosphere. Its orbit around the sun lay between Mars and Jupiter. The bulk of its shattered body still maintains that orbit in the form of thou- sands of fragments forming the “asteroid ring.” How the life and death of Planet X was first suspected and finally proved is a fascinating seientific detective story. ‘An Earthman of today must reconstruct the mur~ der (or could it have been suicide?) of Planet X from circumstantial evidence. In One Billion B.C. Earth's hardening crust, heated by inner fires, was a shifting, semi-molten mass rising from boiling seas. It is doubiful if even the most elementary life existed on Earth. On Mars conditions were different. Much smaller than Earth, with only half the diameter and one- tenth the mass, and 36,000,000 miles farther trom a sun that blazed hotter than it does now, Mars cooled and became habitable much faster. It can be assumed that in One Billion B.C. the Martian climate was as equable as ours today, the atmosphere as rich, and the planet the home of a superior civilization. ‘There is reason to believe that the beings there were much like ourselves, and indeed they may have been our ancestors. (All scientists agree that plant life continues on Mars. Whether animal life survives is debatable. The ‘School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph Air Force Base, in Texas, produced soil and atmosphere sizmu~ lating conditions on Mars, and low organisms lived and multiplied in this environment. (Mars today is enveloped in an atmosphere 60 miles deep, composed largely of nitrogen, with some ‘oxygen, water vapor and inert gases. Teecaps appear at the poles in accordance with the seasons. In the ‘Martian spring the ground subtly changes color, blue- green patches spreading outward from a melting jeecap. The temperature on Mars rises to a fairly comfortable 50 degrees at noon, but plunges 150 MLLUSTRATED BY ED VALIGURSKY degrees in the dark hours. Still, the Martian climate is not much more rigorous than in the Himalayas and the High Pamirs, where hardy mountain people ike the Sherpas manage to live. The Air Force has concluded that with careful preparation Earthmen can exist on Mars, The atmospherie pressure-is great enough so a simple space suit is all that is required. A source of water could be established near the poles and the oxygen supply replenished from water, by electrolysis.) Loong, tong ago, after many centuries of lush civili- zation, the Martians noted that their planet was becoming uncomfortably cold and arid. Mars cooled far more rapidly than its nearest and larger neighbors, Earth and Planet X, just as a demi-tasse of coffee grows tepid while a big mug of it remains hot. ‘Mars's atmosphere, particularly vital oxygen, steadily leached away into space, for Mars's gravitational pull ‘was scarcely one-third that of Earth and Planet X. Rainfall dwindled, water became scarce and the land grew less arable as the equatorial deserts crept inexorably across the once fertile plains, The Mar- tians fought to save their planet, and their civiliza- tion. They constructed waterways radiating from the polar icecaps, so that when the ice melted with the change of seasons the land could be irrigated. ‘The so-called canals of Mars were first observed by an Italian astronomer, G. V. Schiaparelli, in 1877. He described them as “a network of fine, straight lines.” Since then, nothing in the heavens has aroused more controversy. But in June, 1956, under “very favorable seeing conditions,” an American astron- omer, Robert S. Wilson, partially confirmed Schia- parelli's findings. He described the “canals” as waver- ing lines running from the Martian plains into the deserts. The truth is that few Earthmen have ever had a really clear view of Mars, for the telescope’s vision must penetrate the shimmering atmospheres of both planets, and contend with haze, clouds and dust on one or the other—and often on both. Mars is almost always seen as if through roiling smog. We may obtain a clearer view of Mars when NASA puts up Orbiting Astronomical Observatories in 1964, and photographs of Mars are televised back to Earth. ‘At this point, the Martians must have thought of emigration. It can be assumed that by the time Mars grew arid and cold, the planet supported an adult civilization which had long before learned the secrets of nuclear