Intro to mars!

Last of the terrestrial planets, a beautiful and mysterious piece of rock, MARS has been the talk of the solar system and for good reasons too. This red planet named after the Greek God of War is Earth's sibling, has strikingly similar features (tilt of the rotational axis and strong seasonal variability) but an individuality of its own. It has two natural satellites Phobos and Deimos, whose origin is still a matter of debate. Due to Tidal deceleration, it is expected that in 30-50 million years Phobos will collide with Mars or will break apart and form a planetary ring.

[Imagine yourself standing on the surface of mars with a planetary ring system being formed. How exciting do you think it will be? Can you describe what you might see?]

Formed 4.6 billion years ago, Mars was very much like earth. It had an active core, an atmosphere rich in CO2, and water flowing over its surface. However, Mars' fate was very different from that of Earth, due to its core being half the size of Earth's it cooled down rapidly causing it's active magnetic dynamo to seize. With no Magnetic field to protect itself from solar radiation, Mars started losing its atmosphere to space which led to the drying up of its water resources. This process took only about 100 million years to complete and made Mars the barren land it is today.

[To know in detail how this transformation happened read the following article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/05/14/this-is-why-mars-is-red-and-dead-while-earth-is-blue-and-alive/?sh=34ffcfa2395b]

Unlike Earth-Mars does not have Tectonic plates, yet the surface is adorned by impressive geological structures, the Olympus Mons (biggest volcano in the solar system) and Valles Marineris( biggest canyon in the solar system). Due to the low surface gravity of mars and no plate movement lava flows were much longer and it accumulated over time which led to the creation of such an enormous structure. Valles Marineris is considered to be a tectonic "crack" on the martian crust formed due to the cooling of the surface, erosional forces, and nearby volcanic activity which caused the surrounding crust to rise. Both hemispheres on Mars are widely different from one another, the southern hemisphere is dotted with extinct shield volcanoes whereas the northern plane consists mostly of low-lying planes. Frosty sand dunes cover the Valles Marineris region and the cratered highlands have ancient river beds and lakes. One such river bed in Jazero Crater is being studied by the Perseverance rover to look for signs of ancient microbial life and to collect samples for return to Earth. How exciting!!

[Apart from these, what features on Mars do you find picture postcard worthy?

We know when life on earth originated and how it evolved. But the question of whether there was life once on mars has been a long-standing one. Since Mars was very similar to Earth in its early stages, having conditions suitable for harboring life, what happened to it? There are certain scenarios researchers use to try to answer this question

- Mars had life but it died millions of years ago

- Mars may still have life in certain regions but only beneath the surface

Considering the fact that Mars lost its magnetosphere which led to a series of alterations and created a barren land, any life on the surface would have eventually died with only small colonies of microbes fighting to exist near the poles. The microbes which might have lived beneath the surface may have survived and might continue to do so. The martian regolith has nutrients such as sodium, potassium, and phosphorus suitable for microbial life. Evidence of fossilized organic life was found in a martian meteorite -Allan Hills 84001- on December 27, 1984, however, there has been an ongoing debate over its origin being inorganic. On 7 June 2018, the Curiosity rover discovered organic compounds in sedimentary rocks, along with the discovery of methane and formaldehyde by Mars orbiters in earlier years provide strong support for evidence of life. In 2018, the Mars Express Orbiter discovered a subglacial lake on mars just 1.5 km below the surface, to date the most promising place to find life. Much remains to be known and the answer to the question will most probably be answered in the coming century.

[ Why, according to you, could this sub glacial lake be the most promising place to find life?]

When we talk about the presence of life on Mars, we're uncertain about the past and the present but one thing we can be certain about is the future. Human colonization of Mars is the goal set by Elon Musk, challenging but not impossible. With NASA aiming to start Human missions to MARS in 2030, it's safe to say that there will be life on MARS and when that happens we will become the 'aliens' we dreadfully fear, well at least according to the movies.

So how do we survive on a planet where life can't thrive, a planet with average temperatures of -63 degrees C (83 degrees F)??

If we plan to stay on Mars for a long time we need to figure out ways to utilize Martian resources. Getting supplies and resources from Earth is not a viable option and will be very expensive. How do we produce food? How do we get water and oxygen? You must have seen Martian, Mark Watney uses the regolith to grow potatoes. Is this possible? Yes, it is but it's not that easy. Martian regolith has all the necessary nutrients required for plants, however, it contains perchlorates which are toxic to us humans if consumed over a period of time.

[https://www.nasa.gov/feature/can-plants-grow-with-mars-soil]

We will first have to filter them out and make use of fertilizers to reach the nutrient consistency required. [Perchlorates:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxnEKi7ItW4]

There are alternatives for growing crops namely hydroponics and aeroponics out of which aeroponics is a better solution.

The majority of water on Mars is found in the permafrost at the poles with only trace amounts being in the atmosphere. It is believed that if the polar caps melted, the water would evenly spread across the entire surface to a depth of 5 feet. Water is also believed to be stored in the subsurface and in mineral deposits which are formed only due to the presence of water.

But can we use this water? NASA's Mars Water in-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Planning (M-WIP) Study aims to answer this question. Technologies for extracting water are being tested, one such technology proposed by NASA is the Mars Regolith Water Extractor(MRWE).

[https://sbir.nasa.gov/SBIR/abstracts/10/sbir/phase1/SBIR-10-1-X1.01-8174.html]

Study senior author professor Vijay Ramani, a chemical engineer at Washington University in St. Louis said that he and his research group have developed a technology that can generate oxygen from the brine water on Mars using electrolysis. Consuming the same amount of energy as The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), which has been successfully tested on Mars to produce oxygen using electrolysis of C02, this new technology could generate much more oxygen. With such developments being made, the thought of surviving on mars for long periods of time seems more realistic than ever.

[https://engineering.wustl.edu/news/2020/New-tech-can-get-oxygen-fuel-from-Mars-salty-water.html]

[What are a few other challenges you can think of that we might face on mars?]

Filled with mysteries for as long as civilizations have looked up in the sky, Mars has inspired awe and continues to do so. We are fortunate to have been born at a time where Human exploration is at the forefront and humanity gets to set foot on Mars. Keep Exploring !!