Many people dream about going to Mars. Some, like Elon Musk from SpaceX, want to send a million people there in the next hundred years. Others have plans to land crews on Mars in the 2030s. However, getting to Mars and surviving there will be very challenging. So, scientists have started practising for Mars missions on Earth for the past twenty years. (0) A
The first trips to Mars will be long return journeys that push the limits of the human body. Astronauts will have to spend up to eight months in space, and they will also need to stay on Mars for months to do research. 1) ★★★
Mars is very different from Earth. Our planet has everything we need to survive, like a breathable atmosphere, food, and water. Mars, on the other hand, has a high level of radiation, a poisonous atmosphere and no water. 2) ★★★
Mars has become a focus for near-future explorations. Space agencies have enough data about Mars. 3) ★★★ They have even conducted simulation missions on Earth to prepare astronauts for Mars.
Over the past twenty years, we've had many missions to simulate life on Mars. People who are involved in these missions live in isolation on Earth for up to a year. 4) ★★★ Some of the simulations take place at the Research Stations in Canada and the USA. These missions help astronauts practise and get ready to explore Mars.
NASA is also testing how people feel in space. In 2015, an American astronaut named Scott Kelly spent a year on the International Space Station to see how he coped with the stress of being in space for a long time.
In Antarctica, there's another experiment People live in isolation for up to a year in a French-Italian research station. 5) ★★★
All of these experiments show that people are keen on going to Mars. They're making new spaceships to make it happen. These practice missions help get ready for the loneliness of the first Mars missions, even though we hope to have many people living there in the future.

4 | Choose one of the two topics to debate as a class. Your teacher will tell you whether you will be debating for or against the idea. You will have 10 minutes to prepare your arguments.
Topic 1: | Mars exploration is a waste of money.
Topic 2: | We should send only robots to explore Mars.