From its history of discovery, to its composition on the ground and in the atmosphere, to what
it might mean to Earth in the very near future!
Join me as I show you some of the history and facts about Mars!
9.
How We Found Mars If astronomy has taught us anything, it's
that the earliest civilizations that were on Earth were incredibly advanced in not just
looking at the stars above, but understanding what the various things in the night sky were
and naming them to help them understand more.
And that includes finding Mars and understanding what it was.
Some of the early records of Mars' observation date back to the era of the ancient Egyptian
astronomers in the 2nd millennium BCE.
Chinese records about the motions of Mars appeared before the founding of the Zhou Dynasty
(1045 BCE).
Detailed observations of the position of Mars were made by Babylonian astronomers who developed
arithmetic techniques to predict the future position of the planet.
The ancient Greek philosophers and Hellenistic astronomers developed a geocentric model to
explain the planet's motions.
Measurements of Mars' angular diameter can be found in ancient Greek and Indian texts.
In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a heliocentric model for the Solar System
in which the planets follow circular orbits about the Sun.
This was revised by Johannes Kepler, yielding an elliptic orbit for Mars that more accurately
fitted the observational data.
So just in the finding of Mars, you had a handful of civilizations not just finding
Mars, but slowly learning more about it LONG before the modern age of astronomy ever came
about.
Which just makes it all the more impressive that they were able to learn so much.
In terms of the modern age, the first telescopic observation of Mars was by Galileo Galilei
in 1610.
Within a century, astronomers discovered distinct albedo features on the planet, including the
dark patch Syrtis Major Planum and polar ice caps.
They were able to determine the planet's rotation period and axial tilt.
These observations were primarily made during the time intervals when the planet was located
in opposition to the Sun, at which points Mars made its closest approaches to the Earth
Better telescopes developed early in the 19th century allowed permanent Martian albedo features
to be mapped in detail.
The first crude map of Mars was published in 1840, followed by more refined maps from
1877 onward.
When astronomers mistakenly thought they had detected the spectroscopic signature of water
in the Martian atmosphere, the idea of life on Mars became popularized among the public.
Percival Lowell believed he could see a network of artificial canals on Mars.
These linear features later proved to be an optical illusion, and the atmosphere was found
to be too thin to support an Earth-like environment.
But we'll get to that later.
Still, just in the discovery of Mars and its most basic elements camp across thousands
of years of discovery and investigation, and to this day we're still learning a lot about
Mars.
8.
Orbits and Rotations If you somehow haven't heard, the world is
trying to get humanity onto Mars so that colonies can start to be formed.
But to truly help people adapt to that notion, certain variables need to be understood, like
how the orbits of Mars works, and the seasons that the planet may or may not have.
First and foremost, a year on Mars is almost double that on Earth.
Earth's is 365 days, and Mars' is 687 days.
This is due to the fact that Mars is much farther away from the sun than Earth is, and
thus has farther to go.
Now, on the flipside though, the rotation of Mars is just barely slower than Earth's.
So instead of a 24 hour day, we actually have a 25 hour day more or less (the actual number
is 24.62).
That's not too bad of a twist, right?
As for the seasons, that's a bit trickier.
Because on one hand, it does have Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter in the overarching
sense.
But they all pretty much last over 150 days roughly versus the 90 day average of Earth.
Spring (if you can call it that) even goes as long as 7 months!
Winters is the shortest with about 120 days.
Plus, since Mars' orbit is elliptical and not circular, it has two additional seasons
called aphelion and perihelion.
Meaning that it's got a new season when it's closest to the sun, and one season when it's
farthest away from the sun.
If humanity is going to last on Mars, we're going to need to adapt to the seasonal changes.
Especially in regards to how the temperatures on the planet can swing wildly from day to
night as well as season to season on the surface.
It's not an impossible thing to overcome, but it's something we'd have to be ready for.
7.
Water On Mars Without a doubt, one of the most important
discoveries on Mars is that there is indeed water on it.
As noted in its history from the Earth side of things, there was a long-time belief that
Mars always had water, but this was later revealed to be an illusion.
However, as time went on, there were signs that there was some kind of water on Mars
in its past, and possibly in its present.
The only problem was that it couldn't be liquid water due to the thin atmosphere above the
planet, as well as the total lack of the magnetosphere.
However, that doesn't mean they failed to find it.
In July 2018, scientists reported the discovery of a subglacial lake on Mars, the first known
stable body of water on the planet.
It sits 1.5 km (0.9 mi) below the surface at the base of the southern polar ice cap
and is about 20 km (12 mi) wide.
The lake was discovered using the MARSIS radar on board the Mars Express orbiter, and the
profiles were collected between May 2012 and December 2015.
The lake is centered at 193°E, 81°S, a flat area that does not exhibit any peculiar topographic
characteristics.
It is mostly surrounded by higher ground except on its eastern side, where there is a depression.
Add that to the various polar caps and other ice entities on the planet, and suddenly Mars
isn't just a place to fantasize living on, we can do it because we know that there is
water there that we can use.
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6.
Atmosphere As noted, Mars has a very complicated history
in regards to its atmosphere.
Mars lost its magnetosphere 4 billion years ago, possibly because of numerous asteroid
strikes, so the solar wind interacts directly with the Martian ionosphere, lowering the
atmospheric density by stripping away atoms from the outer layer.
Compared to Earth, the atmosphere of Mars is quite rarefied.
