NASA, The U.S. space agency. Announ

NASA, The U.S. space agency. Announced that humans first trip to Mars will take place within the next twenty years. Someday people may live on Mars, called the red planet for its color from space. But before all this happens, many questions have to be answered.

The most frequently asked question is, Is there or was there ever water on Mars? Water is important because almost everywhere there is water on Earth, there is life. To discover the possibilities of life on Mars-past, present, or our own in the future-the Mars Program developed an exploration strategy known as ‘‘Follow the Water.’’

Some scientists believe that Mars once had a vast ocean in its northern hemisphere. How did Mars change into the dry and dusty planet it is today? Scientists plan to explore Mars’s dry riverbeds and polar areas in search of the answer.

Like Earth, Mars has clouds in its atmosphere, seasons, and volcanoes. However, conditions on Mars are very different from those on our own planet. Between day and night, temperatures vary by 100 degrees Celsius. Dust storms with winds reaching 480 kilometers per hour occur at certain times of the year and from giant tornadoes. Mars’s atmosphere is thinner than Earth’s, and it is toxic to humans.

Future missions to Mars will answer many questions about the planet and will make new discoveries. New technologies will enable scientists to explore Mars in new ways. The future will bring better pictures from more areas, and they will even return soil and rock samples from Mars for studies in laboratories here on Earth. Recently, the robots Spirit and Opportunity transmitted over 50,000 images of the planet. Opportunity examined a crater, which gave scientists evidence that the area was once covered in salt water. The final step in the exploration may be the first human step on Mars.