Finding water on Mars — The epic human quest for a hunt for life beyond Earth
by Avinash Thombre
Feb 18, 2021. It is the latest act in our genetic code — To explore is to be human.
The blue planet is going to the red planet, and we are going to explore it together. To see the images of Perseverance or Persi this week, descending on the surface of Mars in high definition hurtling at a speed of 12,000 miles/hour slowing down in 10 seconds to 200 miles per second to do a safe landing — is a marvelous achievement for humans, particularly for their intelligence and brainpower. Incredible feat — phenomenal amounts of planning and engineering went into this effort. Not to mention the collaborations of 1000s of scientists from around the world. It took eight years of planning and in the final stages battling the Covid 19 conditions.
Our goal is to find evidence of water on Mars, 130 million miles away. Persi’s landing in the Jerozo crater last week is the most ambitious hunt for ancient life signs on Mars. On February 2021, the spacecraft blazed into a dried-up river delta scientists believe possible home to remnants of microbial life that once existed away from Earth. Persi, right now, as we speak, is busy combing the area for signs of life and collecting samples for a possible return to Earth. The much-awaited first safe flight of the four-pound helicopter on Mars to conduct a series of test flights — the first on another planet is still to be undertaken. Further, Persi will also test technology designed to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere in hopes that the gas could be used for fuel — or for humans to breathe — on future missions. All this is not science fiction — it is happening in real.
Forget the human brainpower involved or the cost of this — we have been told that this work is important and needs to be done because it will help us answer something about us humans and our desire — to not be alone. Against all odds, we keep pushing ourselves to answer the question — Are we alone?
As much as I agree it is a marvelous feat, as an individual fascinated by the cosmos around us, I cannot comprehend this effort, especially when life, as we know on Earth itself, is in much danger. What we have gotten so far from Persi is more of the same as we got from our earlier missions. This time, of course, we have detailed high definition pictures of barren and desolate terrain, seen in much nuanced different hues of red and of course high def videos. We all know beyond a doubt that much of the universe is like this. And yet the brightest among us humans — with all the mathematical and engineering skills — want to continue with this effort, knowing very well that here on Earth, which has an abundance of water and all the material needed for evolution, is slowly heading toward extinguishing the very life they are trying to find elsewhere.
Our finding water or life on Mars effort can be best called an ultimate self-suicide mission, particularly when all our efforts are needed to preserve life here on Earth. With carbon particles in our atmosphere nearing 500 parts per million, humans still deny the reality that life on Earth will be cooked up pretty soon. However, we are obsessed with the Mars mission: We know that as it stands right now, there is one lander (InSight) and two rovers (Curiosity and Perseverance), with another rover (ExoMars), planned for launch next year. Orbiting Mars are eight satellites, providing massive amounts of data on our dusty neighbor, not to mention other such missions since 1972.
Let’s for a moment imagine that after all this effort, we do find water on Mars. Even then, Mars is not going to be habitable for us, given the physical conditions there. Scientists know very well that trying to live on Mars is a near-impossible feat given the unearth-like conditions present in that domain. It needs more than water for life to thrive — it needs CHNOPS (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen) that makeup 99 percent of the mass of all living things here on Earth. As a layperson with a minimal understanding of science, I can imagine that with no oxygen, 1/3 of Earth’s gravity, an average temperature of -80 degrees, and no protection from UV solar winds on Mars, recreating life looks like a dismal proposal. And yet, we have our hopes built on someday migrating to Mars.
Right now, the pale blue dot, as Carl Sagan said, a speck in the cosmos — our Earth is our only home in this vast universe. There is indeed life elsewhere in-universe, but we cannot go there or live there as we do on Earth. With greenhouse gases well past the Earth’s capacity to recycle and climate change not at our doorsteps but in our house — we need to focus on solving these urgent issues rather than venturing to Mars. Instead, I would put my money on putting our collective energy and intelligence into protecting what we have; otherwise, we will be doomed like the King who killed his hen, which gave him golden eggs.
