MYSTERIOUS MARS

The Race Of The World

Research Begins

Mars, the planet About 4.603 billion years old. it is said that mars are the oldest planet in our solar system (our solar system is 4.571 billion years, the sun is about 4.603 billion years, the earth is about 4.543 billion years and other planets are 4.503 billion years old). MARS is the Fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury... Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth. The planet was first introduced in 1659. The Red planet is always being a mystery of the universe. But today because of this universal mystery the whole world is targeting the Mars and race of the world to achieve Mars was started, from long ago. The race was started on 30th of May 1971 when NASA has launched the first artificial satellite to orbit around any another planet (MARS) MARINER 9.

Mariner 9

Mariner 9 (Mariner Mars '71/Mariner-I) was an unmanned NASA space probe that contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars and was part of the Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971froCape Canaveral Air Force Station and reached the planet on November 14 of the same year becoming the first spacecraft to orbit another planet its mission was planned to consist of two spacecraft to orbit Mars on complementary missions, but due to the failure ofMariner8 to launch properly, only one spacecraft was available and in this way, Mariner 9 became the first artificial satellite to orbit another planet and the race of the world was started. Now the Mars was at the tip of world gun.

Discovery

Mars was first discovered in 1659, Christian Huygens, a Dutch astronomer drew Mars with the observations he made using a telescope he designed himself. He also discovered a strange feature on the planet that became known as Syrtis Major. Syrtis Major Planum is a "dark spot" (an albedo feature) located in the boundary between the northern lowlands and southern highlands of Mars just west of the impact basin Isidis in the Syrtis Major quadrangle. It was discovered based on data from Mars Global Surveyor to be a low-relief shield volcano but was formerly believed to be plain and was then known as Syrtis Major Planitia. The dark colour comes from the basaltic volcanic rock of the region and the relative lack of dust. On November 28, 1964, Mariner 4 was launched successfully on an eight-month voyage to the Red Planet but it was a fly-by mission. A Mars flyby is a movement of spacecraft passing in the vicinity of the planet Mars, but not entering orbit or landing on it. Unmanned space probes have used this method to collect data on Mars, as opposed to orbiting or landing. A spacecraft designed for a flyby is also known as a "flyby bus" or "flyby spacecraft". Mariner 4 carried a television camera and six other science instruments to study Mars and interplanetary space within the solar system. Reaching Mars of July 14, 1965, the spacecraft began sending back images of the planet just after midnight.

Curiosity

'Mission' however it's a heavy word which excites us and makes us curious and this word does its work in the mars missions also in every mission of Mars from starting to now there was a mystery. At that time a human couldn't clear its all mysteries/doubts but today it is possible we have tried everything to get our doubt clear but still many mysteries are out of human-level to solve. Every mission of Mars brings a Success as well as a new mystery and a difficult solution with it. MARS gives us knowledge as well as curious us to know more about the mars that how is it in reality. The complete study of Mars is not possible yet. Mars missions lead to many problems and cost a lot. Recently launched Insight lander is new progress in Mars missions or Mars studies. Its agenda is to study the interior of the planet and to know us more about the Mysterious Mars it's seismometer and Air pressure sensor recorded the Martian wind and feel its vibration which makes us curious and excite us to know more about the planet of mystery whenever the word mission came after the Mars it also brings a new secret.

