Feb 13, 2017 09:38 PM EST
NASA is on its way to retrieve first Martian rocks as it picks three Mars drill sites. This only means that the future of the agency on the red planet is finally taking shape. In 2020, NASA will launch another rover to scoop up Martial rocks and soil to bring back home to Earth and will reveal what rich ancient story that the neighboring planet holds.
Three Mars Drill Sites
NASA finally narrowed its potential Mars drill sites by picking thee out of eight, Nature reported. The 2020 mission will reveal whether or not the planet is capable of sustaining life similar in this planet. Although the exact locations haven't been picked yet, NASA is choosing from the images sent by the Mars Reconnaissance Rover.
These sites have been voted off by scientists who attended a workshop in Monrovia, California. The Mars exploration will be one of those that will go down in history and will mark a momentous event of testing exactly how far mankind can go.
One of the sites that received popular votes is the Jezero crater. This is the equivalent to Earth's Lake Tahoe. The crater was connected to a larger river, which makes it an ideal place to look for signs of life.
Another Mars drill site is the Northeast Syrtis, which used to have hot water under its crust. The last one is Columbia Hills where the Spirit rover found silica rocks that resemble Earth's hydrothermal mineral deposits, Engadget reported. According to NASA Mars drill sites will accommodate two years of drilling actions from the agency's rovers.
But the question is will the samples make it back to earth? NASA said it will depend on the follow-up mission. The rover will not be coming home and this could mean that humans might have to retrieve the data and be the next explorers on planet Mars.
What Mars Drill Sites Mean for NASA and the World
The closest that scientists know about Mars are the meteorites collected, and even those are not enough. This exploration of Mars drill sites is very crucial to learn about any past life on the red planet. It's been known that the neighboring planet had water and atmosphere and lost both millions of years ago.
Studying the planet through the picked Mars drill sites is crucial so mankind can understand the future of Earth and can avoid Mars' fate. Some fanatics believe that Mars can be the back-up in 100 years from now if Earth will perish. Unfortunately, no technology on earth is too advanced to bring human explorers just yet.
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