power and space flight. To support this notion, consider that a mere 8000 years ago Farthmen could not read or write. Consider that it has required Barthmen only 60 years of theory and invention to permit us to leave this planet. It was in 1903 that the great Russian scientists, Konstantin Tsiolkovski, first set down a formula which he believed would enable rockets, propelled by liquid hydrogen or oxygen, to each orbital or even escape velocity. The first such ‘SAGArockets were tested by an American, Robert Goddard, in 1917-20. ‘They were too small and crude to attain sufficient speed. But now both Russians and Ameri ans have orbited Earth at speeds of 18,500 miles per hour, and the U.S. has successfully dispatched ‘a space probe with robot brain to take a good look at our sister planet, veiled, mysterious Venus. How far will mankind advance in the next century—in the next 1000 or 5000 years? By the time they decided it was necessary to seek ‘another homeland, the sophisticated Martians already must have scouted the other planets within the solar system, They instantly rejected tiny Mercury, too small to hold an atmosphere and so close to the sun that the noon temperature approached 1000 degrees. ‘They discarded the largest planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, as too cold or shielded by dangerous radiation belts or shrouded in poisonous atmospheres. ‘Venus, constantly covered by a dense cloud layer, was far too hot. This left only Earth, on the sunward side of Mars, and Planet X, their nearest neighbor, lying, between Mars and Jupiter. ‘The Martians must have investigated Earth thor- oughly. Under a blanket of clouds, steam and ash, they found a surface that seethed with voleanic fury, and seas that were boiling cauldrons. They judged Earth unripe for settlement, although they ‘must have envied the deep, oxygen-rich atmosphere. Luckily, Planet X was ‘suitable. Otherwise they doubtless would have been forced into hazardous and time-consuming exploration of planets swinging around stars beyond our solar system, While it was farther from the sun than Mars, Planet X possessed ‘eight or nine times the mass of Mars, and maintained its warmth because of a molten core of iron and other elements. Its far greater gravity enslaved a splendid atmosphere. Its cloud cover and moist air insured a “greenhouse effect,” retaining heat received from the sun. Best of all, Planet X was uninhabited. ‘The migration began. It must have been a logistical job of fantastic proportions, even granting that the Martians had developed large space ships powered by nuclear reactors and propelled by ions or photons ejected from the nozzles once the ships had cleared the planet's atmosphere. Thus propelled, such space vehicles could accelerate to nearly the speed of light. ‘The United States has on the drawing boards to- day plans for just such nuclear power plants, to be installed in Nova rockets that are designed to reach beyond the moon, explore space and eventually land fon the planets. It is called Project Rover. Prototypes of the reactors have already been constructed and tested in Nevada, The present models are too bulky and heavy for space but there is no doubt that in time they will be miniaturized. At first hydrogen will be super-heated and ejected through the nozzles to propel atomic-powered rockets. Later, the use of ions or photons is planned. Only (Continued on page 94) APmuL, 1969 THE MAN BEHIND THE STORY = Best known as a novelist and newspaperman, Pat Frank is well qualified to write about the wonders of today and tomor- row. He has covered many of the great scientific events of the last 30 years—describing them with a newsman's re- spect for facts . . . and the skill of a master fiction writer. In 1945, while still a war corre- spondent in Europe, he began writing Mr. Adam, a blockbust- ing book about the last man on earth. Thus far it has sold more than two million copies in the U.S.