Mars Exploration
Updated: Jan 28, 2022
Image of the Martian surface sent back to Earth by the Perseverance rover.
[Credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech]
Humans have long been fascinated by the vastness of space. Various scientists had aspirations to land on the moon and other planet.s You might be curious about how it all began? In 1941, Nazi Germany launched a rocket, a V2 missile that could only fly in space. Nazi Germany played a pivotal role in developing and shaping rockets as they wanted to use missiles in wars. After the end of WWII, the Cold War started between the USA and the Soviet Union. Both dreamed of dominating space science and exploration. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 into space placed around the Earth's orbit.
Let us discuss humanity's favourite planet: Mars. The Martian, Mission to Mars, and other Hollywood space blockbusters are all set on Mars. During the 1960s, missiles were extensively sent to Mars for research. Mars is the only planet where humans can exist after Earth. You may ask why? There are several reasons why humans aspire to colonize mars but not other planets. First of all, Mars is neither very cold like Neptune or too hot like Venus. On Mars, there is enough sunlight to support human existence. Mars has abundant resources, which is one of the reasons why humans want to colonize mars. In teh 1970s, the Soviet Union's Viking Landers became the first spacecraft to land on Mars. In 1997, NASA's Mars Pathfinder was the first US spacecraft to land on Mars. There are only countries in the worlds that successfully completed their mars mission. Although most of the water is present in the ice form on Mars. There are some liquid vapours found in the Mar's atmosphere. These include (in order): Soviet Union, the United States and China. In 2021, China's Tianwen 1 successfully landed on Mars. The billionaire, Elon Musk, is the face of Mars exploration. Musk's company, SpaceX initiated teh Mars program and wants to send the first flight by 2024. Musk believes that humans can land on Mars by 2026. Apart from SpaceX, countries like the USA, India, Japan and UAE are also expanding their Mars exploration initiatives.
There are, however, many scientists who believe that humans will never be successful in colonizing Mars. One of the most popular arguments is that Mars is too cold to sustain a human life. Water is not present in liquid form on Mars which makes it impossible to conquer as no life can sustain without water.
Work Cited:
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