We cannot breathe on Mars. Furthermore, the cratered and craggy surface of the moon is thoroughly suffused by lunar dust. Mars’ gravity is less than Earth but large enough to lure gases and form an atmosphere. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere. Mars is also subject to winds and seasons, whereas the temperatures on the moon can vacillate between 253 degrees Fahrenheit and -387 degrees Fahrenheit in a single day. Oxygen, by some miraculous technological feat, can also be extracted from regolith, which is 42% oxygen. Inhabiting Mars is more promising, because like our planet, it is engulfed and protected by an atmosphere. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases would be vital to keep Mars warm enough. I don’t entirely agree that Mars is the best place to do it, but we should at least have another party going on somewhere. There is also no edible food and very little available water. Earth’s resources are depleting at a frightening rate. Its gravity is one-third than gravity is on Earth, a slump in weight that will require its colonists some time to get accustomed to. The Red Planet is a cold, dead place, with an atmosphere about 100 times thinner than Earth’s. That reason is That we almost did not achieve the Moon manned missions. The increase in the population further widens the social and financial cracks, allowing a stench of distrust to creep in. In the case of a fatal emergency, abandoning a mission and retreating home or summoning help is just a forlorn attempt at rescuing. “We are not going to go to the moon or Mars because of population pressure,” he explained. Even though its atmosphere doesn’t sustain pressurized oxygen like ours, which is imperative to live, it still protects the planet from the destructive shower of meteoroids, a phenomenon ubiquitous on the moon. (Photo Credit: NASA). When asked in 2013 if we should go to Mars , he responded: Why Are Bathtubs Usually Shorter Than A Person’s Height? Saturn’s largest moon Titan is the only natural satellite with more than a trace atmosphere. How Does the 25th Amendment Work — and When Should It Be Enacted. The search for life on Mars shouldn't focus exclusively on the distant past, some researchers say. Elon Musk is a huge proponent of not merely exploring Mars, but terraforming it. Is Mount Everest Really The Tallest Mountain On Earth? Since humans have lived in space for extended periods of time in ships or orbital station, it's reasonable to suppose that life on Mars is also possible. This idea that we are going to abandon Earth and go live on Mars is utter nonsense. Humans cannot live on Mars because neither the temperature nor the atmosphere is compatible with human survival. 6. The planet is currently being ransacked for its resources by its skyrocketing population like a herd of children ambushing an ice cream truck. It’s important to explore Mars, and humans play a valuable role in that research. It gets warm at midday, briefly, can go over 0 °C. Well, strictly speaking, you can’t. The evidence gathered by the missions never materialized. These aspects could allow the contingencies of immediate retreat or summoning help to be more successful. The more resources we can harness on the Red Planet, the fewer we need to bring with us. Nothing of the sort was observed. When the the first Apollo mission landed on the moon they only had 30 seconds of fuel left, 30 SECONDS! Or, colonists anxious about their jeopardized fashion could also take shelter in the moon’s deep caves, just as the first people on Earth inhabited its caves through the past millennia. Why Is Microsoft Planning To Move Data Centers Under Water? That same population is boiling the planet by burning coal and simultaneously suffocating it with the dense, grey smoke that combustion releases. The moon resides just 3 days away from us. Why Are There 52 Cards In A Deck, With 4 Suits Of 13 Cards Each? Even though its atmosphere doesn’t sustain pressurized oxygen like ours, which is imperative to live, it still protects the planet from the destructive shower of meteoroids, a phenomenon ubiquitous on the moon. It’s illogical. Ok we're onto the second reason why we should not go to Mars. 1 To see pyramids in space. And hopefully, I won't have to jostle with tourists there. However, like the overused plot of nearly every romantic comedy, the moon is believed to be hiding beneath its grey dust and craggy exterior, a heart filled with an ocean of hope. Why Are There Stones Along Railway Tracks? Despite these amenities, why do space explorers persist to favor Mars instead? Enamored with science ever since discovering a picture book about Saturn at the age of 7, he believes that what fundamentally fuels this passion is his curiosity and appetite for wonder. These samples revealed that the moon’s geology is quite similar to Earth’s, suggesting that the moon could have been formed by the coalescence of a splintered chunk of Earth’s mass blown into space due to a catastrophic collision with another celestial body. But there are a few reasons we should continue to stay put, at least for a little while longer. A Simple and Brief Explanation, What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: Explained in Simple Words. The water can be consumed, mixed with food, and could even