—and has been published in every European country but Russia. Pat is also the author of Hold Back the Night, Alas Babylon, and, most recently, How to Survive the H-Bomb— and Why. ™ Since 1961, Frank has served as a part-time consultant to the National Space Council, a top- policy U.S. government group now planning our future in out- er space. He believes that put- ting men on the moon is chal- lenging, exciting and impor- tant... but not nearly as chal- lenging, exciting and important as the search for intelligent life on our planets. Pat admits that he cannot conclusively prove his theory about the death of Planet X-yet! But then, neither can he disprove it!Murder in Outer Space by acoeleraiion almost to the speed of light (186,282 miles per second) can we Earthmen contemplate the exploration, ‘of deep space beyond the moon with any confidence. NASA has estimated that to Tand astronauts on Mars and bring them ack “alive with ‘chemical fuels. would require a four-stage rocket with a gross Weight of more than nine million pounds, With a Project Rover. atomic power plant, ‘the weight would be only’ one- Tenth’ as much, ‘Assume that in that long-gone day the population of Mars had leveled. off at 00" million~ greater than the combined populations of North America, South America and Europe. But transporting people, ‘who are mobile, flexible and of Thsignincant ‘weight, was ‘simple. com- pared to the staggering task of moving all the parapernalia of a civilization. Like “the Pilgrims ‘in’ Massachusetts and the Spaniards in Florida, the pio- heer settlers of Planet X probably had ‘to take with them everything they would Fequire'in the ‘rst few years. Space ships must have ferried packaged foods, medicines, prefabricated. shelters, vehi” les for getial and ground survey and transport, and fuel for all’ their ma- chines. After that came the machine tools, the atomic reactors to provide a power nucleus for urban centers, min= Ing equipment to dig for energy sources such as uranium and lithitm, seed grains and livestock, aquariums of edible sh, entire libraries of mierofilms. packed with all the knowledge and history of the dying planet, and all the number- Tess essential Items that characterize a civilization, ‘Although thousands of stom-powered arks probably bridged the vacuum be- tween Mars and. Planet “X, and. more ‘were under construction on Both planets, there were never enough. High TQ com puters estimated it would require 800 Years to complete the migration. Almost from the beginning, "we can assume things went awry—and frietion devel- ‘oped between the mother planet ad the setlers on Planet X. ‘The Martians. reckoned their com- puters simarter than any organic brain, jut there are certain variables m0 com~ puter can absorb, or offer a solution to. ‘These Variables are the human emotions ove and hate, ambition and suspicion, fear and hope, Tt is a safe assumption that as the resources of their planet dwindled, the ‘Martians instituted compulsory birth control This law must have ‘been in effect Tong ‘before the decision to, emi- grate to Planet X. But in the lush and lentiful climate of their larger “new ‘world, with spirits and energy bubbling Inthe oxygencrich atmosphere, the peo= ple of Planet X probably considered this Fogulation silly and failed to enforce it Within a century, the number of births per annum on Planet X exceeded the ew arrivals from the mother planet, As a result, it’s reasonable, to believe the Colonial’ governors of Planet % urged Mars to Send more supplies and fewer people. ‘Naturally, Martian politicians and set- cntists must have been disturbed and angry. Yet they complied, for though It meant upsetting their migration tme- fable, they didn't wish to oifend Planet X, which by that time possessed @ form of ‘self-government, although all the really important decisions “were still, ‘made on Mars. ‘Within a few more centuries, some selentists now figure, the population of Planet X exceeded that of Mars. Fur- thermore, the people of the new colony ‘were prosperous, comfortable, well fed and warm, while the Martians grew older and thelr rationed food scarcer ‘and less appetizing. The pro Migration caused ‘more and more frie- tion, "The X-men, ‘growing greedy and contemptuous of the wan, ill-nourished ew arrivals, instituted stern immigra~ Hon quotas.” The Mariians demanded that they be revoked. ‘The X-men Te- fused, and soon after, declared thelr in- dependence of the mother planet. There wag nothing Mars ‘could do but’ accept this fait accompit, for the Martians pos- sessed neither: armament nor soldiers ‘The use of force to settle disputes ‘was a barbarous custom abandoned eons be= fore, along with provincial borders. and