An Artifact On Mars In the year 2090, geologist Jason Siberius stepped out of his spaceship onto the red surface of Mars. Jason walked across the rocky surface. It almost seemed as though giants had dropped their contact lenses into the red dust to make the many craters that dotted the surface of this planet. The glowing, pink sky seemed oddly comforting as Jason thought about the many expeditions that had visited Mars over the years. Some scientists speculated that a civilization had existed on that planet millions of years ago. The debate about an ancient civilization on Mars was the subject of many heated discussions among the scientists of Earth. The scientists who believed in an ancient Martian civilization thought that those Martians might have had unusual technology and the ability to visit worlds far beyond our solar system. They thought that if Earth could access this technology, it would jump-start Earth's expeditions into deep space. With the development of a new type of radar system, deeper exploration of the surface of Mars was possible, and collecting information with this new equipment was the purpose of Jason's mission.

This mission thrilled Jason, and his heart jumped as he set up the delicate radar system. The latest ground-penetrating radar equipment would give him a detailed, three-dimensional view into the layers on this planet. This new equipment could also determine the material and age of any object under the surface and transmit the data to Earth. The data would be in the form of a 3-D picture that scientists could study. The display screen of the equipment revealed nothing unusual at first. Then Jason saw something different. A circular object appeared to be about 300 feet below the surface and seemed to be made of an unknown metal. Jason felt his heart race faster. Was this object a Martian artifact?

Directions: Follow the instructions in each problem set below to complete this activity.

Part A: Answer the following questions before you finish the story.

1. Describe Jason in detail, including his appearance and his personality. How did he decide to become a geologist?

2. What kind of spacesuit and spaceship did Jason have?

3. What other missions had been to Mars, and what did they accomplish?

4. Why did other scientists believe that there had been an ancient civilization on Mars? What evidence supported this theory?

5. Describe the scientists' reaction to the pictures of the circular metallic object.

6. What happened when Jason returned to Earth? How was he received because of the discovery of this circular metal object?

7. Did Earth scientists excavate the circular object? How did they do that? Was Jason part of the excavation? Why or why not?

8. Describe the circular object in detail. What was it, and what could it do? Was it from an ancient Martian civilization?

Part B: Write an ending to the story. Write in complete sentences, using correct punctuation.