Science and Tech

Why Exploring Mars?

There's something about Mars. . 

Why does Mars hold such an allure for humankind?

•  An important reason is that there are several similarities between Mars and the earth:

1.  their solid surface,
2.  their seasons,
3.  the duration of their day,
4.  the tilt of their axes from the vertical,
5.  their polar ice caps,
6.  the number of days they take to go round the sun, etc. Besides, water exists on Mars.

• Its discovery has fuelled the search for possible microbial life on the planet. In addition, it is the second closest planet to earth after Venus. While the nearest distance between Mars and the earth is 55 million kilometres, they are 400 million km apart at the farthest

Why not other planets?

1.  Mercury has no atmosphere. Its daytime temperature can soar to 425 °Celsius and the night-time temperature can drop to minus 180 °C.
2. Venus is about the same size as the earth but its surface temperature can be more than 450 °C. Its atmosphere is also daunting, with a pressure that is 90 times that on the earth and consisting mostly of carbon dioxide.
3. Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn are “gas giants” and have no solid surface. Man cannot walk on their surface. Man cannot land there. 

Factors favouring Mars

1.  Mars has solid surface. Its terrain looks somewhat similar to the earth’s. If one were to stand on the surface of Mars and look around, one might feel as if one were standing in a desert.Mars is, in fact, a cold desert. Its temperature is a little lower than that in Antarctica, that is, it is colder.
2.  While a day on earth is 24 hours, it is 24 hours and 39 minutes on Mars.A day on Mercury is equivalent to 59 earth days and one day on Venus   equals 243 earth days.
3. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune spin fast on their axes and their days last less than 24 hours. For instance, the time taken by Jupiter and Saturn to rotate on their axes is about 10 hours, and Uranus and Neptune take about 16 hours to 18 hours.
4. Mars has a very thin atmosphere and its atmospheric pressure is 1 percent of the earth’s.
5. The earth takes 365 days to go round the sun. Mars takes 687 days,almost twice the time taken by the earth.
6. While the earth’s axis is tilted at 23° from the vertical, Mars’ tilts about 25°. Mars has seasons, but they are twice as long as those on the earth. More than anything else,water exists on the surface of Mars.
7. An analysis of fine Martian soil samples, scooped up from the planet’s surface by the U.S. rover Curiosity, has revealed that 2 percent of the soil is water by weight.An analysis of fine Martian soil samples, scooped up from the planet’s surface by the U.S. rover Curiosity, has revealed that 2 per cent of the soil is water by weight.
8. “Findings from US rover curiosity reveals that the major gases released from mars were water—about 2 per cent weight of the sample—and         carbondioxide, oxygen and sulphur dioxide.”