The atmosphere of Mars consists of about 96% carbon dioxide, 1.93% argon and 1.89% nitrogen
along with traces of oxygen and water.
The atmosphere is quite dusty, containing particulates about 1.5 µm in diameter which
give the Martian sky a tawny color when seen from the surface.
It may take on a pink hue due to iron oxide particles suspended in it.
In short, this means that we can't just openly breathe the air on Mars, and going to the
planet without a pressurized suit would be dangerous in all the ways that matter.
As such, any colony that we try and build there will be one that has be pressurized
and have Oxygen made and recycled so that we can breath.
5.
Soil You might think it odd to wonder about the
soil conditions on Mars, but in fact, they're some of the most important things that NASA
scientists are trying to learn about.
The Phoenix lander that was sent to observe said soile returned data showing Martian soil
to be slightly alkaline and containing elements such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and chlorine.
These nutrients are found in soils on Earth, and they are necessary for growth of plants.
Experiments performed by the lander showed that the Martian soil has a basic pH of 7.7,
and contains 0.6% of the salt perchlorate.
This is a very high concentration and makes the Martian soil toxic.
Which is very bad considering we're wanting to try and use that soil to grow crops for
the future colonies.
The other problem with the soil that scientists have noticed is that it's incredibly clingy,
as well as sharp.
This means that astronaut suits will have to be very strong to not get torn up by the
dust, and advanced cleaning techniques (or creativity ways to get in and out of suits)
will be need to ensure that the dust doesn't find a way inside the colony itself.
As this dust could not just damage the ships and colonies, but if breathed in, could be
very detrimental to the colonists themselves.
As if that wasn't enough, there is speculation that there are billions of dollars worth of
materials on Mars just waiting to be mined.
Places like NASA and SpaceX are considering how to mine for those materials to help fund
future missions to the red planet.
4.
Pop Culture To say that Mars is a part of pop culture
on the planet Earth is an understatement in all the ways that matter.
From basic references to being an integral part of shows and movies, Mars has been around.
In the late 1800s when people first observed the canal-like features on Mars' surface,
many speculated that an intelligent alien species resided there.
This led to numerous stories about Martians, some of whom invade Earth, like in the 1938
radio drama, The War of the Worlds.
According to an enduring urban legend, many listeners believed the story to be real news
coverage of an invasion, causing widespread panic.
Which is ironic because if they listened to the end of the program, the narrator clearly
stated that it was just a story.
Countless stories since have taken place on Mars or explored the possibilities of its
Martian inhabitants.
Movies like Total Recall (1990 and 2012) take us to a terraformed Mars and a struggling
colony running out of air.
A Martian colony and Earth have a prickly relationship in The Expanse television series
and novels.
And in the 2014 novel and and its 2015 movie adaptation, The Martian, botanist Mark Whatney
is stranded alone on the planet and struggles to survive until a rescue mission can retrieve
him.
And keeping in line with the mythology of the planet, the name Mars has been awarded
to various characters in cartoons and anime and even video games for their strength, size,
and god-like appearances.
3.
Moons The moons get their names from the horses
that pulled the chariot of the Greek god of war, Ares.
In ancient Greek, Phobos means "flight," and Deimos means "fear."
Phobos, the innermost and larger moon, is heavily cratered, with deep grooves on its
surface.
It is slowly moving towards Mars and will crash into the planet or break apart in about
50 million years.
Deimos is about half as big as Phobos and orbits two and a half times farther away from
Mars.
Oddly-shaped Deimos is covered in loose dirt that often fills the craters on its surface,
making it appear smoother than Phobos.
The moons of Mars are another that are being studied very carefully.
For while a full blown colony may not be in the cards for these moons, a waystation of
sorts is possible, and certain theories about the future of space travel have pondered how
these moons could help launch us into the back half of the solar system...
2.
Terraforming Given all the hardships that are on Mars,
from the atmosphere, to the soil, to the seasons, and more, it might seem that this is "too
big a risk" to try and colonize it.
And to an extent, you would be right.
Even if everything goes right, it'll take years to set up a true colony on Mars, and
to be honest, it probably won't be the easiest living place for a long time.
However, there are ideas and notions to try and warp Mars into a more suitable habitat
for us.
Simply put, people are wondering whether we can terraform Mars into something more like
Earth.
Now, obviously this would be a grand endeavor, but it's not as much a sci-fi theory as you
might expect.
Some have put forth ideas of not terraforming the whole planet, but rather, a section of
the planet, think of it like a country-sized safe zone where we could build the colonies
in peace.
Again, it's not that farfetched, there are technologies out there that theoretically
make this happen.
Including sending nanobots into the skies to help make an atmosphere of our own.
Other theories could rework the ground itself into trying to make it something we can grow
plants into.
Right now, it's all theory, but theory is the first step towards making something work.
1.
Life On Mars There are some in the world today who truly
believe that Mars is where humanity will take its next grand step.
If that is the case, it'll be the most significant thing humanity has done since landing on the
moon.
Plans from groups like NASA, SpaceX, the ESA and more have their various plans to get to
Mars and beyond, but will they happen?
It's hard to say.
And of course, even if they do land on the surface of Mars, will a colony really be that
easy to setup?
These are the questions we will have until we start taking steps towards human expansion
in the universe.
Thanks for watching everyone!
What did you think of these history lessons and facts about Mars?
Which of these did you find most interesting?
How long do you think it'll be until we get to Mars?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
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