Tag: mars

Why we need Space exploration? It it a waste of money?

Poverty still rising all over the world, COVID-19 pandemic made it even worse. About 1.89 billion people, or nearly 36% of the world’s population, lived in extreme poverty. Nearly half the population in developing countries lived on less than $1.25 a day. Why should we spend money on space exploration when we already have so many problems here on Earth? Is it really that important? It’s like What if our ancestors thought that it would be a waste of time to figure out agriculture while we can do hunting? Or why should we spend so much time on exploring new lands while we have so many problems in our land? Each year, space exploration contributes to a lot of innovations on earth. It gave answers to many fundamental questions about our existence, and a lot of questions there to be answered if only we could increase our investment on space exploration.

Benefits of space exploration

    Improves our day to day life

       Since 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to ever set foot on moon, our interest in science and technology has improved a lot. In 22nd February 1978, US space agency launched the first satellite for its program of global positioning system (GPS). Currently there are 31 global positioning system (GPS) satellites orbiting the earth.Space exploration helped us to create many inventions like television, camera phones, internet, laptops, LED’s, wireless gadgets, purifying system of water and many more that we are using in our day to day life. There are nearly 3,372 active satellites providing information on navigation, business & finance, weather, climate and environmental monitoring, communication and safety.

   Improving health care

       The international space station plays a vital role in health and medical advancements. The Astronauts who works on the ISS able to do experiments that aren’t possible on earth due to the difference in the gravity. The project of Exomedicine – the study of medicine and microgravity, gravity has an effect on a molecular level so working in an environment where it can be eliminated from the equation allows discoveries that would otherwise be impossible. Medical advancements due to space exploration include,

  • Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular diseases
  • Treatment of chronic metabolic disorders
  • Better understanding of osteoporosis
  • Improvements in Breast cancer detection
  • Programmable pacemakers
  • Laser angioplasty
  • NASA’s device with Space technology for Asthma
  • ISS plays vital role in vaccine development
  • Early detection of immune changes prevents shingles
  • Development of MRIs and CT or CAT Scans
  • And invention of ear thermometers.

Need for space colonization

       Overpopulation is one of the major crises in our planet. Currently we have 7.8 billion people alive on earth. Experts predict that there will be 9.7 billion people by 2050 and 11 billion by 2100, our earth can carry only 9 billion to 12 billion people with the limited food and freshwater resources. That means we have to find an exoplanet with suitable conditions soon. We already went to moon 6 times, we already sent a rover to Mars. Robotic missions are cost efficient, but if one is considering the future of human race we have to go there ourselves. Elon Musk announced that SpaceX is going to send people to Mars I 2022. NASA planned to make a colony on Mars by 2030. These missions are not something we need at this moment. But it may play an important role on our future. Proxima Centauri b is an exoplanet which is 4.24 light years away from us. With our current technology, it is impossible to reach it in our lifetime. But we should make it as an aim for interstellar travel over the next 200 to 500 years. Stephen hawking said that the human race has existed as a separate species for about 2 million years. Civilization began about 10,000 years ago, and the rate of development has been steadily increasing. If the human race is to continue for another million years, we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before.

The day we stop exploring is the day we commit ourselves to live in a stagnant world, devoid of curiosity, empty of dreams. –Neil deGrasse Tyson

Why is Earth the only planet with life?

Not so fast,Earthling ! Outer space is a big place, and one thing scientists have learnt from studying life on Earth is that organisms can thrive in all sorts of harsh environments. Meanwhile, astronomers have discovered nearly 4,000 Earth like planets beyond our solar system and are spotting more everyday. Some of these ” exoplanets ” orbit their stars in the “Goldilocks zone”, a distance that neither too hot nor too cold to support liquid water and possibly alien life. Who knows? Maybe an alien kid somewhere up there is wondering if you exist.

Why does Mars have a face on it?

When the Viking I aur picture pictures of Mars in 1976, one photo became a hit for its apparent portrayal of a mountainous Martian face resembling An Egyptian Pharaoh. Eager to set the record straight on this crowd- pleasing Mars anomaly, NASA used a satellite to re photograph the region in 1998 and 2001. The high resolution images revealed a natural geological feature rather than a monument to Martiankind.

