♪Intro♪
Squeaks and I love exploring!
We go exploring in our neighborhood, and we
see what we can discover in nature around
the Fort.
And sometimes we pretend we’re going exploring
in outer space!
[Squeaks squeaks]
Oh, what’s that, Squeaks?
You think we should go to Mars?
OK, we’ll do that next!
And maybe someday people will go to Mars in
real life, too!
Since before you and I were born, people have
loved to talk about rocketing into space and
exploring Mars.
There are eight planets moving around the
Sun, including Earth, and Mars is our neighbor
- the next planet after Earth in the Solar
System.
And it’s the friendliest neighbor we have.
In many ways, Mars is actually a lot like
Earth.
The length of a day on Mars is just over 24
hours — very close to how long a day is
on Earth.
It also has seasons like Earth, which not
all planets do!
But Mars is also very different from Earth
in some ways, which is why it would be so
hard for people to visit.
One big problem is that there isn’t enough
air on Mars to breathe without a spacesuit!
Mars is also very cold and dry, since it’s
much farther from the Sun.
It’s so cold most of the time that its water
is almost all frozen into ice, and it’s
buried beneath the surface of the planet.
Another problem is that even though Mars is
our neighbor, it’s still a long way from
Earth.
Mars goes around the Sun a little slower than
Earth, which means the planets don’t usually
line up.
Sometimes Earth can be on one side of the
Sun while Mars is all the way on the opposite
side!
So if we wanted to take a trip to Mars, first
we’d have to wait until the planets got
close to each other, and that only happens
about once every two years.
But even then, it would take seven whole months
to get there.
That’s a long time for astronauts to be
traveling through space, and scientists are
still figuring out how to keep them healthy
when they’re floating in space for so long.
Once we got to Mars, we would need to eat
and breathe, just like we do on Earth.
But since we can’t breathe the air and there
are no plants or animals to eat, we’d have
to bring our own air and food, or figure out
how to make them out of Mars’s soil and
ice.
Hmmm.
Maybe we’d be better off not going to Mars,
and putting all that energy into making the
Earth a better place to live.
Or, before we send human explorers over, we
can keep learning about Mars and figure out
whether it’s possible to live there.
We’ve been studying Mars for a long time,
because even though humans haven’t visited
yet, we have sent machines to explore for
us, starting more than fifty years ago!
Spaceships without people on them have flown
by the planet to study it, and special types
of robots have even landed on it!
[Squeaks squeaks]
No, not robot rats, Squeaks.
They’re a kind of robot designed to land
on Mars and explore it, called a rover.
We’ve got two rovers still exploring Mars
right now, named Opportunity and Curiosity.
To explore Mars, the rovers use a special
design called the rocker-bogie system!
Isn't that a great name?!
[Squeaks squeaks]
I know, Squeaks!
I love saying it, too.
Rocker-bogie system!
With this system, the Mars rovers have six
wheels, and each wheel has its own motor powering
it.
That helps the rover climb over rocks and
steep hills, and to keep its body level so
it doesn’t tip over or get damaged.
This way, the rovers can keep exploring, and
keep sending information back to us on Earth.
The next rover to Mars is set to leave Earth
in 2020 – just a couple of years from now.
And in the meantime, we’re planning to launch
a lander this year!
That’s kind of like a rover, except it can’t
move around after it lands, so it studies
the planet while staying put.
Some scientists are also trying to send people
to Mars eventually, but it’s going to take
a lot of work — and a lot of time — before
we’re ready to do that.
Probably more than 10, or even 20 years, at
the very least.
It’s much easier to send robots to Mars
than it is to send humans, since robots don’t
have to breathe or eat.
But robots work very slowly, and they can’t
do so many scientific tests by themselves.
Even though it would be a lot of work, there’s
so much more that we could discover if we
send people to explore!
And who knows?
If the first astronauts to explore Mars take
off in twenty years… maybe you’ll be on
that first flight!
I guess it’s going to be a while before
we can explore Mars, Squeaks.
But there’s still so much to explore right
here on Earth!
Do you think we should send people to Mars?
Would you like to go there yourself?
Ask a grown-up to help you leave a comment
below, or send us an email at kids@scishow.com.
Thanks, and we’ll see you next time, here
at the fort!
♪Outro♪
