Exploring Mars

A group of countries have launched an expedition to the planet Mars, called ‘Mars 2020.’ These countries want to improve our knowledge the solar system. The main goal of the expedition to study the ‘red planet’ and determine living organisms have ever existed there. They also want to better understand the climate and geology of Mars. The final goal is to prepare for human exploration of Mars in the future. 

The Mars 2020 program is based on the mission to Mars, which landed on Mars in 2012 and delivered the Mars Curiosity Rover. The mission back amazing pictures of the red and black surface of Mars and took measurements of the soil it found. 

The new mission will launch in 2020, when Earth and the planet Mars are closest to other. Because the two planets will be close, it will take less time for the mission to reach Mars and there will less risk. When the rocket reaches Mars, it will release a ‘rover,’ which is a robot that looks like a very small car. The rover will travel over the ground on Mars and use instruments to measure it finds. It will send the results back to Earth, where scientists will analyze the data. 2020 could be the year humans discover that Earth is not the planet with life! Most scientists think if there is life on Mars, however, it will likely be a small bacteria – the little green men you see in the movies!

Adapted from an article provided by www.speakconfidentenglish.com