Astronomers became fascinated with mars 4,000 years ago when they first charted
its movements in the sky. But it wasn't until 1965 that we got a good look at its surface.
When NASA sent the Mariner 4 on a flyby, it captured these images and our imagination. If you
look at the Mars missions that we've done in the past, one builds upon the other. NASA is building
toward the dream of sending people to the red planet. The agency's new spacecraft system wants
to get astronauts there by 2030 and it's not the only one. China is developing bigger and better
rockets for that purpose and SpaceX wants to build a city on Mars with a million inhabitants by 2050.
We're gonna send people to mars and make life multi-planetary. We've heard so much
about the plans to go to Mars but what will it actually feel like to live there?
A year on Mars is almost twice as long as a year on Earth, lasting 687 days - that's how
long it takes to orbit the sun because it sits farther away. There are also four seasons but
they'll feel different. Mars is very very cold - not only because of the distance from the sun
but due to the atmosphere being 100 times thinner than Earth's so it doesn't retain heat very long.
The average temperature is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It can get as cold as -195 °F in
winter near the poles or as warm as 70 °F during summer near the equator but that summer day can
plummet at night to -100 °F. A reason for the extreme temperature swings is that the planet
is covered with dust, causing the sand and rocks to lose their heat quickly. Powerful dust storms
sometimes last weeks to months, even blanketing regions the size of the U.S. A GPS system could
track these intense storms and other weather patterns via a martian internet service. SpaceX's
Starlink satellites orbiting earth could be the forerunner to a similar system circling the red
planet. So the dust and the freezing temperatures are no doubt two big concerns. There is another
one: radiation. Earth's atmosphere and magnetic shielding protect us from most of the radiation in
the universe but outside our cocoon is an entire world teeming with dangerous particles and rays.
And mars thin atmosphere exposes it to much higher levels of radiation than on Earth. Building homes
underground might make the most sense but they could be built above land with a protective layer
made up of regolith - loose deposits like dust and broken rocks. There is plenty of that around.
You can walk around without a spacesuit indoors but outside is a different matter. Without the
oxygen the spacesuit supplies, you wouldn't be able to breathe because the air is mainly made
up of carbon dioxide. NASA is experimenting with turning CO2 into oxygen. Its Perseverance rover,
which is expected to land on Mars in February, is testing this out with an oxygen generator the
size of a car battery. As much as the gas is a problem for us, it's good for plants - they need
it in the same way we need oxygen. The extremely cold conditions mean plants would need to grow in
an enclosed structure or indoors. Having enough food supply is one thing but the key ingredient
to make living on Mars possible is water. There are no large standing bodies of liquid water
although evidence suggests it used to exist. Plenty of frozen water has been found such as on
the surface of the Korolev crater in the north pole, measuring 51 miles across. Vast glaciers
are also hidden under blankets of rocky debris plus water can also be extracted from the soil.
The hard part is figuring out how to mine water in large enough quantities to support civilization.
Living on Mars will not be easy. There is still so much to learn to try to make this possible.
Whether you want to visit as a tourist or if you plan on moving there permanently,
there is a lot to see on the red planet. Natural wonders to soak in include the largest volcano in
the solar system, Olympus Mons. It's so big it fits roughly the area of France.
Volcanoes tend to be much larger than those on Earth because Mars has a weaker gravitational pull
that allows them to grow taller but less gravity means it will be harder to walk around. Gravity is
only about 38% that of Earth's, so if you weighed 100 pounds on Earth you would only weigh 38 pounds
on Mars. Studies have shown that the ideal walking speed is about half your current rate.
And after a long day of sightseeing, watching the sunset will be a unique experience.
The sun will be smaller due to the distance and the sky will appear blue because the fine
dust allows the blue light to penetrate the atmosphere more efficiently. When night comes,
look out for the two moons: Deimos and Phobos. They are irregular in shape and unlike our moon.
So much about the fourth planet is different than ours but there's talk
of terraforming Mars - re-engineering it to make the environment in atmospheres similar to Earth's
-although researchers disagree over whether this is possible with current technology.
One proposal is warming up the planet by vaporizing its ice caps which Musk has suggested.
SpaceX even started selling these t-shirts. Another possibility he's mentioned is using
thousands of solar reflector satellites or giant mirrors to reflect sunlight on the surface.
The financial feasibility of this process is being questioned. Life in its current form will
be far from the comforts of Earth: it's a rocky, dusty, desert world. Despite the challenges,
living on Mars would feel like something out of science fiction. If space agencies and companies
can achieve the monumental task of getting people and cargo there, this sci-fi dream could become
a reality. Hey guys, I appreciate you watching. I'm Cindy Pom. So, would you ever want to move to
Mars or at least visit the red planet? Let me know your thoughts, you can leave them in the comment
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