Pick a Sci-Fi movie. Done? Chances are, the movie you picked is something about space, maybe even aliens. The world of fiction has been inspired by mankind’s obsession with the stars. Humans have been stargazing for centuries, looking up at the sky, wondering what truly lies beyond our home planet. And when you don’t know the truth, what do you do? You imagine.
So far, humans have only imagined what travelling into space, landing on other planets, and exploring extra-terrestrial lands would be like. But now, concrete plans to travel to our dear, red celestial neighbor are not only in place but also being implemented.
Out of all the planets in our solar system, Mars is the most habitable for our species. We Homo sapiens have evolved into intelligent yet destructive beings and exploited our planet’s resources. The fact that companies and organizations like NASA and SpaceX have several Mars Missions lined up over the next decade should be enough to excite you. But if that sounds too distant, hear this.
In July next year, due to the relative positions of Earth and Mars, it will take less time to travel to the Red Planet. The perfect time for a launch! NASA has a flight scheduled on July 17, 2020. Take-off site – Cape Canaveral, Florida. Landing site – Jezero Crater, Mars. Sounds odd? Well, this flight is no ordinary one. It will carry NASA’s new rover, and will explore Martian astrobiology and gather vital information that will allow humans to understand the planet’s environmental conditions and plan future missions. The cherry on the cake is that you can register yourself for this mission and “fly” to Mars with the spacecraft. NASA recently announced that the public can submit their names to them and get a souvenir “boarding pass” for the upcoming flight. Your name will be engraved on a chip that will be fixed on the Mars rover. It is said that names are powerful. Well, send yours to Mars!
You may have heard of Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, otherwise known as the real-life Tony Stark. Musk aims to make humans a multiplanetary species, so that if something happens to the Earth, the human race doesn’t go extinct. SpaceX plans to send their first cargo mission to Mars in 2022 and then a mission in 2024 with both cargo and crew. Musk’s vision is to establish a primary Martian base, “from which we can build a thriving city and eventually a self-sustaining civilization on Mars”. Of course, a fun field trip to Mars is decades away, but once a human base is established on the planet, it might not be long before you can brag to your friends, “Yeah bro, I just came back from Mars, it was lit.”
Although these goals may seem far-fetched right now, rest assured, the human race does not give up. Our generation will watch in awe, glued to the screen as the first human sets foot on Mars. Just wait and watch. Mars, we’re coming.
SUMANT S. DANGI
Junior Editor, Renesa
This article was originally written for and published on Renesa – The Official Media and Publication House of NIT Surat. It was featured in the October 2019 Convocation Edition of Renesa’s official yearbook – “As We Are” with the title “Mars, We’re Coming”.