Participants

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a well-known space agency of the USA which was founded on 29 July 1958 and NASA is a very important part of this race. NASA has tried to reach every part of the universe to create a history and to solve the universal mysterious. NASA has sent many satellites/projects in the universe in which Human's moon mission is also included. NASA has discovered and discovering many things in the universe in which I think the Kepler Spacecraft also known Astronomical Observatory which mission is to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars and Kepler as found so many planets that most similar to the earth which was named as Kepler 22b, Kepler 42c, Kepler 186f, Kepler 62f, Kepler 62e, Kepler 438b, Kepler 442b, Kepler 452b and so many other in which Kepler 452b also known as Earth 2.0orEarth's Cousin is the biggest discovery ever yes, Earth 2.0because it has the same habitual zone as Earth although it is far away from us still we reached there the closest planet to us is yet a mystery for us. NASA has reached every part of the universe but not still Mars completely. Before few years there was only NASA in the space but with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited the space program. Russia created the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, now known as the Roscosmos State Corporation and in this way, the competition for Earth, Space, Mars and Universe were started among the Roscosmos and NASA. Roscosmos and NASA was a strong opponent of each other on the one hand NASA is trying to be the best and on the other hand Roscosmos was trying to beat NASA and after the NASA's Mariner 9 mission the competition for Mars was converted into the race and now many more countries had joined this race. Roscosmos has also sent many satellites to Mars but most of the are suddenly disappeared when arrived at Mars among them one of the satellite arrived there it disappeared but he sends one of its last pictures before it disappears in which a large black spot was seen which shocked the Russians and the world. NASA and Roscosmos Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is a well-known companion in the race. It is the Indian space agency which as contributed greatly to Mars exploration. ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission also called Mangalyaan is world-famous mission because, it became the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt. Mangalyaan space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is India's first interplanetary mission and it made it the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency is the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt and in much lower cost. Entire India's Mangalyaan mission cost just4.5 billion rupees or about $74 million. Compare this to NASA's own MAVEN Mars orbiter, which has a total mission cost of around 672 millions of dollars.

Atmosphere

Mars missions are very costly and if there will be any mistake the whole mission can be compromised. Everything about Mars has its different mystery and as well as a difficult solution for us. Mars contains many mysterious. It's Atmosphere, Surface (lithosphere), Interior; everything has its own mystery. Let's talk about everything in detail one by one. The atmosphere of Mars, The Atmosphere of Mars is thin, cold, and dry and contains much less oxygen than the atmosphere of Earth it is only about 0.13%of its total amount of gases. Mars atmosphere is composed primarily of carbon dioxide about 95.32% (near about 96 per cent), with minor amounts of other gases such as argon and nitrogen. Today, it is thought that much of the carbon dioxide in the Martian air was removed by the solar wind Researchers have discovered a two-step process that sends the gas into space. Ultraviolet light from the sun could strike a carbon dioxide molecule, breaking it into carbon monoxide and oxygen. The atmosphere of Mars is very thin and the atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars is only about 0.6 per cent of Earth (101,000 Pascal’s). Scientists think that Mars may have had a thicker atmosphere early in its history, and data from NASA's MAVEN spacecraft indicate that Mars has lost significant amounts of its atmosphere through time. The primary culprit for Mars atmospheric loss is the solar wind! The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma consists of mostly electrons, protons and alpha particles. This wind itself is fairly being, but it also carries a magnetic field. This picks up ions from the upper atmosphere, accelerates them, and then smashes them back into other ions at several hundred kilometres per second, knocking ions out to space. If the planet itself has a magnetic field, it can shield the upper atmosphere from the solar wind. However, because it is a small planet, Mars cooled rapidly so that its inner dynamo disappeared and it lost its original magnetic field quickly. It is also possible that once-abundant water and carbon dioxide on early Mars could have seeped into the crust, forming H2O- and CO2-bearing minerals. Evidence tells us that both processes have occurred, but we do not know their comparative importance. Its atmosphere has a very complex understanding.

