The desert of Southern Oman, near the borders of Yemen and Saudi Arabia resembles Mars very much, so, 200 scientists from 25 countries have chosen it to field-test the technology for a successful manned mission to Mars. The desert surface resembles Mars so much that it is hard to tell the difference. It resembles all the features, geomorphology, all the structures, the salt domes, the river beds, the wadis and resembles a lot of things which we observe on the surface of Mars. The scientists will test a geo-radar built to map Mars. Public as well as private sector ventures have been continuously struggling for a successful manned mission to Mars. Former U.S. President Barack Obama and SpaceX founder Elon Musk have already declared that humans would soon walk on the red planet. Countries like China, have joined U.S. and Russia in the effort to make a successful manned mission to Mars. AeroSpace corporations like BlueOrigin have published the diagrams showing the features of the future spaceships, suits and bases. The successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket, this week has helped the Space Authority to break the barriers of space. With such a powerful rocket they can now go very deep into the space. For a successful mission, scientists and astronauts will have to tackle some non-engineering problems like, Medical emergency responses and isolation. Continuous efforts are being made for a successful manned mission to Mars, while, astronauts and cosmonauts are being trained at the International Space Station (ISS), the U.S. is using Virtual Reality (VR) to train scientists. If successful it would be the first mission (manned) to Mars.
Mars : Some Info.
Radius :3,390 km
Distance from sun : 227.9 million km
Name of the moons : Phobos, Deimos
Distance from Earth : 54.6 million km
Composition of Mars by volume :
Carbon Dioxide – 95.97%
Argon – 1.93%
Nitrogen – 1.89%
Oxygen – 0.146%
Carbon Monoxide – 0.0557%
