Mars is the most approachable planet to us, the Human race. It is also the reason for Mars to become one of our favorite planets as well. Planet Mars is the owner of a lot of facts that were discovered by scientists. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun as well, making it the closest neighbor of our planet, the Earth. The planet was named after the famous Roman god of war known as Mars.
The whole planet is famous for its bloody look. Signs of life are currently being investigated on the planet. It is even said that researchers and scientists are on their way to making Mars one of the colonies which could be used by humans. Like this, there are a lot of fun facts about Mars that you should know. The whole planet is a bundle of mysteries that needs unraveling in the public eye. So, let us jump into the topic without any further delay!
1) Fun Facts About Mars
1.1) Mars is Quite Eligible to get Terraformed
Before understanding this fact, we need to know about this specific term known as Terraforming. Terraforming is the actual process of modifying a planet’s surface and other components into something which makes the whole place compatible with humans to live in. It is the process of transforming a place in such a way that humans can live in later. The fourth planet mars one of the best findings of the researchers who have concluded that it is eligible for terraforming.
Mars and its features are perfectly equal to that of planet Earth. It is also found that the planet Mars’ surface is relatively similar to the Earth’s surface. It is also said that the planet Mars has the possibility of having water, which is one of the most vital elements for humans to survive. Well, it is possible to terraform Mars, but we do not have sufficient technology to initiate and complete the process, which is a lot of work. If the planet is terraformed, it would be a fortunate turn of events for the Human race.
1.2) Colonization of Mars Faces Ethical Issues
The idea of colonizing Mars has brought many positive reviews, which were optimistic. The step was encouraged by every person who was ready to face a new beginning. But the fact could not be digested by several people. They just can’t accept the fact of Colonization. It is because humankind has faced a lot of troubles among themselves due to this concept. They oppose this idea only to prevent them from facing any troubles furthermore.
The Colonization of Mars is being discouraged by a lot of social activists to leave it freely. The whole idea of traveling to and forcefully settling and ravaging a place for their good is considered to be immoral. But regardless of the discouragement, governments are actively participating in allocating funds for research, for the sole purpose of scientific research to find the possibility of mankind to live on the planet.
1.3) Mars Might Own One of The Best Economies Mankind Could Witness
In case, if humans succeed to colonize Mars and make it one of their main business centers, it would become the best economy in existence. It is because the raw materials on mars are pretty abundant. In addition to this, they can also be classified as first grade with no doubt. The upper surface of Mars is said to contain a lot of minerals. I’m pretty sure that Mars would have a lot of raw materials to salvage.
The Martian surface is filled with a whole of core elements primarily needed for various production purposes. The planet Mars can prove to be the most effective and fortune-making business base for the people in our world. Mars has a lot of calibers. It has a very huge amount of room which could be developed to become an efficient base. Humans have only discovered about 10 percent of Mar’s good features. It has a lot in its stores for us and all we need to do is intensify our discovery on this planet.
1.4) It is a Long Journey to Mars
The planet mars are one of the nearest planets to our planet Earth. Even after being one of the closest to us, it nearly takes about a whole year, a total of 365 days to reach the planet. It consumes a whole year for a single journey. Then just think about the travel time from Earth to other prominent planets like Saturn and Uranus. It is unimaginable for us to think about this fact. This lag of travel time has occurred only due to the underdeveloped technology which requires a lot of attention and development.
Scientists are on their way to reaching the Mars atmosphere from the earth’s surface within just 2 to 3 weeks. The faster the reach is, the faster the developments and discoveries could take place. Thus, even the travel time to mars is quite significant here.
1.5) Life on Mars is quite Hazardous, to be Honest
The idea of moving to Mars is quite thought-provoking and pleasant at the same time. It brings in a lot of new ideas for us to implement on the planet of Mars. It gives a lot of work for our creativity, to do multiple things. But we should not ignore the main fact here.
Every entity which has positive effects might also have negative effects. The entity here is the entire planet of Mars. It is a close substitute to our home planet. But still, it is NOT our home planet. Earth is the most perfect habitat for the race of Humans. Every single thing present on the earth and its atmosphere is compatible with the human race. There are a lot of features that comfort the living of Human beings. But it is a different story on the planet of Mars.
Mars’s atmosphere is more fragile than the atmosphere present on the planet earth. In addition to this, the atmosphere is primarily filled with carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide suppresses the oxygen level in the atmosphere. The presence of carbon dioxide might make life for humans difficult.
The Martian surface is said to be one of the wildest terrains to ever live in. And lastly, the Martian Gravitational forces are quite uneven to that of planet Earth. The ones who move to mars might not feel different in the beginning. But as time passes, due to the lower Martian gravitational forces, their muscle mass and bone strength might face vulnerabilities through every movement they make. Mars also owns a very cold climate pattern which is one of the closest to that of Antarctica. Finally, some regions of the planet are affected by cosmic and solar radiation which is life-threatening.
1.6) We are Eyeing Mars for the Past Century
Humans have associated their ideas with the planet of Mars for a very long time. A time which is so far back, which you might have not even expected. We have started to have this idea of moving to Mars and colonizing it since the early ages of the 1940s. Hollywood was one of the first in the world to make movies associated with extraterrestrial planets and its life.
Mars was one of the famous elements which were present in these movies. The movies usually included thrillers, making the genre term Sci-fi thriller a lot recognizable to the people of the past ages. In addition to this, the term Martians was also used in movies as well.
