STEP 1: Read the debate and analyze the authors’ claims.
STEP 2: Choose a Side: “Should We Send Humans To Mars? (I chose yes)
Come up with three reasons that support your claim. Then find a piece of evidence, such as a fact or an example, to support each reason:
Reason 1:
Evidence:
Explanation:
Reason 2:
Evidence:
Explanation:
Reason 3:
Evidence:
Explanation:
ARTICLE:
Fifty years ago this month, humans last set foot on the moon. Now the United States and other countries are gearing up to send people back again. This time, however, the moon is a stepping stone toward a bigger goal: putting humans on Mars.
Why Mars? As one of our closest planetary neighbors, Mars is within reach. Also, its surface seems to have once been similar to Earth’s, so scientists want to learn more about how Mars evolved—and whether life once existed there.
NASA, the U.S. space agency, has teamed up with the Canadian, European, and Japanese space agencies to get humans to the moon by 2025. As part of the Artemis program, they plan to set up a lunar base camp, putting people one step closer to Mars. Meanwhile, private companies are developing technology for Mars missions. The hope is to land humans on Mars in the 2030s.
People who favor sending humans to the Red Planet say astronauts would be able to explore and analyze samples more efficiently than rovers and other remote devices.
Other people, however, say putting humans on Mars is not worth the health risks that astronauts would face traveling to and exploring that planet. They say we should focus on other space destinations instead.
YES:
NASA has been sending robots to study and collect information about the Red Planet since 1965. The findings have inspired scientists to continue asking important questions, such as: Did life once exist on Mars? Does it exist today? Could humans eventually live on Mars? What can the planet tell us about Earth’s past, present, and future?
Many scientists agree that human explorers could best answer such questions. Humans could make quick decisions, without needing to wait for commands from scientists on Earth. What takes a rover days and weeks to analyze, a person could study in just hours. Also, humans could move much faster than robots. The Perseverance rover, now exploring Mars, can travel only about twice the length of a football field in one day.
People can move faster than robots and make quicker decisions.
Getting humans to Mars and keeping them safe will require advances in technology. Mars lacks breathable air, usable water, and protection from the sun. A minimum round trip takes about 18 months, and there isn’t enough room on current spacecraft to carry all the food, water, and other items humans would need to survive. But NASA is looking for ways to use the Martian soil, water, and other resources that would make such a mission possible.
Exploring space is beneficial for all of us. NASA scientists are confident that one day humans will be able to travel to Mars, live and work there, and return safely to Earth. It’s just a matter of time.
—James Green
Senior Advisor and former Chief Scientist, NASA
