PROJECT WORK ENGLISH NAME - ADITYA POKHAREL GRADE - XI SECTION – P1 LIFE ON MARS Earth has been the only planet where there is presence of life. There are no other planets in the universe discovered so far where there is possibility of life. This could be due to the limited human knowledge. In the 21st century, one of the most mysterious question is ‘Is life on mars possible?’. The possibility of life on mars is a subject of interest for the world and most importantly for the scientists due to its similarities to earth. Mars, one of the neighboring planet of Earth, is both a wonderful and a terrible place to go looking for life. For centuries, human beings have looked to mars and imagined it as a home for living beings. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Scientists have made various effort to approach Mars. But how likely is life on Mars? Humans want to colonize mars for various reasons. It is the most accessible planet in the solar system. Showing interest in its resources can be a great benefit for humans economically. There is possibility of finding new life on mars that could impact life on earth. Moreover, it can be prepared for human exploration. It could someday be a destination for the survival of humankind as well. Settlement in other planets could also decrease the likelihood of human extinction. Largest space agencies in the world like NASA, SpaceX, etc. have plans and missions for exploring and colonizing mars. Elon Musk (CEO & Founder of SpaceX) wish to establish a permanent colony on Mars. His goal was to land the first humans on Mars by 2024 which was later revised to 2026 and a million people by 2050. If so, humanity will eventually become not just multi-planetary but also interstellar. When searching for life, water is the key. All the terrestrial animals require water to survive. Evidence for water first showed up in 2000, where gullies was found that appeared to have formed from flowing water. But Mars wasn’t always a desolate wasteland. Scientists think that, in the past, water may have flowed across the surface in rivers and streams, and that vast oceans covered the planet. Over time, the water was lost into space, but early conditions on the wetter planet could have been right for life to evolve. For humans, oxygen is also the main element. But there is only presence of 0.2% of oxygen on Mars. 96% of the atmosphere of the Mars is filled with carbon dioxide. The red planet today is dry and barren. The planet’s thin atmosphere allows radiation from sun to irradiate the surface of planet. For observation and research, rovers(robotic vehicles) are being sent to mars so that it can be further explored. Many rovers have even successfully landed on the mars in the 21st century. Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is the most advanced rover built which was one of the greatest success of NASA. After nearly 470 million km journey, it has successfully landed on Mars in 2021. Its main task is to search for signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and soil and bring it back to Earth if possible. It discovered olivine-rich rock which can be the evidence for both magma and water in the distant past. Another exciting discovery is of organic compounds in both rocks and dust. However, it is still unknown that the organic compounds are from living beings or not. Similarly, China becomes the second country in the history to land rover named Zhurong Rover on the Mars in 2021. The mission’s scientific objective is to investigate geology as well as internal structure of Mars, search for indications of current and past presence of water and study the atmosphere and space environment of Mars. The main aims of the mission include searching for evidence of current and past life on Mars. Nobody knows that whether there was presence of life on the Mars or not. Maybe someday humans will make history by colonizing Mars and making it a suitable home for mankind. But, we should not forget about our nature gifted beautiful planet ‘Earth’. We should give importance for protecting our planet from different problems that may cause the extinction of human beings on earth. Protecting the nature and making it an appropriate settlement for every living creature on the earth is our first duty.