MARS: OUR FUTURE HOME?

-ARKA GHOSH- UG2,

PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

Till now as we know Earth is the only place where we can find life. We know that life began at least 3.5 billion years ago on earth and modern humans came on earth approximately 200000 years ago. During this large time period, they have brought many changes in our environment and climate. Not only human beings but also chance cosmic effects like asteroid attack, geological changes like volcano eruption can ask a question to ‘life on earth!’. If mankind will want to survive, they should make an additional ‘Home planet’.

WHY MARS?

Among all the rocky and solid planets, mars appear to be most suitable for our Additional home planet. Mercury and Venus are very close to the Sun and too much hot. Venus is covered with a heavy atmosphere with gases like CO2 and H2SO4. The other planets of the solar system are gaseous and too cold to survive. That leaves only Mars which is 54.6 million km away from earth. Many developed countries

including India sends many probes and rovers to Mars to know its atmosphere, temperature, radiation level, and so on.

Mars has similar days and seasons

similar to those on earth. A martian day is 24 hours and 39 minutes long and a

martian year is 687 days long. Research said that long ago Mars had water, a thick atmosphere with strong magnetic fields. In satellite pictures, one can see dry lakes and the flowlines of rivers. In the future, our Sun will become a Red Giant and then the Habitable Zone will shift towards Mars.

STRUGGLE OF LIFE ON MARS

The average temperature of mars is -600C. The gravity of Mars is only 38% of the earth. In such low gravity, our brain and our sense organs don’t work properly, our muscles and bones cannot grow properly. The bone density will decrease. Pressure on mars surface is only 6 millibars! We cannot roam without a suit outside the Dome. In low air pressure, our veins and arteries can bleed. In the mar’s atmosphere, the O2 level is very low. So we have to use an oxygen cylinder always.

Mars has no magnetosphere which can protect it from high radiation and solar storm.

MARTIAN SPECIES!

Most important thing is that we don’t know how low gravity will affect our reproductive system. So some scientists gave some suggestions create a new human species that can

withstand with low gravity, high radiation level, low atmospheric pressure, and can breathe in low O 2 level.