Tom, if I may be so bold as to call you by your first name,
You have given me food for thought. That is a good thing. I am a long-haul truck driver by profession, so I have lots of time to think.
Whereas Don Patten gave me direction for my initial self-education about Mars, I am always open to new ideas. That's why I joined this forum. I have a copy of your book, and I promise to read more of it before I make s fool out of myself.
Actually, Don postulated a collision between Mars and another, somewhat smaller planet, rather than your own exploded planet theory. The smaller planet, which Don called Astra (for want of a better name, I guess), allegedly was overcome by Mars' greater gravitational field upon reaching Mars' Roche Limit. Upon disintegration, Astra's inertia caused roughly 45% of its mass to impact upon the surface of Mars. This is Don Patten's ideas, which heretofore I had scant reason to question. I shall begin to question it now.
Could you tell me how far off from antipodal the Tharsis Uplift is from the point ten degrees west of the center of Hellas? Don said it was 170 degrees. How wrong was he?
I want to learn, but I have trouble with the common wisdom concerning this subject. That's why I'm here.
Also, Don never said "only" Phobos and Diemos were captured. In fact, he postulated many fragments were "captured." However, the rest of his model tells what happened to the rest of the asteroidal fragments. Since his model seems to be so fatally flawed, his explanation of what happened to them also must be DOA.
I won't be able to post again until next week, since I must go back to work in the morning. I look forward to more instruction.
Thx,
Melvin R. Bibbee II