mediate sanitation. The moon, so devoted to its orbit around us, is only 3 days away, such that the communication delay is mere seconds. The atmosphere is also nearly 100 times thinner than Earth's, meaning Mars cannot retain the radiant heat of the sun, so while late afternoon at the Martian equator may be a comfortable 70 F, at night the temperature would fall to 100 F below zero. The only reason the entire planet isn't covered in ice is because it has so little water to turn into ice, and as the atmosphere is a near vacuum, the ice sublimates into water vapour (like dry ice) and collects at the poles. I suspect that AI and robotic development will reach the point that by the time we can send and return a few people to Mars, we can send indestructible “human-like” robots that can accomplish the same things (and more) on a Mars mission that a real human could do, but without the life-sustaining needs and fragility of humans. Furthermore, the roaring energy generated by the recombination of these elements could propel rockets. In fact, propellants fueled by the combination of hydrogen and oxygen are the most powerful propellants we’ve ever developed. Is Aluminum Magnetic? Humanity has flown people into outer space and landed them on the moon. After detecting hydrogen near the poles, the Lunar Prospector was programmed to deliberately nosedive into the south polar crater at the end of its mission in the hope that the surface, following the impact, would bleed profusely with water. How Does Nicotine Act As Both A Stimulant And A Depressant? While it is possible that a self-sustaining colony could be designed and constructed sometime in the future, the technology does not currently exist to make a Martian colony feasible. Why Don’t We Try To Colonize The Moon Instead Of Mars? By Jay Bennett. What Is The Fibonacci Sequence? Buzz Aldrin’s footprint on the lunar surface (Image Credit: Buzz Aldrin / NASA). There is also no edible food and very little available water. Mars landers found trace amounts of vital minerals such as aluminum, titanium and iron. Everyone is always going on about the myriad of good reasons to send humans to Mars. The Apollo missions conducted between 1969 and 1972 ferried around 840 pounds of moon rock and soil back to Earth. Here are a few reasons why we might want to stop sending humans out into space for the foreseeable future: 1. Here are a couple: 1. We’re not sure why, but it seems that bacteria are more dangerous in space. We live in an age where we could go out and find other places to expand. The prospect of colonization seems far more feasible on a celestial body that is closer to our planet, so close that we feel and witness its gleaming presence every night. Bill Nye made remarks this week in an interview this week with USA Today. What Are the Steps of Presidential Impeachment? I'm not saying that human spaceflight is too dangerous and that we shouldn't be sending humans into space at all. Jun 14, 2016 NASA. Coefficient Of Restitution: Definition, Explanation And Formula. We have been operating rovers on the surface of Mars since 1997, and landed another one, Curiosity, in 2012. It makes perfect sense to expand human presence to Mars, but we… “It is really because we have an innate desire to explore.” Though robotic spacecraft can do a lot, they lack the critical intuition, lifetime experience, and decision-making skills that humans have. When it comes to colonizing outer space, Mars gets most of the attention, but there are also some very compelling reasons why we should colonize Titan. Why Is It So Special? NASA astronaut Ed White during a spacewalk June 3, 1965. The poles are craggier than the other areas of the moon. The Opportunity Rover also found copper, gold, zinc, tungsten and a variety of other elements. The Lunar Prospector and Clementine Probe hinted that the moon was home to an ocean of water, some billion metric tons, that was cold and solidified beneath the thick crust of dust and ice. Pyramid-like structures have been discovered on Mars. But there’s nothing we could do to earth’s atmosphere to make it as bad as Mars, which is both extremely thin and also 96% carbon dioxide. The atmospheric layer would also protect us from the sun’s UV rays, without which we would be fried in seconds on the moon. Mars is the closest thing we have to Earth in the entire solar system, and that’s not saying much. 6. On the other hand, we shouldn’t use this as an excuse to pollute the Earth, or let global warming run amok. Why Is The Sun White At Noon And Red During Sunrise And Sunset. Another reason we should go to Mars, according to deGrasse Tyson, is to inspire the next generation of space explorers. The water could also be broken up into its constituent components to extract oxygen to breathe! Buzz Aldrin salutes the first American flag erected on the Moon (Image Credit: Neil A. Armstrong / NASA). Mars seems to be a good alternative. Does Burnt Toast Have The Same Amount Of Calories As Regular Toast? Science behind the Shape of Bubbles and Why they Pop. How To Win Every Game Of Rock-Paper-Scissors. we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously. Mars is calling. Lead: The Ancient (And Deadly) Artificial Sweetener. 