artificial boundaries. For eons Martians had not known war. Weapons seemed part of antiquity, and wars so remote that they were réyarded.as fables. ‘Top-level Martian officials, sent to Planet 2 to bring the colonials back un~ der Martian authority, developed a habit of not returning. Whether they. were held in arrest, or simply elected to re- main there for their own safety, was never determined, But. several. rellable Martian agents did return to Mars with the alarming story that the scientists of Planet X had discovered vast new lodes of uranium, lithium and cobalt, and were manufacturing quantities of deu~ ferium and tritium, These were heavy hydrogen Isotopes ‘used, the physicists finally recalled, in the bombs and war- heads that had decided the last, half forgotten confict In which Martians had fought, Martians. (On Mars, the wicked trident of fear suspicion and envy prodded the people the politicians, and finally the seientists ‘The Marans constructed | warheads larger than those used by the primitive ancients, and with destructive power enormously multiplied. They may’ have been a thousand limes ‘more powerful than the 100-megaton weapons of whieh Nikita “Khrushchev boasts. today”—and probably possesses. (Theoretically, there fy almost no limit to the size and power of an Ti-Bomb or hydrogen warhead. It [simited only by the capabilities of the cartier systems, whether alreraft OF rockets.) ‘nail likelihood the Martians, fitted megaton warheads into” thelr” largest space rockets, and protected the. noce cones with heat shields capable of is- Sipating enormous. temperatures while flicing the heavy atmosphere of Planet 5x Eventually, someone on Mars—presi- Gent or premier or chiet—pushed the Dutton. Perhaps. he believed only pre- ventive war could save his planet. Per- haps Mars's radar seemed to pick up rockets coming. toward them, ‘In any fase, the Martian rockets lifted and Readed “for Planet X, accelerating to 180,000 miles-por-second in the dark ‘void af space before Teaching mid-point {their 70,000,000 mile fight. ‘They pierced the atmosphere of Planet Xelght or ten minutes after lift-ot, penetrated deep into Its erust and burst ‘within its hot Iron core, perhaps. indut Ing secondary chain reactions in im- plisoned vel of radioactive materials Planet X exploded ina burst of blue~ white flame ‘many times brighter than the sun, go bright that it seared the elinas of Unwary watchers on Mars, (On other planets, orbiting other stars in the Milky Way, the catastrophe was oled a hundred ‘or @ thousand. years Tater, depending on the distance in light years from Planet X- it was probably Shrugged off as. “just another nova.” (Continued on page 98)(Continued from page 94) Fragments of Planet X, many measur- ing 100'to 480 miles from tip to tip, others as sinall as dust particles, rushed outward. from the ebbing fireball like hraprel from a shellburst, Almost half the debris continued on the same orbit as Planet %, eireling the sun ina wide band ‘we call the “asteroid ring belt.” ‘A small. percentage of the fragments lied. the almospheres ofthe closest planets. Those bits that survived super heating in the plunge through Barth's deep "and “heavy atmosphere were ‘swallowed by our molten erust oF stoam- Ing seas, Singe Mars's atmospheric shield Was much thinner than that of Planet ‘X;many fragments must have impacted ‘om ‘the "mother planet. ‘The moon, too Small fo Fetain any atmosphere whatso- ever by pull of gravity, was a defense Jess tart, as i pocked and cratered surface indieates today. Most astrono- ‘mers believe the moon craters resulted fram this meteoric bombardment, and fa few believe the craters were created by ‘voleanie aeltivity. Tn Arizona, in a desert area, south of Winslow, there is a meteoric crater 1200. feet in. diameter. In every way, It resembles the craters fon the moon: ‘The remainder of the debris flew out- ward until the inexorable pull of the sun slowed if, and each fragment found a wolar orbit af ils own, When these of- Dils intersect the orbit of Barth we wit- hess @ shower of “shooting stars,” if the debris ig tiny. If the fragment is too large to be consumed in the atomsphere, a meteorite lands on Earth. Some few ‘are found and delivered into the hands ‘of scientists each year, providing amaz= {ng corroborative evidence to the story of Planet %. Since ali meteorites are irregular in shape, it Is clear they were onee part of a larger body. No meteorite has ever been found that did not contain eles ments found on. Barth, An analysis of {he compaction of all meteorites found reveals that they contain oxygen, iron, ‘nickel, silicon, and other elements in al- hmost ‘exactly’ the ‘same ratio as. oUF planet, Their age, measured by the de- Cay ‘of uranium into lead, is, precisely the same as Barth's estimated ae~four and one-half billion years. Abd most Surprising, examination of meteorite hy- ‘Grocarbon’ traces proves. that Planet bonee supported organic life. "The reconstruction of the death of Planet X ts, of course, a guess, but there is no doubt that the planet existed, and that it’ disintegrated’ in ‘a ‘violent plosion. ‘The rhythm of the universe e Gludes’ the possibility of collision wi another planet, or with astray. from a distant galaxy. ‘What eannot be exchided is the possiblity that people on Planet X wore reponse fom the catastrophe. {and that Martians (if there were any) Rad nothing to do with itt may be that getentiss of Planet X probed too deeply for the scerets of nuclear hssion. From the composition of meteorite fragments recovered on Earth, we know that Plane et X was rien in uranium, thorium and Stier Yadioactive elements whic under Certain conditions become unstable, ‘The fact that one of our planets’ was missing was first discovered, through Sheer logic, by" the: Duteh astronomer, Johann E. Bode, in 1772. Scanning the skies, he was disturbed by-a gap ih the lanetary system, Others did not notice R, but to Bode it was as shocking as a'missing front tooth in the smile of @ Beautiful’ woman, Measuring the dl tances between planets, he found that ap they. stretched out trom. the. sun, each g terval was about double that ‘of the Preceding one. Reducing millions of files fo. the sinallest figures, he set it Gown thus: Mercury 4, ‘Venus 7, Barth 10," Mars "16, ‘(Blank)’ 28, Jupiter 52, Saturn 100. He predicted that the next planet out would have valtie of 196, and in 1781" when Herschel discovered Uranus, and it fitted exactly into the formula, Bode’s theory was proved, ‘But where was Blank Yor Planet )? ‘Twenty-four famous European astrono- mers formed a society, “and pledged themselves to the searet, In 1801. Giu= seppe Pazzi, director of the Palermo Observatory,’ saw a. tiny star where Planet X should be. After years of ob= servation, ‘the astronomers. determined that the ‘object was. 480 miles in dis meter. ‘They named it Ceres, Then, dis- turbingly, they began to spot more and more of these small objects, all chasing, each other in the same orbit, Now, more than 3000 have been spotted, Identified and sssigned names or numbers. Ceres is still the largest, Modern telescopes, refinements in photography and sophis~ ticated radar show that these asteroids are not spheres but are irrogwlar in shape” Selenlsts now agree, that te as teroids were once part of a large parent body:—the shattered missing planet ‘Alter estimating the total mass of the asteroids, it was possible tor astrophysi- fists, by exquisite mathematical compu fations, to calculate that Planet X must have been ‘almost as large as. Barth. ‘Granting that Mars was the fest plan- et in our solar system to support intelli- gent life, since it frst cooled to a tem erate climate, where did that lite originate? ‘Until the last year or two, every high school student would. auto- matieally reply, *"Through evolution.” ‘There’ ig another theory. Almost all astrophysicists now agree that life exists ‘on mailions of planets in the Milky Way Galaxy. They reached this conclusion by Mathematics, the laws of probability and. Simple logic, Having aseeriained the size, heat and composition of nearby (ten £0500 light vears distant) stars in the galaxy by spectroscopes, radio astrono- my-and the larger telescopes, scientists ow estimate that 30 percent of the Stars are of approximately the same size ‘and age as our sun. Of these, one-third support a planetary system, according to this” sampling. Harlow Shapley. the great Harvard astronomer, look the next ogical step. He estimated that intelll- gent life could be expected to flourish 6n-not tess than ten milion planets in the "Milky. Way. ‘And’ there ‘are some astronomers who think Dr, Shapley's estimate