Mars is one of the most mysterious planet in our solar system. Scientists haven’t figured everything out about Mars, but they do know important facts. The fictional story “Follow the Water”, by Jennifer L. Holm, and the non-fiction “What Would It Take to Live Here”, by Mackenzie Carro, are both two very informational stories about mars. Scientists believe there is a way that living things could live on mars, but there are some factors getting in the way of them being able to know for sure if this theory could happen in the future. One of the reasons it will be difficult for life to thrive on Mars is radiation. Radiation is the discharge of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles that cause ionization. If colonists were to ever set foot on Mars they would have to find a way to protect themselves from the harsh radiation up in space and on Mars. In “Follow the Water” Georgie informs us that the …show more content…
Gravity is what makes us stand on the ground and what makes us come down after we jump up. Since Mars is smaller and has a lower percentage of gravity than Earth, overtime it would be harmful to us. It would weaken our immune systems, make us very drowsy, and we could have substantial muscle and bone loss. Georgie lost most of her bone calcium due to the low count of gravity. As a result, when she gets back to Earth her legs could shatter and she would never walk again. Lower gravity is, I guess you could say, an advantage to some athletes because it would make them run faster and jump higher than they could on Earth. As you can see both these stories have key factors on what it take to live on Mars. Even though it may not seem doable, scientists believe that one day they could colonize on Mars, they just need to study how to overcome these factors that are keeping them from doing it. “Mars i Waiting There to be Reached” -Buzz
I believe that it is possible for Mars to have the ability to support life because of the possibility of there being water increases the probability of organisms being able to exist on Mars’ ecosystem, therefore the chance of Mars being able to sustain life. Furthermore, even if water never did or will, as a matter of fact, exist on Mars there is a chance that an organism is able to survive without it.
“Mars is there, waiting to be reached” (Buzz Aldrin). My opinion is that there should be not manned mission to mars.
Mars has a thin atmosphere, that would block some of the radiation meaning only light shielding would be required to protect the populace living there. The average person living on Mars would only take in an average of 11 millisieverts (mSv) a year, much less than the international space agencies maximum of 1000 mSv (Seedhouse). This means that the it could be safe to work and live on mars as long a six years before exceeding safe radiation levels. With the presence of water and it being safe from radiation the main problem a population would have is producing food. The study on PLOS one proved that the Moon had vary little chance of growing food however mars is quite the opposite. In some cases plants such as tomatoes, carrots, and rye actually grew and lasted better in the simulated Martian soil than in the Earths (Wamelink). This means that even though the soil might be devoid of life now, it has the capability to grow and sustain a population, allowing the future possibility of a Mars mission to be a possibility. Furthermore, proving that a Mars mission could be independent from Earth, and not have to rely on shipments of the basic requirements to survive. NASA has proven it wants to go to mars however such a large undertaking comes at a cost, and it is one that NASA just cannot afford it at the
Today, we know quite a bit about Mars. Nasa recently found water, we know its dimensions, and we haven’t found any signs of life. However, in 1950, we knew significantly less. Ray Bradbury took this to his advantage and wrote about a Mars with not only life, but civilization. Years later, Hollywood decided to turn his stories into a cheesy, and partially accurate TV show. Though Hollywood was for the most part loyal to Bradbury’s stories, there were definitely some changes, especially in “And the Moon be Still be as Bright.”
Even though we have confirmed the possibility of colonizing Mars, there are certain limitations posed by our current technology and by the space environment that could make traveling to Mars lengthy, expensive, and dangerous.
Starting with Mars being too dangerous. Colonists could be exposed to radiation which can result in cancer, brain damage, tumors, sickness, or death. Secondly, Mars has a lower gravity than Earth which means over time colonists would lose bone mass, have a weaker immune system, and have a weaker heart and body. Lastly, colonists would be in a closed environment for a long periods of time which could lead to mental problems according to NASA and Mars One.
“Estimates place the cost of a crewed Moon mission at $100 billion. A crewed Mars mission could cost five times that much” (Doeden 40).
Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has watched the brilliant red wanderer in the night sky, always fascinated, always wondering, and always striving to know more. Whether or not there was life on Mars was a question even before Lowell imagined advanced civilizations building complex canal systems. Comparisons were constantly being drawn between Earth and her red sister. If life existed on Mars, where did it come from? Perhaps Earth and Mars were indeed similar, and however life had begun on Earth was the same mechanism by which life began on Mars. Thus, if it were possible to know the conditions that had been conducive to life on Earth, and if those same conditions ever existed on Mars, it might be possible to predict whether or not life could have ever formed on the surface of Mars.
So as a population expanding and advancing onward through time, we have come to the point where we need to ask ourselves, “To go to Mars, or not to Mars?”
Recently, two probes were sent back and they made it to Mars. They landed on the South Polar Caps of Mars. That is where NASA plans to find water. After landing on Mars, the probes extracted water like crystals from the surface of Mars. They found that there was a small amount of water in the crystals, which means that there is a strong chance that life, was on Mars at one time.
Mars Buzz Aldrin once said, “By refocusing our space program on Mars for America’s future, we can restore the sense of wonder and adventure in space exploration that we knew in the summer of 1969. We won the moon race; now it’s time for us to live and work on Mars, first on its moons and then on its surface.” The possibilities and questions about life on Mars, the red planet in the solar system, have been around for years. With new research, this possibility is becoming more of a reality everyday. Before understanding the possibilities of living on Mars, it must be understood why humans cannot live on Mars at this point in time.
One of the biggest issues raised on sending humans to Mars, is the amount of radiation they would be exposed to by traveling through space. Most space agencies set lifetime amounts of radiation astronauts can be exposed to; the general limit is one sievert (Gelling, 2013). A way to minimize the threat of radiation exposure, is having proper shielding for those traversing inside the spacecraft. A lesson from the Curiosity Mars mission, is that having adequate
... The problem with the gravity of Mars is that weightlessness can make you sick. Meaning that because humans are so adapted to the conditions here on Earth, such a drastic change will make them sick. Adaptation will have to occur, meaning that the stations on Mars might have to somehow mimic the conditions of Earth. Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars http://www.universetoday.com/9497/magnesium-could-be-a-source-of-fuel-on-mars/. http://www.mars-one.com/faq/health-and-ethics/will-the-astronauts-have-enough-water-food-and-oxygen.
...ide back into its atmosphere. It is deadly to explore Mars without a spacesuit because the temperature on Mars can come down to -87 degrees C. Mars is made up of 95% carbon dioxide which is very poisonous to breathe in. Overall Mars and Earth are similar in many ways but are also very different.
Mars is a very similar planet to earth in relation to size and atmosphere. Therefore it seemed like the most likely place to search for life. At the end of the 19th century, an American named Percival Lowell built himself an observatory so that it was possible for him to study Mars in intimate detail when its orbit was closest to Earth. At this time it had recently been suggested that the planet had a system of channels on the surface, present from the evaporation of flowing water. Looking through his telescope Lowell became convinced he could see a network of artificial canals. This led him to believe that there were intelligent beings on Mars who had built these canals. However, spacecraft have now visited Mars and found that there is no evidence of water at all. It is now thought that the lines he could see were the combination of Lowell's overactive imagination, and scratches on the lens of his telescope. We are now searching one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, as this seems to be the next likely place to hold life.