1. The Red Planet is a cold, dead place, with an atmosphere about 100 times thinner than Earth’s. A thick cloak of this dust may also protect the inhabitants from radiation. What Does George Soros' Open Society Foundations Network Fund? Considering the travel costs and convenience, the moon seems to be the ideal place to settle economically. The History of the United States' Golden Presidential Dollars, How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed Schools and Education in Lasting Ways. Humans cannot live on Mars because neither the temperature nor the atmosphere is compatible with human survival. In the second instalment of his two-part feature on human missions to Mars, Dr Alexander Kumar asks whether we should send people to the Red Planet given our poor record managing this one. Sheepshead Fish: Facts About The Fish With Human Teeth, Circle Of Willis: Anatomy, Diagram And Functions. He says Nasa shouldn't be aiming to send manned missions to Mars Anders, 85, said he's a "big supporter" of the "remarkable" unmanned programmes, "mainly because they're much cheaper". Compare that time to the protracted time colonists of the moon would require getting accustomed to its gravity, which is just one-sixth of gravity on Earth. Why Are There Stones Alongside Railway Tracks? Akash Peshin is an Electronic Engineer from the University of Mumbai, India and a science writer at ScienceABC. 'To successfully walk on the Martian surface unaided, humans would need to create an atmosphere similar in composition and thickness to that of Earth.' CROSS-CONTAMINATION FROM EARTH It's always a concern when sending surface probes to pristine worlds such as Mars that Rather than a blazing lunar noon, the poles experience more of a solemn sunset. Almost Everything We Need to Live on Mars Is Already There. Excellent article and worthy of discussion and serious thought. Exchanging infrastructure isn’t a big deal either; in fact, catapulting an object from the moon at a suitable angle would cause it to drop pleasantly into the hands of our planet. Mars has water, an atmosphere, and other resources that should allow us to live off the land. Its distance exacerbates communication delays typically up to 4 minutes. This assumes that Earth-like atmosphere and temperatures, as well as food and water, can be provided, but providing such an environment on Mars would be enormously expensive. We are there right now. On the other hand, Mars’ core constitutes quite different elements. It is no wonder that water is regarded as the most important substance in space. Unless we radically adapt our brains and bodies to the harsh Martian environment, the Red Planet will forever remain off limits to humans. What Would Happen If You Shot A Bullet On A Train? The low levels of sunlight falling on them for prolonged periods maintain temperatures of up to 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The most promising dwelling place seems to be the lunar poles, which are not only believed to rest upon large slabs of ice, but are also subject to comparatively calmer temperatures. Why Are Some Materials Magnetic? Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox. Fact Check: Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe? The Martian atmosphere is 95-percent carbon dioxide. Well, mine is not an absolute "shouldn't". We’re already killing our own planet. However, given the construction of an artificial environment, life on Mars could be possible. Inhabiting Mars is more promising, because like our planet, it is engulfed and protected by an atmosphere. The abrasive powder clings to everything it acquaints. But what about the good reasons not to go to Mars? Furthermore, two-way trips to our red neighbor are extremely strenuous. What Is The Huntsman Spider? Even delivering small machines requires larger, fuel-hungry rockets, so exchanging infrastructure to build entire colonies, at least currently, is impossible. But colonies - just don't 'see it. Not to mention a significantly lower level of gravity. It is only 0.13-percent oxygen, far less than the 21 percent available on Earth. I think settlements as in the Antarctic habitats for sure. On top of that, if you sneeze in space, all the droplets come straight out and keep going. These failures could cause permanent damage to expensive exploration machinery and cost us entire missions, but more importantly, a life. Even more costly would be the constant trips to Mars to resupply the colony. The Lunar Prospector and Clementine Probe hinted that the moon was home to an ocean of water, some billion metric tons, cold and solidified beneath the thick crust of dust and ice. We must find a new home. Even with all of that in mind, scientists are still uncertain about the presence of water on the moon. Even though the benefits of terraforming the moon might outweigh its risks, scientists continue to dismiss it because, at the end of the day, it is a cold, harsh, barren and dangerous place to live. So-called "blueberries" are structures that contain hematite, a type of ore that makes steel. How Big Is It and Does It Bite? live on Mars. Known as regolith, the dust is fine enough to slip through narrow crevices and cause mechanical failures. Saying that human spaceflight is too dangerous and that we should n't be sending humans into! 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