How many exoplanets might support life?

After analysing the known exoplanets and comparing that data with what they know about the Milky Way, astronomers at Cornell University predict that as many as 100 million worlds in our galaxy could support complex life.

So why we haven’t met aliens yet?

Because space is big. The galaxy might be teeming with life, but the gulfs between stars make visiting our neighbours an impossible mission – at least for now. Remember, it would take thousands of years to travel to the closest star outside our solar system using modern spaceship technology.

What about the possibility of life closer to home?

Where? Like in London? Ah, you mean in our solar system! Mars was once considered a top candidate for alien life,but so far we haven’t found any Martians. ( Anything that lived on the red planet is most likely long dead). Astronomers seeking signs of life are now turning their attention to the solar system’s moons instead of its planets.

Why did people once think Martians lived on Mars?

Astronomers peering at mass in the 17th,18th, and 19th centuries saw signs of life everywhere. Seas ! Continents ! Canals that carried water to Martian farms ! But modern telescopes, probes, and NASA landers ruined the fun by revealing our planetary neighbor’s dry details:It’s just a lifeless ball of red rock. Early astronomers had confused Mars’s ancient seas and riverbeds for signs of civilisation.

Which of the solar system’s moons might have life?

The Frozen surface of jupiter’s moon Europa hides a liquid Ocean that might contain alien creatures. Enceladus, one of Saturn’s many moons, has a sea the size of Lake Superior under its icy surface. And Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, has vast lakes of liquid methane. If life existed here, it would be truly alien.

How are astronomers searching for alien life?

  • BY DIGGING: Robotic rovers are sampling Martian soils for science of ancient life.
  • BY VISITING: Probes are being dispatched to spots across the solar system that might harbor life today.
  • BY LOOKING: NASA’S Earth- and space -based telescopes have been scanning galaxy for earth like exoplanets outside our solar system capable of supporting life.
  • BY LISTENING: In 1960, scientists began scanning the universe with special telescope for radio signals from alien civilizations. The project is called SETI, for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. It hasn’t picked up any alien broadcast yet, but we haven’t stopped listening.

Why is the U.S government hiding evidence of alien life?

Ah, you must be thinking of the “Rosewell incident”, in which an unidentified craft crashed near the small town of Roswell, New Mexico, U.S.A., in 1947. Conspiracy theorist claim the craft was a flying saucer and that the U.S military whisked away the wreckage along with the bodies of its alien pilots. The U.S government released a report on Rosewell in the mid -1990s claiming the debris was actually a crashed balloon in its top-secret “Project Mogul,” which used high-altitude sensors to monitor for enemy nuclear-missile tests. “Likely story,” claim the conspiracy theorists.

References :

WHY? – Answers to everything, Image publications.

Do you want to spend a year on Mars? Nasa has started the application process.

Source: Google

Nasa is looking for anyone who want to pretend to live on Mars for a year. The United States Space Agency has began accepting applications for four people who would spend a year living in a 3-D built module that simulates life on Mars.

Limited supplies, communication delays, and equipment breakdowns will be among the challenges the team will confront on Mars. Nasa has built a 1,700-square-foot Martian home inside a building at Johnson Space Center in Houston, using a 3D printer. The module is about the size of a tennis court.

Limited resources, communication delays, and equipment malfunctions will be among the challenges that paid volunteers will confront on Mars. They will also conduct scientific studies and mimic spacewalks. NASA intends to conduct three of these experiments, the first of which will begin in the fall of next year. There will be no windows and all of the food will be ready-to-eat space food.

The application process for a NASA Mars mission is as follows:

This will be a ‘physically and mentally taxing’ expedition, according to Nasa, with similarly high application standards.
A Master’s degree in a science, engineering, or math subject, as well as pilot experience, is required.
He or she should be in good physical condition, have no dietary restrictions, and be immune to motion sickness.
Only citizens of the United States or permanent residents of the United States are eligible.
A person must also have at least 1,000 hours as a jet pilot or two years of professional experience in their area.
Nasa claims that its research will aid in the preparation of a human mission to Mars, which might start in the 2030s.