Learning How to Breathe on Mars

On the 14th of June in 1978, NASA’s Viking 2 Lander captured a photograph of the Sun rising on the Eastern horizon of Mars. Orbiting at a farther distance from the Sun, the Sun appears to be only about two-thirds of what we observe from Earth. The blue halo scattering off the fine dust in the Martian atmosphere could make one homesick for our typical flood of morning gold. Oxygen makes up an average of about only 0.13% of the already dangerously thin air, making it impossible for one-day hopeful explorers to enjoy the sight without a spacesuit or the…