Green Pastures in Planet Mars

Green Pastures in Planet Mars

The current world population is an estimated 7.5 billion individuals. That number is only inclusive of human beings and not any other living being like animals and plants. From time to time, philosophy debates are held and a question that often and so stubbornly sparks out is ‘why are we here?’ what really is the purpose of the, for example, 7.5biliion (and increasing) individuals? Generally, we can for the bigger part agree that we are here, ‘here’ in this context used to refer to our existence and specifically our existence in planet earth.

Planet earth is one of the eight planets of our sun’s system, (Pluto was demoted from being a planet). Currently, there is no evidence of the existence of life in any other planet or star system in the entire universe. That is not as obvious as it may sound bearing in mind that if an individual was to set out today on the currently fastest most advanced space ship towards the edge of the universe (if that even exists) , the individual would die of old age before making it to any sensible distance near the destination. Having said that, it is evident why the ever curious race of humans feels the need to go searching for answers, however vague the questions might prove, outside our motherly home; earth.

Planet mars is our immediate neighbor towards the outer planets. It has about 98% carbon dioxide in its atmosphere and appears red from a distance (astronomical distance, earth appears blue), thus earning itself the nickname ‘the red planet’. Mars has no sufficient, if any, liquid water or oxygen thus cannot support life as we know it. It therefore appears as though Mars is such a poor candidate to choose in our quest for answers as to how and why we are here. It actually is not the case.

Mars is believed to have very much in common in evolution terms with earth. For one, Mars is a terrestrial planet which means it structurally has a core and a mantle then a crust. It was once even being said that mars once supported life even claims of dried river beds on the surface of planet mars. If we can at least prove or acquire solid evidence of the events that have taken place during the course of the planet’s history, we may perhaps get a step closer to answering our question about where it is that we came from or at worst case understand what it is that we should ask.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States govt. It is responsible for civilian space program as well as aeronautics aerospace research. NASA successfully bid for a whopping $ 19 billion in budget for 2017 which is part of a 25 years mission that will hopefully land the first man on mars.

We(human beings) are not expecting to find life, it be animals or plants in mars, not anything green, well expect aliens, but at least we will boost our confidence and renew our motivation on our venture to explore the ever expanding universe as we pick answers to our vague questions along the way. Just like it became the talk of the century after Neil Armstrong made his 1969 land on the moon, we will acquire the confidence and perhaps as spoils for our efforts one or two answers for our questions. Mars will definitely not prove a better home for humans than earth nor will there be found old scrolls containing answers to our questions but at least we will gain something that would not have come our way had we not taken the trouble to fly a man across a vast, hostile approximately 34 million miles in a space ship to planet mars.

All the best to NASA as the agency continues the efforts. Respect to anyone who supports whether financially or morally the project as the question is for all of us and so will be the answers; how and why we are here!?