Rovers Find Evidence Mars Was Once Hostile

In August, Spirit climbed to the top of a Martian hill as tall as the Statue of Liberty. After a month at the summit, the rover is making its way down to explore a basin that holds geologic promise. Spirit recently did some nighttime viewing of the sky and photographed a lunar eclipse of Mars' moon Phobos.

Mars Hill ping! That would be Husband Hill:

Cosmic Climbing and Timing

July 13, 2005

A poetic cosmic convergence is building to a crescendo: as the first space shuttle flight since the loss of the Shuttle Columbia prepares to fly 200 miles (320 kilometers) above the Earth, the Spirit rover is climbing the last 200 meters (656 feet) toward the summit of the "Columbia Hills" on Mars.

After two years of meticulous preparations for Return to Flight, the Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to fly, and after 19 months of dauntless determination, Spirit is nearing the top of "Husband Hill."

Named after Rick Husband, Commander of the Shuttle Columbia, "Husband Hill" is the tallest among seven hills, each named after the brave souls who flew on Columbia's last mission.

Rover driver Chris Leger remembers Principal Investigator Steve Squyres' enthusiasm about the "Columbia Hills" on Mars. When Spirit first landed in Gusev Crater, the hills were 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) away. Enamored with the expansive landscape, Leger recalls Squyres saying, "The real fun will come when we try to climb those mountains." Leger thought, "Yeah right - we don't even know if we can drive 200 meters (656 feet) - the "Columbia Hills" are just a dream!"

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/spirit/20050713.html

Columbia Hills named as memorial on Mars
Seven peaks near Spirit site honor seven astronauts

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4143223/

Present-day Mars is dusty, dry and cold with no apparent sign of life on its barren, rust-colored surface.

697 Areios Pagos {ar'-i-os pag'-os}

from Ares (the name of the Greek deity of war) and a derivative
of 4078;; n pr loc

AV - Areopagus 1, Mars Hill 1; 2

Areopagus = "martial peak"
1) a rocky height in the city of Athens, opposite the western end
of the Acropolis toward the west.

This hill belonged to (Ares) Mars and was called Mar's Hill; so
called, because, as the story went, Mars, having slain Halirrhothius,
son of Neptune, for the attempted violation of his daughter Alicippe,
was tried for the murder here before twelve gods as judges. This
place was the location where the judges convened who, by appointment
of Solon, had jurisdiction of capital offences, (as wilful murder,
arson, poisoning, malicious wounding, and breach of established
religious usages). The court itself was called Areopagus from the
place where it sat, also "Areum judicium" an "curia". To that hill
the apostle Paul was not led to defend himself before judges, but
that he might set forth his opinions on divine subjects to a greater
multitude of people, flocking together there and eager to hear
something new.

Acts 17:22-23

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

Mars was 'always cold and frozen'
by David Cohen
New Scientist
22 August 2003
The idea that Mars was once a warm place, awash with oceans that could harboured early life has taken a knock - new data suggests it was always cold, frozen and probably lifeless. A survey of the Red Planet's surface has revealed only traces of carbonates, minerals that should have formed in abundant quantities if Mars once had expansive seas. On Earth, the mineral is found in limestone and chalk deposits around the world. The data was collected by a thermal emission spectrometer (TES) on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and was analysed by researchers at Arizona State University in the US... "We found carbonate, but we've only trace amounts," said team leader Philip Christensen. "This really points to a cold, frozen, icy Mars that has probably always been that way. We believe that the relatively small amounts that we see probably did not come from oceans, but from the [carbon dioxide] atmosphere interacting directly with dust," he said... "We see so much erosion in canyons, and valleys and plains that have been stripped bare," he said. "It seems unlikely that the carbonate rocks could all be hiding out of view. When you look at the entire planet, you'd think that somewhere a little piece would be exposed."

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