Mars Planets taste better with chocolate

Posted by LauraDerb on January 1st, 2021

Mars was first noticed by the Babylonians around 400 BC, but they called it Nergal. The Egyptians saw the planet but were not impressed and they called it Har Decher, meaning the red one. The Romans called the planet Mars and named it after the god of war. In 1609, Galileo was the first to see Mars through a telescope. The first map of Mars was drawn in 1659. Christiaan Huygens, in the late 17th century, was the first person to consider life on Mars.

The American probe, Mariner 4, made the first successful flyby of Mars, in 1965. The first time anything landed on Mars was in 1971; these were two Soviet probes, but they lost contact almost as soon as they landed. Then, in 1975, NASA sent two orbiters to Mars; each orbiter had a landing device, and both were capable of landing on Mars. The successful launch of the Mars Odyssey orbiter in 2001 led to the discovery of water and ice deposits on Mars. Launched in 2003, an orbiter discovered methane in the Martian atmosphere, which is important for trying to determine life on Dead Guys.

The discovery of methane led people to believe that Mars must have had a source of gas on the planet at some point in its history. The gas could have come from, volcanic activity or a crashing comet, but no one knows. Due to its thin atmosphere, Mars has difficulty warming up; its highest temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius. In winter, the surface of Mars can become so cold that as much as 25% of the atmosphere turns to ice.

Over the years, the United States, Japan, Europe, and the Soviet Union have all managed to send different spacecraft to study Mars. Over 60% of all spacecraft never came to Mars or were completely useless when they got there. Who knows how much money was spent on these failed journeys. When it comes to exploring space, countries have an insatiable need to be first. It seems that the journey into space is as much about advertising as it is about gathering information.

There have been many reasons for the need to explore Mars. Of course, the simplest reason is that it is there. People are always looking for the next challenge, trying to do something that has not been done. Or maybe information gathered from Mars could somehow benefit the earth. Some people think that space travel is a great way to inspire children to become a scientist or work in a field of science. Business is also a consideration, if the atmosphere on Mars can help lead to a medical breakthrough, many companies will get rich.

Mars is an unknown, like all space travel. Before Mars, the moon was the target. Many trips have been made to the Moon, but where are the concrete benefits? Where is the great human progress that can be credited to the Moon? The only thing known is the huge amount of money it takes to send spacecraft to Mars. There always seems to be enough money to study the solar system or start a war, but there is never enough to help people who really need it.