Scientists create an animated map of Mars to figure out the best places of human habitability

A new study has revealed the potential places where humans can build the first Martian cities. The researchers have prepared an animated map of Mars through the best possible places to initiate Mars colonization can be found out. Mars is not an easy place to go and it’s a desolate desert devoid of any oceans and snowcapped mountains.

The Red Planet is big and till now it has not been decided where humans should put the first cities. Whether it’s the North Pole or the South Pole or the Equator, scientists have not decided yet where to start building the colonies. But, a group of researchers are trying their best to figure out the best possible place on Mars for building the first cities.

Wieger Wamelink from the Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands is the lead author of the study and he is also the principal researcher for Food in Mars and Moon project. Wamelink said that their main aim is to investigate whether crops can be grown on soils of Mars and Moon once human start colonizing them. Now, Wamelink and his colleague Line Schug have prepared a map of Mars to study where humans should live on the Red Planet.

Through the map, one can study the radiation levels, the terrain, the climate and, the soil, which is the most important factor that will be taken into account for deciding the best habitable place on Mars. The researchers also looked at the ice content of Mars. They found out that there are places on Mars that have no ice and also there are places where there is plenty of ice. But only having ice is not sufficient for human survival on Mars. The understanding of the nutrient content of Mars is very important.

Wamelink said that the dark areas of Martian map are where there is a greater chance of habitability. Some of these locations are similar to that found on Earth. For example, the Acidalia Planitia is a great place to start the first cities on Mars. It is situated to the north of where NASA’s Mars Pathfinder and Viking 1 landed. Wamelink is mainly focusing on growing crops on Mars. He has also prepared a Mars Garden here on Earth and has been growing crops on soil conditions that mimic that of Mars.