The amount of money the government spends on space exploration is astronomical; however, exploring Mars and creating a backup plan for Earth is worth the investment. NASA’s budget for the year of 2015 is $18.01 billion. $2.5 billion is spent on Mars exploration through its rover, Curiosity. However, with global warming becoming an increasingly problematic issue, exploring a new place to possibly live one day is worth the costs. Global warming is already causing dramatic effects on the world’s communities, health, and climate. The rise in sea level is accelerating at a rapid pace, and wildfires are beginning to occur more frequently. The number of dangerous heat waves is growing, and severe storms are taking place in many areas. Major droughts…show more content… It is about half the diameter of earth and has the same amount of dry land. Mars has seasons, polar ice caps, weather, and surface features similar to earth. The seasons on Mars occur due to the tilt of its rotational axis. Its orbit is about 1.5 times farther from the sun, and because it is slightly elliptical, its distance from the sun varies. The varying distance from the sun results in the changing seasons. If Mars inhabitants lived on the northern hemisphere of the planet, they would experience about seven months of spring, six months of summer, about five months of fall, and about four months of winter. The polar ice caps change along with the seasons. Layered areas near the poles provide evidence that Mars’ climate has changed several times. Mars shares a lot of similarities with earth, and while it was previously believed its atmosphere was too thin for water to exist, evidence of water on Mars can now be found in clouds, ice, and actual running water. Mars differs from earth in that Martian days are about half an hour longer. Also, a Martian year is 687 days long, while earth’s are only 365 days…show more content… Mars was named by the Greeks after their god of war because of its bright red, blood-like soil. The Egyptians called Mars “Her Desher,” which means “the red one.” The red dust frequently causes intense dust storms, sometimes lasting for months at a time. These storms can cover the entire planet, and dust can be thrown 25 miles into the air. Mars’ permanent veil of dust makes the sky orange in the day and turns sunsets and sunrises blue. The planet is covered in ancient riverbeds, strong winds, and its atmosphere is filled with rich colors and icy clouds like the cirrus ones seen on earth. Mars is home to the biggest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons. It is so large that the volcano is bigger than the state of Montana, and Rhode Island could easily fit within its crater. Mars also has a large canyon system, Valles Marineris. This valley is incredibly long; it is about the distance from Los Angeles to New York. Scientists think the craters on Mars and some other surface features were formed a long time ago from water running over Mars that may have supported life. For decades, people thought the bright and dark patches on the surface of Mars were patches of vegetation. However, the Mariner 4 spacecraft revealed photos of a dark surface. While this shocked many people into thinking Mars was a dead planet, later missions showed Mars is an intricate, mysterious planet. The Martian sky is