What is the world currently doing to explore Mars?
Martians, red sand, cold weather — these are all attributes that may come to mind when we think about Mars. Although it may be over 150 million miles away, we have learned so much about our red neighbor since its discovery. Humans have been studying the planets in our solar system for hundreds of years, but despite all the other planets appearing quite different from Earth, we are slowly learning that we may have more in common with some of them than we think.
Mars is the most accessible planet right now, and through research and previous missions to Mars, we have learned that the planet actually is quite similar to ours. The planet contains water (mostly in the form of ice), its terrestrial ground and atmosphere are very similar to Earth’s in their makeup, and there is evidence of past climate change and a magnetic field.
Space organizations believe that if we can learn the past and present of Mars in-depth, we can better understand Earth’s properties and what could potentially happen to our planet in the future. The development of technology is allowing more countries to start participating in this exploration, and scientists are aiming for eventual human missions to Mars! The complex but important international exploration of Mars will only help humanity’s understanding of this vast, amazing universe.
What is the world currently doing to explore Mars?
Our red neighbor was first discovered in 1610, but only started being explored in the late 1960s. Since then, there have been 50 missions to Mars! So far, the United States and the Soviet Union have been the only countries to successfully land a spacecraft on the planet.
So where does this leave us now? There are 8 satellites orbiting Mars right now! February 2021 was a big month for Mars- after seven months of travelling, new missions finally arrived. NASA landed their new rover “Percy” on February 18th. Its main purpose is to look for signs of ancient life and collect samples to hopefully be sent back to earth. It is exploring the Jezero Crater of Mars, a crater that once contained a river delta. Tagging along with the rover is NASA’s Mars Helicopter- named Ingenuity. Its plans are to demonstrate the first powered flight in the extremely thin atmosphere of Mars sometime in the spring.
The United Arab Emirates also launched their very first successful mission to Mars! The orbiter arrived on February 9th, 2021. Its purpose will look at daily weather on Mars and observe its atmosphere and climate
China also launched a spacecraft that arrived at Mars on February 10th. The name roughly translates to “questioning the heavens.” It plans to orbit for three months before attempting to land a rover in the southern area of the planet, Utopia Planitia. If it lands it will be the second nation to successfully land a rover on Mars! The orbiter released the first high-definition photos of the planet in early March. Check them out here.
The European Space Agency, Indian Space Research Organization, and Roscomos (Russia) also have orbiters observing Mars that have been in action for a few years.
These exciting new advances give us hope to understand more about this planet, which in turn can help us better understand the one we live on now. More countries exploring space creates more opportunity for discovery and global collaboration in understanding our solar system. It also guides the path for potential human life on other planets.
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