Surface

Martian surface, Mars got his name from its surface only. Mars is named for the ancient Roman god of war. The Greeks called the planet Ares. The Romans and Greeks associated the planet with war because its colour resembles the colour of blood, as well as Mars two moons, have got their name from the surface of the Mars only. Their names are Phobos and Deimos. They are named for the sons of Ares, the Greek god of war. Phobos means FEAR and Deimos means light. Mars surface is a dry, barren wasteland marked by old volcanoes and impact craters. The entire surface can be scoured by a single sand storm that hides it from observation for days at a time. Mars surface is rocky, with canyons, volcanoes, dry lake beds and craters all over it. Red dust covers most of its surface. Mars has clouds and wind just like Earth. Sometimes the wind blows the red dust into a dust storm. Tiny dust storms can look like tornados and large ones can be seen from Earth. Mars large storms sometimes cover the whole planet. The Red Planet's total surface area is about 28% of Earth which is about 144.8 million km2. Martian surface consists of several rocks the dark areas of Mars are characterized by the mafic rock-forming minerals olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase feldspar. These minerals are the primary constituents of basalt, a dark volcanic rock that also makes up the Earth's oceanic crust and the lunar maria. Martian surface also consists many features and the common surface features of Mars include dark slope streaks, dust devil tracks, sand dunes, Medusae Fossae Formation, fretted terrain, layers, gullies, glaciers, scalloped topography, chaos terrain, possible ancient rivers, pedestal craters, brain terrain, and ring mould craters. Mars also called as red planet thanks for its surface only its surface is made of a thick layer of oxidized iron dust and rocks of the same colour, its surface contains more iron than the earth so, its soil is red in colour and it also contains some elements like magnesium, aluminium, calcium, and potassium. It also consists of many mountains and volcanoes in which the largest volcano or the largest mountain in our solar system 'OLYMPUS MONS' also comes in it.

It is located between the northwestern edge of the Tharsis region and the eastern edge of Amazon is Planitia of the planet Mars. Olympus Mons is a very large shield volcano on the planet Mars. The volcano has a height of nearly 25 km as measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter. Olympus Mons is about two and a half times Mount Everest's height above sea level similarly it's (Mars) surface also consists of the largest canyon in our solar system. 'VALLES MARINERIS' At more than 4,000 km long, 200 km wide and up to 7 km (23,000 ft.) deep,

Valles Marineris is the largest canyons of the Solar System which were first discovered in 1972 by the Mariner 9 spacecraft it is present on the surface of the Mars located along the equator of Mars, on the east side of the Tharsis Bulge. Martian surface also has a lot of craters on it. These craters are formed on the Martian surface because the atmosphere of the Mars is very thin so, even a small asteroid can reach the surface unlike earth where they get burnt so, this asteroids hits to the surface of the Mars and formed craters 'HELLAS IMPACT CRATER' the largest crater on the planet. Hellas Impact Crater also is known as Hellas Planitia is an enormous impact crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. It is about 2,300 kilometres in diameter and about 9 kilometres deep. It is the largest impact crater on the planet. It is thought to have formed between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years ago when a large asteroid hit the surface of Mars. Today, most of the water on Mars is locked away in frozen ice caps. But billions of years ago it flowed freely across the surface, forming rushing rivers that emptied into craters, forming lakes and seas. The evidence tells us that sometimes the lakes would take on so much water that they overflowed and burst from the sides of their basins, creating catastrophic floods that carved canyons very rapidly, in a few weeks only so, because there are maybe so many Dry Lake Beds on the Martian Surface.

Mars Climate

Mars is the planet with several storms, extreme climatic conditions, weather, polar caps, etc. Mars is an extremely cold planet with an average temperature of around minus-80 degrees FAHRENHEIT. Temperatures can dip to minus-225 degrees Fahrenheit near the poles. As we know that Mars atmosphere is much thinner than the atmosphere on Earth so, because of this Mars has to do many compromises. Mars also creates winds. When these winds pick up the fine, dry particles of dust on Mars, a dust storm can occur and sometimes covers the whole planet. Mars is roughly about 228,000,000 km (1.5 AU) away from the sun and because of its thinner atmosphere Mars cannot trap the sun's heat in the atmosphere so, it can escape easily and Mars cannot keep itself warm. It consists very harsh climatic conditions which are difficult for any plant or animal to survive on the mars actually the climate of the planet Mars has been a topic of scientific curiosity for centuries, it is full of mystery. The weather and the climate on Mars also have its different understanding. Generally, Mars- 50 per cent farther from the sun than Earth - it is bitter cold... Storms consist of just wind and clouds composed mostly of ice crystals that have evaporated from Mars' polar ice cap, and sometimes dust. Mars also consists of polar ice caps on its surface they are made of water ice and dry ice (solid carbon dioxide). Like Earth, Mars has a North and South Pole. But while Earth's polar ice caps consist solely of water ice, Mars’ polar caps are a combination of water ice and carbon dioxide ice (Martian polar caps mainly contains the whole water present on the planet). As the Martian seasons change, the carbon dioxide ice sublimates (vaporizes) in summer, revealing the surface and freezes again in the winter.

