There are many frontiers in this world that we have not come close to yet, but a few are just now beginning to become a possibility. From exploring the deepest parts of the ocean, to researching new medications, there is almost no end to frontiers left to seek. One of the most well-known frontiers that we have explored the least is space, specifically a little old red planet called “Mars”. The planet has gained recognition in the last few years from young entrepreneurs and pop culture. With Elon Musk’s multiple projects and the portrayal of life on Mars in the novel “The Martian”. However, it has become such an established topic throughout the world because its place as the next frontier in space. Even though it may not be the last space frontier, it clearly shouldn’t be underestimated of its importance to space research.
When looking back at some of the most well-known frontiers in the past, there is always a reason behind all the effort put into the journey. Lewis and Clark wanted to explore the western frontier, because they knew that there was something waiting for them past the continental divide. Their adventure has inspired many to find new goals and achieve them. Throughout world history, we have always looked for that limit holding us back. Once we find it, we break that limit. However, with frontiers there is always doubters. These doubters are the main reason most people allow frontiers to stay untouched for so long, but the curious explorers always find away to complete their mission.
For example, many people did not believe that humans would ever be able to land on the moon. That was proven wrong after Neil Armstrong became the first person to step foot on the moon. Once he took his first step, he said the famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong’s simple but powerful words give hope to the many explorers looking for inspiration. And through time, that inspiration has built monumental bridges to reach the next frontier. That frontier has filled many with the interest to begin their own explorations. One of those young explorers has earned the attention of many for his ideas of how to push space exploration limits.
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His name is Elon Musk. He has come up with many ideas, including one of his most well-known ideas about life on mars. In an interview Musk shared his inspiration for this idea with Wired, “So I started with a crazy idea to spur the national will. I called it the Mars Oasis missions. The idea was to send a small greenhouse to the surface of Mars, packed with dehydrated nutrient gel that could be hydrated on landing. You’d wind up with this great photograph of green plants and red background—the first life on Mars, as far as we know, and the farthest that life’s ever traveled.” (Anderson, “Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars”)
It’s idea like these that make Musk one of the most renowned entrepreneurs of our times, and he has the resources to back him up too. His idea required some planning and time, but that is what most frontiers require. He came up with an idea and followed through with it, which can take an extreme amount of confidence. He knew he had limits for his exploration to space and he found that “it was that we didn’t have cheap enough rocket technology to get there on a reasonable budget. It was the perception among the American people—correct, given current technology—that it didn’t make financial sense to go.” (Anderson, “Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars”)
Through thorough research he found a way past this challenge and managed make a rocket that would go into space for the cheap price of “$7 Million” compared to a previous total of “$65 million” (Anderson, “Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars”) Musk managed to avoid the obstacles that held him back, and these ideas of exploration have become the building blocks for the Mars exploration.
Though Elon Musk and his company “SpaceX” may be one of the newest leaders in exploration, there is one group that has pushed limits for decades. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) helped man the first space mission to the moon, and has continued to dodge bumps in the road consistently and push boundaries. In 1964, NASA was able to send the Mariner 4 on a path where it “collected the first close-up photographs of Mars lunar-type impact craters and studied the solar wind” (“Timeline of Mars Exploration”) This was the first of many journeys made to study the mysterious red planet, and we have continued to make progress.
These breakthroughs in mars expeditions have left many questions about the possibilities of life on Mars and sending humans to the planet. NASA has done lots of research and will continue to as they “will also send the Mars 2020 rover to continue seeking the signs of life on Mars. Another aspect of the Mars 2020 rover mission will be to collect carefully documented rock and soil samples that we hope to return to Earth for study.” (Past, Present, Future, Timeline) With the discovery of life on Mars, it could be one of the biggest frontiers explored since the Apollo 11’s moon landing and Christopher Columbus’s journey to the Americas. NASA is also coming up with new ideas on how to “send humans to Mars sometime in the future.” (Past, Present, Future, Timeline.)