People wore alien suits and named themselves Martians for advertising certain products, to stand out as unique in the field of marketing. This act is still taking place, but totally with the help of great CGI and graphic features. The idea of colonizing Mars is one of the oldest on our planet.
1.7) Opportunity, The Most Successful Probe
Probes are sent to extraterrestrial planets with the motive to explore the place and give insights about what is present there before humans decide to set their foot in these undiscovered places. Probes are sent with another motive of collecting samples of physical form as well as pictorial forms to know more about that particular space. They are sent on space missions to explore things.
Probes are defined to be successful in the area of exploration since their creation. During the year of 2003, mankind sent a probe named the Mars Exploration Rover, which turned a lot of heads by proving to live longer and function than it was expected to. NASA was the one that launched this probe. They have a very successful track of launching space missions. This is one of their significant acts of all time.
The probe was expected to live and function only for 3 months. But later, after the landing, the probe started to function for around 14-15 years after its launch. It is quite fascinating to know about the things which a decade-year-old probe could do to help the human race in the long term.
1.8) The United States of America is the First Country to Send Probes to Mars
The country of America is the first entity ever to send a probe to the planet of Mars. It is one of the most successful entities in reaching out to Mars through all of its actions as well. Prominent probes like the Mariner-4 were launched in the year 1964, making it the first country to ever launch a probe to the planet Mars. It was also the first country in the world to have an idea to approach Mars.
Later, Mariner- 9 was launched several years later than the first launch. All these launches gave out nearly ninety percent positive results and have extracted tons and tons of information regarding the red planet. This is one of the proudest facts of the United States of America.
1.9) War of the Worlds- The Famous Story Involving Mars
The War of the Worlds is one of the most successful publications of H.G. Wells, a successful novel writer of the early ages. The publication was made nearly a century back. Sir. Wells wrote this wonderful Science fiction novel during the year 1897. The book was so successful that almost every piece of publication just vanished from the day of the sale’s start. It was one of the most successful novels by Sir H.G. Wells.
Well, the idea itself must have sounded a lot different and unique during the 19th century. Most people weren’t even aware of the term aliens back then. This was the only novel that had its characters associated with aliens during the past ages. War of the Worlds is a story about the aliens of Mars invading Earth and their lives on it. Soon, their invasion fails and the aliens start dying due to various vulnerabilities and attacks from Earth’s life. This was one of the first scientific thrillers in the whole world.
The aliens belonged to the planet Mars which directly tells us that the people of the past ages had an idea about Mars and its life for a whole century. This famous novel gained further attention and appreciation from people worldwide after a movie came out casting the famous actor Tom Cruise in it. Make sure to check out the movie named the War of the Worlds, it is one of the classic examples of the Sci-fi thriller genre.
1.10) Mars May Have Water
This is one of the most interesting and must-to-know facts about Mars. Mars is the closest planet substitute to planet Earth as said before. It lacks several features which makes it less compatible with human life. But the evidence is being found on Mars’s surface regarding a component, which could make the whole place worth living. It is the element called water that we use in our daily lives and which is a core component for survival. Without it, we will cease to exist.
Well, water is not present in its original form though. Water ice was found in some regions of the planet Mars. The red planet has a certain climate which is the coldest one. This cold temperature might have been the reason for the formation of Water ice on the planet. In addition to this fact, scientists have found that even liquid water is available in some regions, but for only a limited period. This is also due to the freezing temperature of the land, making the movement of water a lot more difficult than it is.
1.11) Mars Has a Big Crater
The red planet is known for its bloody appearance due to the oxidized iron components on the upper surface of its land. This is the reason for it to be named that way, after the Greek god of war. It is a planet with a lot of mysteries which have a lot of interesting explanations, just like its name.
One such interesting fact about Mars is that it is the owner of the oldest crater which could ever be found. The crater is also really huge. The crater covers nearly 90.1 Million Kilometers which is a very big crater for a planet that size. Scientists had a lot of theories and explanations regarding the formation of the crater. A lot of possibilities were discovered by scientists of past ages as well. But one of the finest explanations was that Mars was hit by a dwarf planet, like the Pluto of our Solar System. The crater is about 4 billion years old, making it one of the oldest craters to have ever been found by humans to date.
1.12) The Soil of Mars is Poisonous
Yet another interesting fact about the planet Mars. The soil of Mars was found to be toxic. It had an abnormal level of about 7-8 PH which is considered to be acidic. This proves the fact that no plants from the planet Earth can grow on Mars. The red planet is not the place for Earth’s plants to grow. In addition to this, the soil also contains high levels of Potassium, Magnesium, Chlorine, and other minerals which are vital ones to support lives. This information was given by the samples collected by the probes which were launched to the red planet’s surface before.
The soil present on Mars is highly toxic for plants. But it is also healthier in another way by consisting of a lot of healthy minerals, which are the core ones for plant life support. Scientists were confused by this fact but soon concluded that some regions of Mars might still have soil content that would support the plant life which is brought from Earth.
These are some of the most interesting facts about Mars that you were made known today. The whole planet is open to a lot of improvements and upgrades which will surely be made by the human race anytime soon. Let us hope that the tide of technology turns to our fortunate side. Life on Mars is something that is within our reach now. Please feel to check out the related content “Is there life on Mars?“ brought to you by Icy tales.
Last Updated on by Himani Rawat