‘‘1.3 lakh Indians book tickets to Mars’, read a recent news headline. As fantastic as it sounds, those who delved a little deeper soon found out that those 1.3 lakh Indians merely registered their names, free-of-cost, to be etched onto a microchip that would be going to Mars on NASA’s InSight mission in 2018. From all over the world, NASA received a little more than 2.4 million submissions.
It has been 120 years since HG Wells introduced Martians on Earth through his 1897 classic The War of the Worlds . But today, the planet named after the Roman god of war, commands more influence over Earthlings than ever before, so much so that the Hollywood machinery felt confident enough to splash $108 million on another cinematic mission to rescue Matt Damon, this time from Mars.
The fascination for the Red Planet seems to be growing year after year. Plans are afoot for manned missions to Mars. “We’ve been to the moon, and surviving on Venus is beyond our technological reach, owing to the high surface temperature and pressure. But Mars is something we could land and plant a flag on,” says Andy Weir, the author of The Martian , the book that the film starring Damon was based on, in a Facebook chat with MetroPlus .
Mars poster
Although Mars has been an object of intrigue long before the telescope was invented, its impact on pop culture began in the late 19th century, when Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli claimed to have observed ‘canali,’ or canals, on Mars, hinting at the existence of a technologically advanced civilisation — a speculation which was later fuelled by American astronomer Percival Lowell through his writings and drawings. “Turns out those canals weren’t there. But it was more than enough to spark a huge interest in the planet,” adds Weir.
The effect Mars had on scientific and popular culture was huge in the 20th century. Several notable personalities, including Nikola Tesla, were caught up in what was called ‘Mars fever’. There were novels, comic books and movies that featured the red planet, its ‘beings’ and their technologies, some of which — such as television, genetic manipulation, autopilot, radar and live organ transplant — were far ahead of their time. Then there was the ‘Barsoom’ pulp fiction series by American author Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of which was published in 1912. It was the stand-out among several works featuring Mars, that inspired a generation of kids.
“I journeyed with John Carter, gentleman adventurer from Virginia, to ‘Barsoom’, as Mars was known to its inhabitants. I followed herds of eight-legged beasts of burden, the thoats. I won the hand of the lovely Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium,” wrote astrophysicist Carl Sagan, in his book Cosmos , about the series.
Cover of The Gods of Mars(1918) by Edgar Rice Burroughs, showing a Mars flier, flying machine of red Martians
Scientific missions to Mars began much later, in the 1960s. Mariner 4, launched on November 28, 1964, became the first man-made object to make a successful fly-by of Mars. After Neil Armstrong’s giant leap on the moon, humans took up Mars as their next big challenge. “There are many scientists who today believe that Mars once used to be like our blue home, at least in a geological sense, and that it is capable of supporting life,” says Rajesh VJ, a planetary geologist working at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST).
Talks of colonisation of Mars are in the air today, and have sparked some debate. A few believe it is worthless to spend money on such projects instead of trying to solve earthly issues. Others, though, see it as a potential future home if Earth becomes uninhabitable at some point in the future. Regardless of whether it’s right or wrong, Anand Narayanan, associate professor of Astrophysics at IIST, believes humans will eventually conquer Mars, saying “It’s human nature.”
Play Mars
Explore caves and walk down craters as dust blows around you. Collect some red rocks, then get back to the habitat before sunset and take a close look at the rock collected under a microscope. Mars 2030, a virtual reality (VR) simulation of the planet, lets the players explore 40 square km of Martian terrain as astronauts. The terrain is mapped and designed accurately using data from NASA’s satellites. The game, produced by FMG labs in association with NASA, is available for download at $14 and can be played on PC with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift VR headsets, for now. It will be available on Playstation VR at a later date. Mars 2030 also works on non-VR set-ups.
Special Arrangement
Tech revolution
Human ambition to learn about the Red Planet has resulted in spin-off technologies that have valuable practical applications. Efficient solar panels and fuel cells are major Martian contributions, but robotics seems to have gained the most, with the technical know-how from Mars rovers helping engineers build bots that can work in various challenging environments. Here are a few innovations that Mars exploration helped pioneer:
Logistics robot, Vecna QC Bot, for hospitals.
Self-cleaning solar panels.
GigaPan robotic cameras used for creating detailed gigapixel panoramas in large stadiums.
PackBots used by troops in combat to search and clear buildings, caves and bunkers.
Armour vests, that provide protection against knives and hand-gun bullets, made using the technique employed to produce the Pathfinder’s mission-critical air-bags.
Zaptec portable charger, for charging electric cars from a household plug point, engineered from the same technology as the plasma drill developed for the European Space Agency.
