Mars is an obvious target for exploration because it is close by in our Solar System, but there are many more reasons to explore the Red Planet. Mars is the most similar planet to Earth in the Solar System. Evidence suggests that Mars was once full of water, warmer and had a thicker atmosphere, offering a potentially habitable environment. If we planned to go to mercury, we would get burned to death by its scorching 430 degrees Celcius (800 degrees Fahrenheit) surface temperature of the daytime and would get freezed by the -180 degrees Celcius (-290 degrees Fahrenheit) surface temperature of the night. What about Venus? Its atmosphere is thick with carbon dioxide, its surface is hot enough to melt zinc, and any water that it once had is gone, so forget about venus too. Jupiter? Not at all an option because it doesn't even have a solid surface to land on and it doesn't have oxygen, we would also get crushed by Jupiter's atmospheric pressure. Any more planets farther away from jupiter would be too far for humans to go. Hence, mars is the only option for us if we want to become a multi-planetery species. To reduce the cost and risk for human exploration of Mars, robotic missions can scout ahead and help us to find potential resources and the risks of working on the planet. Before sending astronauts, we need to understand the hazards. Inevitably, astronauts would bring uncontained martian material when they return to Earth, either on their equipment or on themselves. Understanding any biohazards in the soil and dust will help the planning and preparation of these future missions. Going to Mars is hard and it is even harder for humans because we would need to pack everything to survive the trip to our neighbouring planet and back. Designing a Mars mission would be easier if we could use resources that are already available locally. Water is a valuable resource for human expeditions, both to consume by astronauts and for fuel. Samples gathered by robots could help to evaluate where potential resources are available for future human explorers and how to exploit them.
