Mars, also known as the red planet, has gained the interest of humanity over the years with the debate of whether life existed on Mars. A majority of people may assume that this search does not pertain to them but in reality, humanity, especially college students should read carefully because they could solve the debate once and for all.
College students can have a major impact on space travel by bringing new ideas to space exploration as well as studying the research on Mars and applying it to problems on Earth. For example, studying Archaea on Earth that live at extreme temperatures such as hot springs could be valuable to looking for life on Mars.
For those who only know a little about Mars, here is some background. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and like Earth has seasons, polar ice caps, canyons, extinct volcanoes, and weather. However, Mars is about half the size of Earth and has two moons named Phobos and Deimos. Additionally, one day on Mars is called a Sol short for solar days which last 24.6 hours instead of 23.9 hours like on Earth.
Mars after its formation had rivers, lakes, and possibly a northern ocean. However, Mars’ magma core began cooling leaving the planet vulnerable to solar winds. These solar winds stripped Mars of its atmosphere and the water on the surface turned into ice. The big question is did Mars have life on it before the core cooled?
In 2004, two Mars rovers landed on the planet named Spirit and Opportunity to search for evidence of life. Both rovers made key contributions to what scientists know about Mars. Opportunity found evidence of the mineral hematite which is used in water formation. Meanwhile, Spirit found magnesium and iron carbonates in the rock meaning the planet once had warm and wetter weather with a carbon-dioxide atmosphere.
In 2012, the Curiosity rover and in 2021, the Perseverance rover touched down on the planet adding to the discoveries. Curiosity discovered evidence of water on Mars early in the planet’s history and that conditions were right for life. The evidence came from samples of the planet such as the one drilled in Yellowknife Bay finding key ingredients such as sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbon.
Perseverance while looking for life on Mars has an additional task of looking for ways to bring humans to Mars one day. For instance, the rover is monitoring weather such as sand and dust storms to predict future weather on the planet. Furthermore, the rover is collecting samples of the atmosphere and rocks to bring back to Earth one day. These samples could be the key to determining if life did exist on Mars.
Human exploration is still far off in the future with barriers such as high levels of radiation on the planet. In spite of this, these challenges present an opportunity for college students to develop innovative solutions for future space missions.
For starters, by having a barrier in place college students can creatively think of solutions to these problems and provide their findings to excel the future of space exploration. Additionally, college students interested in sustainability can study how Mars lost its atmosphere and relate it to climate change on Earth. Moreover, biology majors could study life that exists in extremes on Earth such as Archaea to see if this life exists on Mars.
Students studying engineering, astronomy, or environmental science should also stay up to date on Mars because it may be a possible interest of study for them in the future. Engineers, for example, could figure out more efficient rovers or design new protective gear for astronauts.
Overall, the search for life on Mars, while not solved yet, poses an interesting topic for college students to study and apply in their future careers to see how they can impact the future of space exploration.
