# Mars Has an Asshole, It Seems **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043 "2007-06-06T21:19:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/1 "2007-06-06T21:19:40Z")
[Pretty much that’s what the picture looks like to me.](http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070605_mars_hole.html) > [@](#): > > A very dark spot on Mars could be an entrance to a deep hole or cavern, according to scientists studying imagery taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. > > The geological oddity measures some 330 feet (100 meters) across and is located on an otherwise bright dusty lava plain to the northeast of Arsia Mons, one of the four giant Tharsis volcanoes on the red planet. > > The hole might be the sort of place that could support life or serve as a habitat for future astronauts, researchers speculated. Reader’s of KSR’s “Mars trilogy” will probably be reminded of the Moholes. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/2 "2007-06-06T21:21:33Z")
Oh, that? I thought you were talking about Dan. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/3 "2007-06-06T21:23:16Z")
I, for one, will make an effort to inject “Go stick it up your Mars hole!” into my daily vernacular. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/4 "2007-06-06T22:04:27Z")
“It is northeast of Arsia Mons…” Huh-huh. Huh-huh. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/5 "2007-06-06T22:21:46Z")
Nitpick: Would it really be a _geo_logical oddity? I know, the pickiest of nits, but what’s the linguistic alternative? Martiological oddity? Also, what **Hal** said. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/6 "2007-06-06T22:22:11Z")
You know, I’m kind of concerned–it looks pretty reddish around the area… has Mars gone for its usual checkup lately? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/7 "2007-06-06T22:24:57Z")
Just watch out for the giant nocturnal Martian Sand Worms. Nasty critters those are. I wonder how deep this hole is, it would be interesting if it was several Kilometers deep. Moholes indeed. I wonder if the sub_mar_anian troglodytes of Mars will welcome their new overlords? Jim ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/8 "2007-06-06T22:38:04Z")
[QUOTE=Spatial Rift 47] Nitpick: Would it really be a _geo_logical oddity? I know, the pickiest of nits, but what’s the linguistic alternative? Martiological oddity? [/QUOTE] Geological will do fine, thank you. Do you think that a colonist is going to grab a handful of soil and say something like, “The mars seems fertile.”? Or that a rustic colonist would be described as “salt of the mars”? I personally intend to beat any of my fellow colonists like a baby harp seal if they something like, “Whoa! It feels like we’re having a marsquake!” ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/9 "2007-06-06T22:59:05Z")
_“So…uhh, did the Mars move for you, baby?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/10 "2007-06-06T23:01:34Z")
[QUOTE=Spatial Rift 47] Nitpick: Would it really be a _geo_logical oddity? I know, the pickiest of nits, but what’s the linguistic alternative? Martiological oddity? [/QUOTE] Areological. Not that it’ll catch on. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/11 "2007-06-06T23:03:20Z")
[QUOTE=Spatial Rift 47] Nitpick: Would it really be a _geo_logical oddity? I know, the pickiest of nits, but what’s the linguistic alternative? Martiological oddity? [/QUOTE] Maybe Areanological, from Arean, “Mars-like.” ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/12 "2007-06-06T23:37:18Z")
Mars is an asshole, at least in Hercules. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/13 "2007-06-07T03:38:43Z")
Zapp Brannigan: Behold the great stone face of Mars! The only known entrance to the Martian reservation. Leela: What about the great stone ass of Mars? Zapp: Well…yeah, but it’s all the way on the other side of the planet. More and more Futurama is becoming an accurate representation of the future. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/14 "2007-06-07T03:54:17Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Geological will do fine, thank you. Do you think that a colonist is going to grab a handful of soil and say something like, “The mars seems fertile.”? Or that a rustic colonist would be described as “salt of the mars”? I personally intend to beat any of my fellow colonists like a baby harp seal if they something like, “Whoa! It feels like we’re having a marsquake!” [/QUOTE] Point to **Tuckerfan**. Although I do like “areological.” ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/15 "2007-06-07T06:11:19Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] [Pretty much that’s what the picture looks like to me.](http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070605_mars_hole.html)Reader’s of KSR’s “Mars trilogy” will probably be reminded of the Moholes. [/QUOTE] Hmm , what will we find on Venus then. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/16 "2007-06-07T16:24:21Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] Hmm , what will we find on Venus then. [/QUOTE] The second biggest _mons venus_ in the solar system, after Queen Latifah’s? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/17 "2007-06-07T16:27:27Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] Hmm , what will we find on Venus then. Declan [/QUOTE] Not to mention Uranus. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/18 "2007-06-07T20:03:00Z")
“It’s full of stars!” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/19 "2007-06-07T21:14:13Z")
[QUOTE=Declan] Hmm , what will we find on Venus then. Declan [/QUOTE] And could it also be described as areological? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043/20 "2007-06-07T22:00:52Z")
Proof, at long last, of the Hollow Mars Theory! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mars-has-an-asshole-it-seems/407043.md?page=2)