is too conservative! ‘The National Science Foundation, con vvineed that the startling conclusions of Shapley and other astronomers are cor~ ect, is seeking conerete proof, In 1s0~ ated hollows of West Virginia, protected from television and other electronic in= {erference by surrounding hills, the £ov- ferment has erected radio-telescopes to {ocus on likely nearby stars, in the hope of intercepting signals. from intelligent beings in deep space. A radio-telescope with’ ish “220 fect, i, ameter is in operation at Green Bank, anda larger Instrument nears completion. At Sugar Grove, West Virginia, the Navy plans to build # radio-telescope 600 teet in diameter. “Primarily it will be used for filitary” purposes, but ‘also it will be Toaned to’ the scientists engaged in the ‘most intriguing quest in our century the attempt to establish communications with olfter civilizations in the universe Zs it not possible that the Martians! original home was a dying or over- Dopulated pianet outside our solar sys- fan? Two slars orbited ‘by planels— Alpha Bridani and Tau Ceti, are fairly jose 11 end 12 light years away. It would be a long journey, but a journey hot impossible. Even a’ comparatively primitive civilization, such as Our own, Gan anilipate the iy "When ur space Tockets will achieve almost the speed of light. ‘There is another important question Assuming that the hypothesis sct-down here is correct, what_-happened to the Martians ‘who by destroying Plane! foolishly imprisoned themselves on a planet growing harsher with each ‘cen= fury? As water grew scarcer, and the Geserts. overwhelmed the plains, and the atmosphere grew thinner in oxygen, the death rate must have increased. Alc though humans are adaptable creatures, eventually” the “Martians found” they ‘could exist only in an artificial environ 'So they hollowed out” under. found cities deep beneath the lee crusts Sf the planet's poles. Thus they ob- fained a steady ‘supply of water, and from the water and rocks they squeezed ‘oxygen by electrolysis and other chemi- cal processes, Nuclear reactors furnished warmth and light, Stil, the population must have steadily shrink, conforming to-dwindling supplies of food. Survivors may be there yet, lh like moles. Or they_may have scouted planets orbiting the nearby stars, and settled on another homeland outside our solar sys~ fem. Or, assuming the passage of mil- Hons and millions of years, they may have waited until Barih's crust cooled enough to risk settlement. If_some of the survivors emigrated to Barth, they mist have hada hard time of it, endut= ing voleanic convulsions and the terrible ice ages, Their ivilization and learning may have been ‘destroyed here, and they may have sunk inte savagery, only tovrise again after the fourth. Tce Perhape there is no "missing. link between apes and men, and they have xno common ancestor.” Perhaps homo Sopiens reached Earth as a highly. In- ‘elligent “creature, trom the mother planet, Mars. When space scientists, astronauts, or the highest executives ‘of government are asked why we intend to spend $20 biflion to place 'men on the moon, the answers are usually given in general terms: “We must go forward..." This country cannot stand still” Or, “We have to beat the Russians to the moon.” ‘There is a more exciting and more cogent reason, however. If we can es= tablish permanent observatories on the ‘moon, equipped “with powerful optical ‘and radio-teleseopes, ‘we can unlock Many’ of the sectels of the universe. Earth's’ atmosphere is ‘ike ‘gauze over our eyes, and Earth's static, bot, from Rature's ‘storms and. man's’ machinery, plugs ‘our ears. ‘On the moon, which hag no_atmos- pbs; eee hanalcape will be removed ‘or the frst time, once an observatory fon the moon is completed, we will be able to examine our sister planets and the star systems beyond them with true larity. And we will be able to listen, twithout interference, for the voices from buter space. ‘And after the moon, there is Mars to explore. Unless we destroy our own civilization in nuclear War, the explora fon of Macs will certainly come in this century. Perhaps it will begin, within the next 15 years. At least, NASA hopes so. And wien. we have explored Mars, the riddle of the extinction of Planet X, and of the existence of life beyond our own small world, may become clear.