Introduction

Mars is the closest planet to Earth. Some people think that the Babylonians discovered Mars about 4,000 years ago, but no one knows for sure since it is visible to the naked eye. Since ancient times, many people have been interested in Mars. Some people think there might be life on Mars because Giovanni Schioparelli made a map of Mars and on the map there was a system of canili and scientists think that the word might mean canals, and canals are man made objects. Is there any water on Mars? Natural resources? Martians on Mars? Questions like these can be answered by exploring Mars to find any evidence of life and water.

Why We're So Interested In Mars

We are so interested in Mars because it has a little water from the polar caps. They were discovered at about the 1700s when scientists observed them using a telescope. The polar caps have water because in some of Mars seasons the ice turns into water. We are very interested in a planet with water because with the growing population on earth we will need somewhere else to live besides earth. We are searching on Mars because other planets are to far away or are to hot and, Mars is just right.

How We See Mars Now vs. How We Used To

For a long time we could only use a telescope or just our eyes to see Mars. We call Mars the red planet because it is red and it has a little black, yellow and orange spots. It was not until the successful space programs in the 1950’s and 1960’s that we could send space probes to explore Mars. Space probes are unmanned spacecraft that send information back to Earth by radar. Probes send information by radar back to earth by having contact with where ever it was sent.

So far the United States and the Soviet Union have sent many probes to explore the weather, land, and natural resources of Mars.

Soviet Union

In 1971, the Soviet Union probe, Mars 3, dropped a capsule that made the first landing on Mars in history, but the capsule failed to return the usable data on Mars’s atmosphere it collected.

Mariner 9

Also in 1971, the U.S. probe, Mariner 9, reached Mars. Mariner 9 took photographs of most of Mars’ red surface. When Mariner 9 was taking photographs of Mars’ surface, it passed and photographed Mars’ two small moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Viking 1and 2

In 1976, two U.S. probes, Viking 1 and Viking 2, both landed on Mars. Their job was to measure Mars’ surface weather and conduct complex experiments to see if there is already life on Mars. The two probes did not detect life on Mars.

In 1992, 16 years after Viking 1and 2 were launched, the United States launched a probed called Mars Observer. Mars Observer’s job was to orbit Mars and map its surface and atmosphere. However, in 1993, NASA lost contact with Mars Observer three days before it would have orbited Mars. 

Pathfinder

In 1996, the United States launched the Pathfinder probe to find new information about the geological history of Mars. The Pathfinder probe landed on Mars in 1997. Two days after landing, the Sojourner, a small six wheeled vehicle, rolled down from the Pathfinder probe onto Mars’ surface. The Sojourner was only 24.5 inches long, 18.7 inches wide, and 10.9 inches high. Its mass was 11.5 kilograms, which is 25.4 pounds on Earth. The Sojourner accomplished its job and gathered data on the chemical makeup of rocks and soil of Mars.

Mars Global

Also in 1996, the United States launched a probe called Mars Global Surveyor to map the Mars’ surface, study its magnetic fields, monitor its weather, and measure visible light and other radiation given off by Mars. Mars Global Surveyor also found some information on Mars’ northern polar cap. A polar cap is a place covered with a thin layer of ice. Mars Global Surveyor showed that the Mars’ northern polar cap was smaller than once thought.

Mars Polar Lander 

In 1999, the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter were launched. The Mars Polar Lander was launched to pick up samples of soil and see if there is any water in the soil. Unfortunately, the Mars Polar Lander did not land successfully and the mission failed.

A lot of the information that the probes sent us helped us find more about Mars, but there still are some things that we have not discovered. For example, we do not know for sure if there is life on Mars and we do not know if there are other valuable natural resources on Mars. We may be able to answer those questions in the future if we keep on exploring Mars.