Interior

Planet of mysteries interior also has its different mystery and understanding. Mars interior also comes in the list of mysteries or the part of the galaxy/universe which is yet, remaining to study it completely but our other studies or the evidence of the mars give us a small hint about the interior of the planet Mars. We don’t know that the interior of the mars is liquid, solid, or it may somewhat different. NASA’s Insight lander which was launched on 5th of May 2018 its mission is to study the interior of the planet and to know us more about the planet of mystery it will be the first to the study the interior of the planet, we don’t know completely about the interior of the planet but our studies say that the interior/core is surrounded by a silicate mantle that formed many of the tectonic and volcanic features on the planet, but it appears to be dormant. besides silicon and oxygen, the most abundant elements in the Martian crust are iron, magnesium, aluminium, calcium, and potassium. it is said that the core of the mars is a hot liquid core that is about one-half the radius of the planet. its core is mostly made of iron with some possible lighter elements such as sulfur and the mantle is the darker material between the core and the thin crust.

Martian Exploration

The martian interior is now no more to talk about it anymore BUT the planet of mystery is remaining so much to talk about it so; Martian exploration is one of the most important topics in our list. Martian exploration is the most important thing in today's world every the country wants to achieve the mars through Martian exploration today most of the countries have their own space agency/organization and there the main target is Mars. Martian exploration was started long ago and today it is achieving the success of every mission of the mars is very interesting and mysterious. Every the mission of Martian exploration wherever their Mariner series, Viking series, MSL, Mangalyaan, Insight etc. every mission has its different stories of success, Martian exploration help us to know many things about our neighbour planet mars and it also gives us knowledge about our solar system and leads to make new invention for the exploration of Mars. Martian explorations past as well as a present is so interesting and mysterious, the future plans of Martian exploration is also very exciting it will lead us many things in the future and the main plan is to reach the mars means to send the humans on the planet Mars. but it is so difficult to do such a thing because to send humans in the space is so easy nowadays but still, it is very risk full and to send them on the mars are much more difficult and there are many reasons for that like:- 

1. From earth to mars is a very far journey and the human body needs regular food and the removal of waste material so, we have to organize all these facilities from earth to mars and then back to the earth. 

2. It will cost a lot to organize such a mission because mars are very far away from us and if we talk about a robotic mission than also it cost a lot and this is a mission on humans. 

3. On earth, the atmosphere of it protects us from the harmful sun rays/sunlight (UV) but in the space, there is no blanket of atmosphere so, it is necessary to protect astronauts from the harmful UV rays. 

4. For this kind of mission, we need a fast speed means a bigger rocket to achieve such speed and it should be built that safety of astronauts should not be compromised. 

5. We should be ready for any possibilities that can be OCCURRING during the mission and can harm the mission. Like this only there are many reasons by which we can say that to send humans on the mars is difficult. BUT we are trying everything to do so, today nothing is impossible for us and one day humans will on the mars, Martian exploration has many things to do many things are remaining to learn about mars and to achieve Martian success.

 

Difference

Mars is totally different from our mother planet (earth). What is the Difference? Let’s see some of this:- 

• Distance: in space/solar system the distance of two astronomical objects is measured in a different unit called as an AU (Astronomical unit) 1 AU is approximately 14,95,97,871 km. earth is about 1 AU from the sun and mars is about 1.5 AU from the sun. 
• Time period: every planet revolves around a star so; every planet has its period of time. First of all earth period of rotation and revolution etc. earth period of rotation is of 24 hours (one day on earth) and the period of revolution is 365 days (one year on earth) but what’s about mars so, mars period of rotation is of 24 hours 39 minutes and 39 seconds means about 40 minutes more than earth and now mars period of revolution is 687 days of the earth means about 1 year and 43 days more than earth. 
• Area: mars is much smaller than earth if we talk about the surface area of both the planets than the earth has a surface area about 510.1 million km2 where mars surface area is 144.8 million km2. 
• Temperature: as we talked earlier about the mars temperature it is a very cold planet compare to earth. Etc