Another research team has also attempted to simulate a Mars environment on Earth, where “25 researchers are spending a total of eight weeks at an exploration base on Devon Island in the Northwest Territories, attempting to simulate what it would be like to live and work on Mars. The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station is a $1-million US outpost built on a chilly, meteor-blasted patch of polar desert that was chosen for its somewhat Mars-like conditions. The research team will live in a two-level, nine-metre-Wide fibreglass cylinder, studying the strategies, technologies, and hardware designs humans would need to explore and settle Mars.” (McNichol, Mars: The Next Frontier: But We Can Get There In Ten Years?) Though it is amazing to think of the chance we have at visiting Mars, we’ll still have to get over some of the largest bumps in the road. With help of the Mars 2020 rover and many other inventions, we no longer have to jump headfirst into the unknown frontier. In order to succeed in exploring the red frontier, it will take determination from many curious explorers.
After the moon landing, space exploration became less prominent in the world of importance. People began to think the moon landing was the last space frontier, but they were completely mistaken. Once NASA began to send rovers and other technology to Mars and other planets, interest started to increase. Many other companies would join the competition for space expeditions, including SpaceX. Elon Musk and SpaceX would revolutionize the ways we could get to space on a budget. He decided to find easier ways because the price was becoming extremely steep and “We needed to set rocket technology on a path of rapid improvement.” (Anderson, “Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars”)
This “rapid movement’” has also caused many new ideas for technologies to be introduced. Musk’s SpaceX had come up with a concept on how to pack more energy into their rockets by keeping “the propellant at super-cold temperatures to shrink its size, allowing them to pack more of it into the tanks.” (Davenport, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is using a powerful rocket technology. NASA advisers say it could put lives at risk.) However, with the rapid advancement of technology comes the dangers within. This concept created by SpaceX has the possibility to become problematic, because “At those extreme temperatures, the propellant would need to be loaded just before takeoff — while astronauts are aboard. An accident, or a spark, during this maneuver, known as ‘load-and-go,’ could set off an explosion.” (Davenport, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is using a powerful rocket technology. NASA advisers say it could put lives at risk.)
Though there is a risk with the Mars exploration, it does not mean that we cannot explore new ideas. If we as a human race avoided every boundary because of big or small obstacles, we would make no progress. It is the frontiers that pressure us to constantly challenge ourselves, and once we can overcome them we become more eager to write the next chapter in our history books.
As we approach the Mars frontier, we begin to reach a new stage in space exploration. Mars may just be our biggest chance at extending humans survival in this universe. Eventually we will run out of resources on the Earth and the Sun will begin to consume the planet. Without a plan to expand our time on the Earth, we have almost no choice but to reach for the Mars frontier so that we can continue to find more frontiers. To advance the progress of the Mars exploration it will take time and patience, but every frontier requires this. Based upon the current development of the Mars frontier, it is expected that the Mars exploration will prosper in the future.
Work Cited
- Anderson, Chris. “Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars.” Wired, Conde Nast, 21 Oct. 2012, www.wired.com/2012/10/ff-elon-musk-qa/.
- Davenport, Christian. “Elon Musk’s SpaceX Is Using a Powerful Rocket Technology. NASA Advisers Say It Could Put Lives at Risk.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 5 May 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/elon-musks-space-x-is-using-a-powerful-rocket-technology-nasa-advisers-say-it-could-put-lives-at-risk/2018/05/05/f810b182-3cec-11e8-a7d1-e4efec6389f0_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.80fa5dcf4bea.
- McNichol, Tom. “Mars: The next frontier: But can we get there in ten years?” The Ottawa Citizen, 29 July 2001, Newspaper, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/240479956?searchid=1547013946&accountid=4287
- “NASA’s Mars Exploration Program.” NASA, NASA, 3 June 2014, mars.jpl.nasa.gov/#red_planet/5.
- “Timeline of Mars Exploration | Mars Exploration Section – NASA’s Mars Exploration Program.” NASA, NASA, 26 June 2017, mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/timeline/.
