Mars…America (and the world) has been fascinated with the red planet. So much so, aliens were called Martians for decades and Looney Toons couldn’t quell its fascination that it created the beloved Marvin the Martian character.

Not only do NASA and private entrepreneurs have their sights on Mars, but it has also been the speculation of science fiction writers for decades. Whether Martians have existed (with ray guns and Tootoos) is still up for conjecture, but serious thinkers are combining their brain power in order to find a way to actually live there. Elon Musk is planning on creating a colony on Mars to slowly populate into a multimillion-person city!

But why Mars? What is it that Mars has that our Moon or Venus doesn’t? Well, one thing: Mars is a habitable planet (didn’t you see The Martian?)!  Of all the planets in our solar system, Mars has water that can be extracted from the soil, it has a temperature range we can tolerate, and there is a thin atmosphere that offers protection from the sun’s radiation, along with other cosmic advantages.

Some other excellent benefits are that its daylight hours are similar to Earth’s.  Mars has approximately a 24 ½-hour day (which adds up to 7.6 days more a year – someone’s going to have to do something with Leap year), which would help humans acclimate quickly to a rhythm they are used to.  Another huge advantage is that solar panels could be used since Mars has ample sunshine to create the power necessary to support a growing community.

Or are we going to Mars because we have seen movies and read about invaders from Mars that have come to overtake our world? This type of invasion has been planted in our psyche for more than a century, filling our hearts with fear it could happen and watching the skies for coming attacks. Perhaps we are in some way on a preemptive strike to make certain there are no malevolent entities hiding on Mars, plotting a future sneak attack!

Either way, the benefits we can realize on Mars, not available on other planets, gives us good cause to use it for our future expanding population.  Plus, we are able to explore the planet for past or already existing life and discover whether they are friend or foe.  I call that a win-win for humanity!