Getting Insight On Mars

Landing on Mars is no easy task for a spacecraft traveling about 300 million miles from Earth in the vast cold darkness of space. Using a protective heat shield, a parachute, and rockets to enter the atmosphere, and then go from 12,000 miles an hour down to 5 miles an hour within minutes. Considered a nailbiter to land, this intelligently designed spacecraft and a very expensive one at that (814 million dollars) was able to make a landing on Mars!

The InSight lander in its cruise stage configuration prior to undergoing acoustic testing at Lockheed Martin.
Why was this so significant? Why did the NASA folks stand up and applaud when the landing was confirmed? Because 60 percent of the landings are unsuccessful! Only 40 percent make it to the ground intact. “It is just a matter of time before humans land on Mars” one commenter from the Today show echoed to their audience.

It’s highly unlikely that humans will be visiting Mars! In fact, I will predict, it will never happen. Not that I wouldn’t want it to happen or that it’s unbiblical to land on Mars, there are too many other things that make it impractical for reality. As we already discussed, the landings are extremely dangerous. But also habitation is not practical. Mars has less mass than Earth, therefore, it has less gravity. If you were 200 pounds on Earth, your weight would be 76 pounds on Mars. Less gravity causes muscle deterioration and osteoporosis. The great men and women who operate the international space station above Earth experience 30 percent loss of muscle performance and a 15 percent loss in muscle mass within 4 to 6 months!

Traveling and exploring Mars for the rest of their lives or attempting to come back would take years! What about the promise that those brave men and women would have scientific countermeasures? This is merely a promise, no countermeasures have been proposed and successfully tested for use. No doubt they are working on them but what they come out with remains to be seen.

Dust would be a danger to humans who are trying to live on Mars because dust as we found out with going to the moon, it can get into everything causing the instruments to not function at all. Mars has a lot of dust storms which lasts for weeks sometimes for months. The dust could render their life support systems useless which would result in their demise.

Radation could also kill humans on Mars by causing cancer. NASA did a lab test on mice using similar radiation found on Mars and the mice died. So you could imagine would that would do to humans over a long period of time! The goal is to land on Mars by 2030 which I predict will be postponed until further notice due to the country’s financial situation or lack of technology to make it safe enough to attempt it or both.

Other than that, it’s an exciting mission! Space exploration is a great way to learn more about the intelligently designed universe which God can only do!