Nasa Mars rover makes detailed crater image

[Freedom2013]

So far, it's been a successful mission. This is the most detailed photo yet of the Mars landscape:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19244888

There will be more in the days to come.

[MindBat]

Not impressed. It looks like an ol' sandlot being prepped for new housing in my native Bronx, NY.

[Freedom2013]

Originally Posted by MindBat

Not impressed. It looks like an ol' sandlot being prepped for new housing in my native Bronx, NY.

I like it.

It's what you'd see if you emerged from a spacecraft that had just landed on Mars. When I look at it, I have a feeling of what it would be like to actually be on Mars.

[OlympicGlory]

I think it's a waste of time and money. OK so they may find signs of water and life could have lived on there, then what?

[Freedom2013]

Originally Posted by OlympicGlory

I think it's a waste of time and money. OK so they may find signs of water and life could have lived on there, then what?

There's water on Mars now.

There may also be some kind of simple life forms. We may eventually find valuable minerals there.

And this could be an early step toward an eventual human settlement on Mars.

[THE REED™]

I think it's great.

You should never stop learning about your surroundings.. reach out as far as possible.

[New England]

Originally Posted by THE REED™

I think it's great.

You should never stop learning about your surroundings.. reach out as far as possible.

it's practical as well

there's a lot to be learned through the process. additionally, and this making a leap, if humans last long enough we'll need to leave the planet eventually.

[bojangles1987]

This is amazing.

[OlympicGlory]

Originally Posted by Freedom.

There's water on Mars now.

There may also be some kind of simple life forms. We may eventually find valuable minerals there.

And this could be an early step toward an eventual human settlement on Mars.

How will we make the atmosphere suitable for us?

Trust me we can't live there. Building a Space Ship on Earth is one thing, but living on a planet is another.

I know the Moon has 30 minute Earth Quakes because of no water to dissipate them. I am not sure on Mars but again it would be crazy long if it did have them.

Can we live on Mars?

Mars is not as close to Earth as Venus is, but it probably is the only planet in our solar system that we can colonize. But living there won’t be simple.
Mars is poorly suited for human habitation. There’s some ice at the poles and perhaps some water in underground repositories. Gravity is only 38 percent as strong as on Earth. The atmosphere is thin and consists mostly of carbon dioxide (95%). So colonists would have to either take air from Earth or make air on Mars. Plants efficiently separate the oxygen bound to carbon and therefore can make air we can breathe, so colonists should take plants along.

The Martian atmosphere is too thin to hold oxygen, which would just escape to space. So the plants would have to be cultivated in greenhouses and the oxygen they produce kept in flasks.

Mars has a very weak magnetic field, and its atmosphere offers little protection against radiation from space. So the Martian colonists would have to build radiation protection into their houses and wear thick suits. Unlike Earth, where most incoming meteorites burn up in the atmosphere, many meteorites crash dangerously onto the surface of Mars.

The Martian weather is awful. It’s cold: the average temperature of the southern hemisphere is minus 60 degrees Celsius; even at the equator, it’s seldom over zero. Winds are fierce and blow at speeds of several hundred kilometres an hour, and storms can last for months. The wind whirls up fine dust that penetrates everything and sticks to all surfaces, which literally would toss sand in the gears of vital mechanical and electronic equipment.

Today, there are no concrete, approved plans for sending people to Mars. The earliest date mentioned in official papers is 2019, which would be 50 years after the first Moon landing.

[OlympicGlory]

Oh and just for a human to get to Mars would be a miracle. You would be **** scared of radiation as you fly over there. It is so much harder than getting to the moon.