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Mars Rover over the planet

We have all seen the movies where astronauts are landing and kicking up red dust on Mars. For a long time, that was just Hollywood stuff. But for the people at NASA this is a real goal they are working towards. The big question has changed from “can we get there?” to “could we actually live there?” While it’s cool to think about, the reality is that Mars is a seriously tough place to live, and turning it into Earth 2 is one of the biggest challenges we can imagine.

So what’s the problem? First off, you can’t breathe. The air on Mars is super thin and made of almost pure carbon dioxide, which is poison to us. If you step outside without a suit, it gets even worse. Forget suffocating, the pressure is so low, your blood would literally boil, and that’s not a great way to start your first week on the planet. On top of that, the average temperature is around a freezing -80 Fahrenheit.

So, is it hopeless? Not exactly. Believe it or not, scientists have a plan. NASA has been testing a little device on its Perseverance rover called MOXIE, and its job is to inhale Mars’ carbon dioxide and pump out breathable oxygen. And, it works. This little machine has proven we can make our own air on a different planet. It’s what scientists like Dr. Kenji Tanaka, a planetary researcher, call a “tech demo”, an important first step to prove that living there is not a total fantasy.

Making air is just one piece of the puzzle. Even with oxygen you would still have to deal with deadly solar radiation, massive dust storms that can cover the whole planet, and the whole “how do you grow potatoes without any soil?” issue. The work being done today with things like MOXIE shows that we are serious about this. It proves that the dream of walking on another planet is not just for the movies anymore, it’s officially becoming a real scientific goal for the future.