The Red Planet as our Home

Evidence has shown that Mars was once full of water, had a warmer temperature, and a thick atmosphere, which has made us believe that it was once a habitable environment. The exploration of Mars has been a goal on many space programs and scientists since the first discovery of this planet that orbits the solar system. In all of the other planets in our solar system, Mars is most similar to the structure of Earth’s history. Many missions have been sent to Mars to collect and discover data, as to further continue explorations.

Scientists hope to begin human missions to Mars, to try and discover whether humans can live on Mars. The most recent evidence from the rovers that have been sent has confirmed a major presence in the history of Mars.

NASA has studied Mars’s atmosphere through the collection of data throughout the various robotic missions sent to this planet. With the collected data, scientists can create a map of the red planet to understand Mar’s origin and relativity with Earth.

“We can basically use Mars as a time machine to go back and look at what the Earth must have looked like a few tens of millions of years after it formed,”(Chang) said Bruce Banerdt, the principal investigator of the mission. Mars has experienced a serious climate change and through the study of rocks, sediments, and soils, geologists have studied and shown the presence of water on Mars. Studies have shown that Mars had ice caps, and that is axis is tilted just like it is on Earth, proving that Mars goes through the seasons as well.

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Although the weather and environment in Mars are cold, it is not as bad compared to the many other planets surrounding the Solar System.

In the 1960s, we learned that Mars’s surface has features that have once had the presence of water, which has now been stored as ice, along with frozen carbon dioxide. This curiosity and importance of water bring scientists to discover whether Mars once harbored life and if it was an actual wet place. With the initiative that there has been a presence of water on Mars, scientists are encouraged to believe that life may have once existed on Mars, which brings us to our curiosity on whether we are able to live in mars. Along with the thin atmosphere on Mars, it allows for weather occurrences to happen, such as the wind, clouds, and even dust storms.

The Mission to Mars has been an exploration to find the proper resources and environment for human life to prospect. NASA has created a strategy for human exploration and colonization of Mars and for future prospects for the mission. The ‘Earth Reliant’ is the first phase that was introduced for the deep space technologies and the study of the effects of long-duration space missions on the human body. The second stage, ‘Proving Ground,’ would test deep space habitation facilities, and check the necessary capabilities required for human exploration of Mars. Finally, the ‘Earth Independent’ phase includes long term missions which would include the harvesting of Martian resources for fuel, water, and building materials. NASA goal for human missions to Mars in the 2030s also promotes the advantages of living underground on Mars.

As a society on Earth, we have experienced many climate changes, such as ice melting and the extreme weather changes showing the problem our species is creating in basically killing our Earth. Along with the several changes in weather, many other factors could end our humanity, along with weapons, asteroids, etc. Mars would serve as a backup plan for our society, and would benefit us in studying a future prospective planet for our society. Mars could also provide many resources and even new resources, to help us not pollute or improve Mars. As a human society, this space exploration would benefit us along with the improvements in technological advancements. Reaching the Moon, led to the improvement in computers, photography, materials which have helped shape society, and perhaps the Mission to Mars will also cause another rapid evolvement. Along with these improvements, a mission to Mars would unite society in a common goal to reach and pursue a lifestyle in a future home.

For years we have wondered as to what lies beyond Earth and the mission to Mars helps us discover the possibility of a potential home for humans in our solar system. Several missions have been sent to Mars through the use of rovers and robots. They have come back with data and rock samples, which hint at the possibility that Mars once could have harbored life. This evidence provides scientists with the hope to further the mission goals and to potentially send humans in the future. The mission to Mars focuses on the benefits Mars could provide for society, and the studies it takes for the human body, environment, alongside energy and water. This would very much benefit our society, in a moral and technological way, as it has been seen through various other discoveries.

Bibliography

1. Chang, Kenneth. “NASA’s InSight Mission Has Touched Down on Mars to Study the Red Planet’s Deep Secrets.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/science/nasa-insight-mars-landing.html.