Humans on Mars, an Adventure Awaits

Emilio Franco|June 1, 2021

On the approach of the Perseverance rover a detailed photo of Mars’s surface was taken.

Your alarm goes off. Rolling out of your bed and getting up, the first thing you see the Earth. The stars and a much smaller sun that you are used to. You think this is a dream, but you realize that you are on the Red planet when you look at the terracotta ground.

Young people are likely participants of the colonization and expedition of Mars, this is because the potential for colonizing it has become a hot topic over the last several years as technology evolves. Nasa, Spacex, and other companies are aiming to take humans to Mars. Also, potentially convert Mars is a possibility for people to reside there. Their goal is for the first human on the red planet by 2024-2025.

“Elon Musk has said that he plans to take humans to Mars by 2024 and that he plans to stay there and make something like an exploration, something similar to what happened on the moon. Maybe we will have a system to bring humans back and forth between Earth and Mars,” Gregorio Zuluaga, Grade 10, said.

Current technology

Science and technology have been used for an infinity of purposes centuries ago. But just 53 years ago, the mixture between science and technology could take a human to outer space, more specifically to the moon. It required many hours and calculations to achieve this, even though the moon is close to us.

Today we are looking ahead for a much more challenging expedition, which is taking people to Mars and possibly staying there. Mars is more than 50 million kilometers away from Earth, equivalent to 6 months’ worth of distance when it is the shortest, now that both planets are constantly moving. This is without mentioning that the temperatures are much higher or lower than on Earth. So after this accomplishment humans will see how technology and science will draw what will be seen as the future.

According to SpaceX, Elon Musk says that the future is going to be great and that it’s all about believing that the future is going to be better than the past and that he cannot be more excited going out there and being among the stars.

SpaceX has had experimented with various rockets that will take people to Mars. While many of them failed, each failure meant an upgrade of the rocket using technology and physical science.

Musk claims that these test flights are all about improving our understanding and development. That’s in order for a fully reusable transportation system to carry both crew and cargo, on long-duration interplanetary flights.

Questions about the technology

Life on Mars is something considered only as a possibility. It will change to reality or not by 2024, depending on if the rockets are capable of taking people there without any risk. If the people who go can stay a considerable amount of time without any health consequences.

“To inhabit a planet that’s another story. They would need a lot of infrastructures, and so many things from Earth that I think it will take more years,” Juan Carlos Franco, astronomy fan, said.

There are many types of natural obstacles that can challenge life on the red planet, but with technology, these challenges shouldn’t be a problem.

“The first Pilgrims to come to America had many problems with disease, food, and harsh winters, and I expect something similar on Mars. There will be a point where human civilization will rise and thanks to technology we will have all the comforts we have in the modern world with us as well,” Zuluaga said.

This is why you should care

Years ago, humans first arrived with satellites, robots, etc, and now with people. Mars is the only planet that humans could go by now, this is because it is the only planet humans could nearly survive by going.

There are seven planets other than Earth in the Solar System. Four of them are gas planets, which humans could never even visit. This is without mentioning that for example, it would take us twelve years’ worth of time to arrive at Neptune. Now there are three planets left, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. And both Venus and Mercury are above 800 degrees Fahrenheit. This allows as a conclusion that Mars is the only planet humans would have the possibility to go to in many years.

“The red planet was chosen because it is the only planet where mankind has a reasonable chance of reaching. Mars is the only option for humans to visit, despite the differences that Mars has with Earth. If I was to make a comparison between Mars and any other planet, the red planet would be like a walk in the park,” Franco said.

Even though Mars is not a planet that can have all the factors that an alive planet like Earth has, it is the most reliable, least dangerous, and closest among the Solar system.

According to a Mars-One journalist Mars isn’t too cold or too hot. There is enough sunlight to use solar panels. Gravity on Mars is 38% that of our Earth’s, which many believe sufficient for the human body to adapt to. It has an atmosphere that offers protection from cosmic and the Sun’s radiation.

“Maybe I’ll be too old to visit, maybe I won’t be able to survive the trip, but I will see my children or my grandchildren visiting Mars while I’m alive, and that’s something I’m really happy about,” Zuluaga said.