why go to mars and not the moon?

Question

NASA spends billions of dollars to send little robots to mars, numerous of them with plans to send more and then they say why go back to the moon, been there done that right. Does anyone else think there maybe some covert reson for going back and back and even russia sending probes there. now they admit they found water but NASA scientists who worked on the original Viking mission says they found life. it just doesn't make sense to keep spending the money on a place where you "know" there isn't life and as for mapping it in order to possibly build a livable environ...for humans, do we really buy that. you can map the planet from space.

http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/viking_life_010728-1.html

also check out this pretty cool i think...
http://www.marsanomalyresearch.com/evidence-reports/2000/003/colossal-monuments.htm

i don't personally know there isn't life on mars, in fact i think there is intelligent life on mars. of course thats completely irrelevant to the argument here. The point of the question is, is it possible that NASA knows this for sure and is this the real reason for continuing to go there?

Answer 1

We send missions to mars to investigate the planet that most closely resembles our own in our solar system. There is a possbility that life either exists or existed in the past on that planet, and understanding this life helps us to understand life on our own planet.

As for sending missions to the moon, we are currently planning a habitation on that body; possibly to begin operation in the first quarter of this century. We aren't ignoring it, but it is much more easily viewed from Earth than is Mars. We've retrieved samples, and there seems to be no way to maintain life on that body. As of now, it is simply a large, relatively uninteresting body orbiting the Earth.

Mars sports much more interesting geological processes than does our lifeless moon. With the possibility of liquid water, the potential fo life is much greater on Mars. Too, mars has something of an atmosphere, albeit less dense than our own. It is simply a much more interesting place.

--Dee

Answer 2

We haven't found much on the moon besides rocks. Scientists believe that Mars either may have supported microscopic life at some point or has the ability to support life at a future point (this would most likely involve creating an atmosphere at least somewhat similar to our own).
Another reason they are spending time with Mars is that it is farther out, and there is a possibilty of building a base there, of which they could explore further space. Right now there is a limit to how far manned missions can go. The same argument could be made for the moon, but again it goes back to the viability of the area.

Answer 3

Asking why we go to Mars and not the Moon is like asking why a family would go to Europe on vacation when the can just go to the local motel 6 closest to their house.

It's the same reason that we don't send many probes to Mercury, it's pretty boring; there isn't much to see there. Mountains and craters, and not much variance in composition.

Mars on the other hand has an atmosphere, Ice caps, huge canyons and extint volcanoes. Add to that the posibility of liquid water in the past and the possibility of life. Thats an intersting place.

Answer 4

Do you personally "know" that there isn't life on Mars? Any life is life regardless of how small. Even if it's just plants or algea, it's still life. They're trying to study everything they can about the red planet. The moon, although closer, isn't anything that we haven't done before if you think back to Neil Armstrong. I'm sure that they will get back to the moon sooner than people may think but until then, I'm glad that they have decided to go to Mars to figure out what's going on there. And yes, I believe that eventually, people will move to other planets. Mars possibly being one of them. Ray Bradbury had it right back in the 1950's! Read the Martian Cronicles... We're almost there!

Answer 5

Why not set up a space-station on the moon? Close to earth for supplies, and a launching pad to Mars and beyond? Do it before some other power or corporation does!!

Answer 6

Mars is better than 250 cases the diameter of Phobos and 450 cases the diameter of Deimos. you're no longer vulnerable to discover a image showing their real relative length. If Deimos have been shown as a million mm in diameter, then Deimos could be 2mm and Mars could be forty 5 cm for the period of.

Answer 7

I think we should go to the moon, and Mars, and everywhere else because of what we learn.... It's not easy - even sending unmanned probes isn't easy; but by learning how to send humans - and keep them alive, as we did with the moon 35 years ago - helps us here on Earth. Think about it - how important is conservation in space? What the astronauts do with such limited resources might be models for what we need to do here on Earth.
To abandon these efforts means essentially that we stop progressing. We keep ourselves comfortable here on this one planet, until it becomes annihilated from natural forces, or we destroy it ourselves. I think we should do our best to leave... it's the best hope for survival of our species.

Answer 8

Personally I think it is a mistake to skip the Moon. But I suppose you could make the argument that we have been to the Moon already and now it is time for something new. But we have been to low Earth orbit before, and we still do that! I think the Moon is way more interesting than low Earth orbit, and much easier to reach than Mars.

Answer 9

Little if any reason to return manned missions to a barren rock that's been visited seven times already. That's not true exploration. Let's move outward and put some eyeballs and brains on Mars.

Answer 10

cause we need to make Mars inhabitable and give it an atmosphere, more habitable than moon, watch Total Recall man (with Chong accent from Cheech and Chong)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0OycuXzIe4

http://www.youtube.com/watch_fullscreen?video_id=R0OycuXzIe4&l=226&t=OEgsToPDskJjI8SnEz4gea2DNaBHi11x&sk=GkHyCnbjvyTtcHGA803vtQC&fs=1&title=Arnold's account of Total Recall