Quiz name: Chapter 12 Classwork Assignment When astronauts go to Mars in 20 years where should they land

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1 Name: Quiz name: Chapter 12 Classwork Assignment When astronauts go to Mars in 20 years where should they land Date: 1. If all goes according to plan, the first human space crew will take off for the planet Mars in just. 2. The voyage to our closet planetary neighbor is expected to take. 3. Upon arrival, the Mars astronauts will spend on the Red Planet's surface constructing a base and exploring their surroundings. 4. All told, the first round-trip journey will probably take about. 5. The trip will be a landmark moment in space exploration and in. 6. Our species will for the first time establish an enduring presence on another world, and perhaps that we are not alone in the universe. Page 1 of 5

2 7. One big question remains, though: Where should the? 8. After all, there are plenty of places from which to choose. Though smaller than Earth, Mars as all of our continents put together. 9. In, a group of scientists, engineers and astronauts met at Houston's Lunar and Planetary Institute to try to settle just that nagging question. 10. Of all the planets in the known universe, Mars is the to human life, even if it is largely one endless freeze-dried desert. 11. Mars was probably not always a frozen desert. Seen from space, much of its surface shows evidence that the planet was, and was covered with rivers, lakes and seas. 12. Researchers now believe that by a, its atmosphere had grown so thin and frigid that almost all of its water drifted into space or froze below-ground or at the poles. 13. Any surface life would have been forced to retreat to the planet s poles, or doomed to live. Page 2 of 5

3 14. Over the years, a series of unmanned space probes has orbited Mars and landed on the planet. Still, despite all the information these orbiters, landers and rovers have sent back, only a of the planet's surface has been explored. 15. The experts who gathered last October to select a landing site could be broken into two large groups. One group felt the site should be by rovers, and thus known to be relatively safe. 16. Naturally, the largely sided with that position after all, they are the ones who will be taking all the risks. 17. The other group wanted the space crew to land in a but potentially more exciting part of the planet. 18. They argued that the crew should land in one of the seemingly more Earth-like areas of the planet, or in some abundance because the chance of finding some form of life would be the highest in those areas. 19. Scientist Paul Niles was among those who do not want the crew to land on a part of Mars that is already well known, thanks to previous exploration by Mars rovers. He argued that a well-mapped area like the, which some of the others were pushing for, is not all that interesting or promising. We haven t seen exciting stuff there or at least the stuff I was really hoping to see, he said. Page 3 of 5

4 20. The biggest split, however, proved to be over the question of how to treat the. If astronauts choose to explore a part of Mars where some form of life is most likely to still exist, they might unintentionally kill off whatever life they find by infecting it with alien Earth germs. 21. Of course, the opposite danger also exists: Astronauts could return to Earth carrying that might spread some new and unknown disease throughout our planet. 22. One group felt that venturing into areas more likely to, since the scientific and economic payoffs could be enormous. 23. The other group argued that humanity has the duty to be as, even if it means giving up on possible discoveries. "If life does exist somewhere on Mars," scientist Steve Clifford remarked, "it has managed to survive there for billions of years. 24. Astronaut Stan Love pointed out one basic problem with taking the most cautious approach. Human missions to Mars were sold to the public as searching for life, not just majestic rock formations. The possibility of is what makes people excited and remember, the taxpayers fund us, so we have to work on what they think is interesting, he said The mission will be less interesting if we go to a site that we know is biologically safe. You have a very tough choice. In the end, the assembled experts were any real agreement. 1 Page 4 of 5

5 26. One possible way forward would be for NASA to send a to Mars early in the next decade, as early as It could be equipped with even better cameras to study the surface and to peer deep beneath it. Perhaps with more information available, it will be easier for the experts to reach some agreement on where to land. 28. Meanwhile, time is running out. After all, when it comes to something as monumentally ambitious as preparing for, 20 years is really not that long. Page 5 of 5