by Matt Kelly

Created on: September 14, 2010

Thanks to the gathering momentum of planetary science we now know more about our own solar system than ever before.Partly due to the recent advances within the world of astrophotography that have enabled amateurs such as myself to gain images of our nearest neighbours in unprecedented detail, extending our eyes further into the depths of space.

On Earth we are the third rock from the sun but gazing outwards into the solar system there is a whole treasure trove of planetary bodies as well as moons to explore. One such planet is particularly alluring to scientists at present, as in time, it might be a place we'll call home. Those who have read Jeremy HSu's article on how cyanobacteria could change the red planet into a lush green one given enough time will know that the topic of transforming Mars is no longer just a Star Trek plotline but rather something practical and real  that will help shape our future as a species. 

NASA have recently announced they want to put a man on Mars by 2050, but what will those first pioneers setting foot on another world expect to find when they touch down in four decades time?...

First off, insulated space suits will be an absolute necessity as even along the warmer equatorial regions of Terra Meridani temperatures plunge to an astonishing -125 Fahrenheit. In the martian summertime temperatures still barely make it over -4 Fahrenheit. The planet is tilted on it's axis by 25.2 degrees which is 1.7 degrees more than Earth, meaning there is a wider range of temperature extremes. This puts a lot of importance on when and where the first interplanetary astronauts would land.

A constant air supply would be necessary to, Mars has an atmosphere less than 1% as thick as the Earths. The reason is two fold, firstly Mars is just under 6,800km in diameter (6,792km) which is slightly over half of Earths 12,756km diameter. Therefore Mars exerts just under 40% (38%) of Earths gravitational pull on it's atmosphere allowing much more of it to escape into the esther. Secondly Mars lost it's magnetosphere many hundreds of millions of years ago (a subject even NASA scientists can't agree on)which left the atmosphere to be stripped by ionization from the sun. It helps to think of it as very energetic "particles" of light pinging off of Mars' atmosphere sending them hurtling out into space. The tenuous atmosphere left behind is comprised of just over 95% carbon dioxide

The most physically dominating

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