AeroGraphy (Geography)

Let’s take look on its (mars) AeroGraphy same as geography; the geography of mars, also known as Aerography. Martian geography is mainly focused on what is called physical geography on Earth; that is the distribution of physical features across Mars and their cartographic representations. Mars located between the orbit of earth and the asteroid belt. Mars has about 15% of earth Earth’s volume. To fill the earth’s volume, it would take over 6 mars volumes. Mars is about 71% as dense (3.9 g\cm3) as earth. Mars has a diameter of about 6779 km (4212 miles), where Earth has a diameter of about 12742 km (7917 miles). Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees, were mars is tilted about 25 degrees. Nearby Similar tilts mean that mars have season just like earth. But since mars’ year is almost twice as long, its seasons are longer too. Because of Mars’ elliptical orbit, some seasons are longer than others. (The northern hemisphere has a longer spring and summer, while the southern hemisphere has longer autumn and winter). In astronomy, the solar mass (M) is a standard unit of mass, equal to approximately 2×10^30 kg. It is used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. It is equal to the mass of the sun. Our solar system planets are represented by different symbols. The following figure shows that:-

Mass of planets

1. Mercury: - 3.285 × 10^23 kg (0.055 M⊕) 
2. Venus: - 4.867 × 10^24 kg (0.815 M⊕) 
3. Earth: - 5.972 × 10^24 kg 
4. Mars (♂):- 6.39 × 10^23 kg (0.107 M⊕) 
5. Jupiter: - 1.898 × 10^27 kg (317.8 M⊕) 
6. Saturn: - 5.683 × 10^26 kg (95.16 M⊕) 
7. Uranus: - 8.681 × 10^25 kg (14.54 M⊕) 
8. Neptune: - 1.024 × 10^26 kg (17.15 M⊕) 
9. Pluto: - 1.30900 × 10^22 kg

Weight

Mars is not a big\large planet so; its gravitational force is less than earth. If you weighed 100 lbs. on earth, you would weigh only 38 lbs. on Mars! Martian surface mostly consists of volcanoes like Olympus Mons, Tharsis, Tharsis montes, Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons etc. Its soil is the fine regolith found on the surface of Mars. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil, including its toxicity due to the presence of perchlorates. …On earth, the term “soil” usually includes organic content. Polar caps on the mars are a combination of water ice and carbon dioxide ice.

Is Vegetation Possible on Mars

Is there vegetation on Mars? Research suggests Martian soil has some of the nutrients plants need to grow and survive. But because of Mars's extremely cold condition, plants such as Watney Potatoes would need to grow inside a controlled environment, such as his hub. According to NASA; NASA-Funded scientists, Designing plants that can survive in the harsh condition of Mars. These plants could provide Oxygen, Fresh Food, and even medicine to astronauts while living off their waste. They would also improve morale as a lush, green connection to the earth in a barren and alien world. The research is being sponsored by the NASA Institute for advance concepts (NIAC), which is investigating revolutionary ideas that could greatly advance NASA Missions in the future. The Plants would probably be housed in a greenhouse on a Martian base, because no known forms of life can survive direct exposure to the Martian surface, with its extremely cold, thin air and sterilizing radiation. Even then, conditions in a Martian greenhouse would have to endure high levels of Solar Ultraviolet Radiation, because the thin Martian atmosphere has no ozone to block it like earth's atmosphere does. At night, temperatures would drop well below freezing. Also, the Martian soil is poor in the mineral nutrients necessary for plants to thrive. A huge team is working on this project. The team uses the techniques of gene splicing to remove useful genes from extremophiles and add them to plants. (a gene is a molecular instruction that specifies a feature for an organism, such as eye colour, height, the ability to digest certain foods or resist toxins, etc.)

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