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.