SEARCHING FOR LIFE ON MARS Mars is a bone chillingly cold and dry planet It seems impossible that any creature could live there But in its distant past water flowed across its surface XTREME FACT Wild temperature swings regularly occur on Mars Typical daytime highs might reach 70 degrees Fahrenheit 21° C but then at night plunge to minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit 73° C The average Martian temperature is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit 62° C
About 3 5 billion years ago the air was thicker and warmer perhaps Earth like How can we know if life sprang up there Could humans live on Mars today To answer these questions NASA's Curiosity rover arrived in 2012 to hunt for clues in the Martian rocks A self portrait taken by the Curiosity rover on Mars at the Mojave site
MARS ROVER HISTORY The first rover on Mars was NASA's Sojourner It landed in 1997 It was about the size of a large microwave oven Its mission was to take photos of the Martian surface and study soil and rocks To cushion its landing Sojourner used a parachute plus a protective cocoon of airbags Sojourner studies the rock named Yogi shortly after landing on Mars the Red Planet in 1997 It explored the planet for about 3 months
Spirit took the first color photos of another planet by a rover Spirit continued to send information to Earth for years After getting stuck in soft soil in late 2009 it finally stopped communicating with NASA on March 22 2010 The next two Mars rovers were named Spirit and Opportunity These golf cart sized mobile laboratories landed in 2004 Both rovers lasted for many years beyond their expected life spans As of January 2017 Opportunity has driven more than 27 miles 43 5 km on the surface of Mars This is far more than any other rover It continues to send data to NASA
