The Red Planet: Mars Exploration and the Future of Human Survival

This essay explores the potential for human life on Mars, comparing it to Earth. It highlights similarities like the presence of an atmosphere, crust, mantle, and core, as well as the presence of basalt rocks. It details key differences, such as Mars' smaller size, lack of active plate tectonics, and a thinner atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide. The assignment also discusses the characteristics of the Martian atmosphere, rock types, and landforms. Furthermore, it examines future missions, such as the Mars 2020 rover, which aims to collect samples for potential return to Earth. The essay concludes by emphasizing the research efforts preparing for astronaut life on Mars, focusing on resource production and the possibility of establishing a second home for humanity.

The red planet: Mars
Is life possible out of the earth?
Climate change, global warming, natural hazards, oceans, volcanoes, are all processes which
will contribute to the extinction of planet earth. that’s why scientist began to search for
habitable planets. We all know that Mars is the most accessible place in our solar system.
Additionally, exploring Mars provides the opportunity to possibly answer the question could
it someday be a destination for survival of humankind. However Mars is no place for the
faint-hearted people. Rocky, cold and apparently lifeless, the Red Planet offers few
hospitalities.
“Mars is there, waiting to be reached” said Buzz Aldrin an American pilot and astronaut.
Mars and earth
Similarities: Mars and Earth share a lot of common traits, and they are both known as
terrestrial (or rocky) planets.
 The layers that make up both planets are also similar: Like Earth, Mars has an
atmosphere, crust, mantle, and a core.
 The majority of the rocks at the surface of both planets are of the igneous variety,
known as basalt.
 All of the rocks and all of the minerals identified on Mars to date are also found on
Earth.
 Like Earth, Mars has four seasons and weather.
Differences: Of course, there are a lot of ways that the two planets are different too.
 Mars is smaller, has no active plate tectonics and no currently active global magnetic
field.
 Average temperature -810 for mars as of 570 for earth.
 The atmosphere is very thin and composed mostly of carbon dioxide.
 Mars gravity is 65% less from earth.
Mars characteristics
Mars’ atmosphere is composed primarily of carbon dioxide (about 96 percent), with minor
amounts of other gases such as argon and nitrogen. The atmosphere is very thin, and the
atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars is only about 0.6 percent of Earth’s

Moreover, scientists think that Mars may have had a thicker atmosphere early in its history,
and data from NASA indicate that Mars has lost significant amounts of its atmosphere
through time because of the solar wind!
On mars we see a variety of rock types: basalt, sedimentary sandstone, and mudstone.
These rocks are composed of minerals such as olivine, pyroxene, carbonates, and sulfates.
We also see a variety of familiar landforms, like wind-formed dunes. One theory suggests
that the dark streaks may be made by very salty, liquid water seeping to the surface and
quickly evaporating.
Future mission
Mars 2020
On the other hand, NASA is preparing for the new rover mars2020.The Mars 2020 rover
mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, its mission address high priority about
the potential for life on Mars. The Mars 2020 rover introduces a drill that can collect core
samples of the most promising rocks and soils and set them aside in a "cache" on the
surface of Mars. A future mission could potentially return these samples to Earth that would
help scientists study them in laboratories with special room-sized equipment that would be
too large to take to Mars. These include testing a method for producing oxygen from the
Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources such as subsurface water, improving
landing techniques, characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental
conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars. The mission is
timed for a launch opportunity between July 17 - Aug. 5, 2020 when Earth and Mars are in
good positions relative to each other for landing on Mars. That is, it takes less power to
travel to Mars at this time.
To sum up, all these research are preparing for the work and life of astronauts on mars who
by their turn will indicate if it is possible to produce all required resources for the human life
like water, oxygen, food, and soil. And maybe someday we human being will be able to have
another life of another planet like mars.