Is there Life on Mars?

The Red Planet

Over the last 5 years, thanks to advances in technology and science, exploring Mars has been made possible.

The Rover
The Mars Curiosity rover is a vehicle built to travel over tough terrain and document everything it comes into contact with. It was sent up to the Red Planet by NASA to try and gather evidence to answer the question of: ‘has there been life on Mars?’ Since its launch in November 2011 it has drilled into the surface of Mars, snapped some amazing HD photographs of Mars (unfortunately showing no Martians) and even played one of Will.i.am’s songs! ‘Curiosity’ will continue its amazing journey over the next few years without issues we hope.

The Voyage
Sending remote control vehicles is okay however, a Dutch company is taking it one step further: ten people are being sent to Mars in 2023. This is part of the Mars One project that hopes to create the first permanent settlement outside Earth. Mars One believes human exploration of the solar system should be a global effort, greater than the ambition of an individual nation. Mars exploration offers an opportunity to celebrate the power of a united humanity.

The Crew
In 2013, Mars One will conduct a global search to find the best candidates for the first human mission to Mars. On Mars, the primary responsibility for the astronauts is to keep everything and everyone, up and running. This will be a particular challenge for the first teams. They will need the skills to solve any potential problem - some of which will be completely unforeseeable. Their combined skill sets of each team member must cover a very wide range of disciplines. The astronauts must be intelligent, creative, psychologically stable and physically healthy!
They also need to be a certain height, have perfect health and although anyone in the world can apply to be one of the astronauts they need to speak one of the 11 most common languages spoken on Earth.

The Technology
There are many pieces of technology needed for this mission: a Lander that contains the systems for the generation of energy, water and breathable air within the settlement, a Lander that contains food, spare parts and other smaller components, an inflatable living space, and many more Landers for other various items.

The out-of-this world panoramic image of ‘Mount Sharp’ taken by ‘Curiosity’

Unfortunately, we are still unsure whether there is actually life on Mars or if there has ever been life on Mars however NASA and other companies won't give up until they can answer that question.