Febuary 2024

 NASA'S Mission to Mars

By Nathan Marvin

NASA has been studying the planet Mars since Mariner 4 began its brief encounter with Mars in July 1965. Ever since then, they have been perfecting their technology for deeper space travel and hope to one day have a human land on Mars. But until that day came, they would send robots up to Mars and bring back specimens that were found. 

The first robot sent to Mars was on July 4th, 1997. The robot found sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon on Mars's surface. For years after that, they had been sending space rovers and various other robots to study Mars, two notable finds were the discovery of centimeter-scale rock layers overlapping and cutting into each other. Another incredible find was the discovery of methane. This was very exciting  because methane can be produced by living organisms or by chemical reactions. In early 2023, NASA decided that it was time to stop studying from afar, and start a mission to send real human beings to mars. Their first mission is set to launch near the tail end of 2024, on the spacecraft Orion. They have been spending most of 2023 trying to figure out how to safely transport a human to Mars, as it has never been done before. NASA has also been innovating a new wing in their facility for events meant to happen around 2040, hopefully they can store bigger specimens found on mars in the span of 20 or so years. Nothing is 100% guaranteed though as NASA could also launch their vessel Orion to mars in 2030 instead. Also in 2030, NASA is hoping to build an Artemis base on the moon, so that their scientist and astronauts can study farther away locations, like Mars. 

We have been thinking so much about how we can make it possible for humans to explore Mars and other planets with a surface, but has NASA ever said what they plan to do when they successfully make it to Mars? And if so, what do they hope to find?

Well, NASA has said that they hope to find any source of water, like lakes, hot springs, et cetera, because technically a water source is all they need in order to create life on Mars. With a great source of water, we can then plant greenery in soil and hopefully make Mars a second home. NASA also hopes to find water because they want to see if ancient Mars had vast oceans and lakes.

In conclusion, the people at NASA are trying as hard as they can to make Mars and the moon habitable for humans and to expand our searches further. Hopefully we can shape the future with new areas to explore on Mars, like how cool would it be if you could safely adventure on Mars! 🐾