A Mission to Mars

By Huzayfa Mallick

The idea of space travel has become an interesting topic of conversation as of late, with a potential expedition to the ‘Red Planet’ having people intrigued. Now, that isn’t easy by any means. A mission to Mars would take years of planning, building and scientific research to ensure that the astronauts are able to thrive on the planet once they arrive. While it would be one of the greatest scientific accomplishments of this century, we still must wait a little longer before a mission to Mars.

However, let’s imagine that we are a part of a space agency tasked with finding a way for humans to thrive on Mars in the long-term. How would we get there? How would we survive on the planet? How would we enable humans to thrive on the planet for generations to come? To start, let’s take a look at the conditions on both planets ahead of the 8-month journey to the Red Planet.

Mars is the third smallest planet in our solar system, compromising only half the radius and 15% of the Earth’s mass (Williams, 2015). This leads to a much smaller gravitational field strength relative to Earth, meaning that one’s way of life would have to be greatly adjusted under those new conditions. Why you wouldn’t exactly float, it would still feel much more weightless than the Earth’s surface. Mars is also further from the Sun than Earth, and has a greater orbital radius, taking almost two ‘Earth years’ to complete a full orbit (Williams, 2015).

Although Mars and Earth are both considered to be ‘rocky’ planets, there are massive differences between the surface and atmosphere of Mars when compared to our home. For one, ‘The Red Planet’ nickname comes from Mars’ red surface, due to the abundance of iron oxide on the surface (Williams, 2015). Along with the differences in the soil, Mars also has a very thin atmosphere compared to Earth (Williams, 2015), with a varying gas composition. For reference, it is widely known that Earth’s atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and oxygen, along with traces of other gasses. On Mars, 96% of the atmosphere is filled with carbon dioxide, with small traces of nitrogen and oxygen (Williams, 2015). Once again, the difference in the composition of gasses will be a major factor to consider when identifying ways to help humans survive sustainably on the planet.

The thin atmosphere on Mars produces several other major concerns for human survival, specifically when looking at the temperature and radiation on the planet. On Earth, we are accustomed to relatively mild temperatures relative to the conditions on Mars. On Mars, the average temperature is listed as -46 degrees Celsius, with a large degree of variability to warmer/colder temperatures during various seasons on the planet (Williams, 2015). Unlike Earth, Mars’ thin atmosphere (and no magnetosphere) cannot shield humans from radiation, for which long-term exposure can be dangerous (Candanosa, 2017).

Understanding the harsh conditions on Mars, it makes sense that detailed planning is currently underway in NASA and other space organizations to travel to the Red Planet soon. It is important for scientists and engineers to ensure that astronauts (and eventually people) that live on Mars have the resources they need to live in a healthy manner. For reference, these people would need access to consistent supplies of oxygen, food/water, as well as a place to live that is isolated from the harsh Martian conditions (McKenna, 2023). While most of this is achievable with supplies from Earth, in order to live sustainably (and long-term!), we’ll have to find a way to produce these essential items using the resources we have on the planet itself. In other words, we can’t keep relying on restocking supplies from Earth whenever it’s needed.

For reference, an idea that has been discussed is having a greenhouse using ‘filtered’ Martian soil (Nichols, 2017), with added fertilizer to help us grow our own food (Candanosa, 2017). Along with this, the idea for a sustainable home on Mars would involve ‘life support systems’ that are able to regenerate food, oxygen, and other necessities after consumption, due to the harsh conditions on the planet (McKenna, 2023). One suggested solution I read about was to generate resources through In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). The article suggests that resources on Mars can be used to generate anything that we need to survive on Mars; in particular, using Martian ice, gasses and regolith (surface dust – contains mineral oxides) (Baldry, 2022). Using these three foundational resources, the article suggests various ways to produce essential resources, as shown in the two diagrams below:

All in all, a mission to Mars is a massive task that requires years of planning and testing. Scientists at space organizations are currently hard at work to develop solutions that will help humans thrive in harsh Martian conditions. For now, we remain hopeful that one day in the near future, humans will be able to step foot on Mars for the first time.

References

Baldry, M. (2022, March 15). A concept design for an integrated ISRU system using a variety of technologies [Photograph]. Wevolver. https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ3MTgzMjAxNTQ4LTE2NDcxODMyMDE1NDgucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==

Baldry, M. (2022, March 15). Building block framework for Martian ISRU [Photograph]. Wevolver. https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ3MTgzMjAxODgxLTE2NDcxODMyMDE4ODEucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==

Baldry, M. (2022, March 15). How to Survive on Mars? Wevolver. Retrieved January 4, 2024, from https://www.wevolver.com/article/how-to-survive-on-mars

Candanosa, R. M. (2017, May). Open for Discussion: Surviving on Mars. American Chemical Society. Retrieved January 4, 2024, from https://www.acs.org/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/past-issues/2016-2017/april-2017/surviving-on-mars.html

European Space Agency. (2018, September 4). Comparing the atmospheres of Mars and Earth [Photograph]. European Space Agency. https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2018/04/comparing_the_atmospheres_of_mars_and_earth/17444033-1-eng-GB/Comparing_the_atmospheres_of_Mars_and_Earth_pillars.jpg

McKenna, Y.K. (Ed.). (2023, September 26). Humans to Mars. NASA. Retrieved January 4, 2024, from https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/humans-to-mars/

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jet Propulsion Laboratories, Arizona State University & Malin Space Science Systems. (2021, April 29). [Photograph of a hill on Mars known as “Santa Cruz”]. Nasa Science Mars Exploration. https://mars.nasa.gov/system/resources/detail_files/25904_1-PIA24546-1200.jpg

Nichols, M. R. (2017, May 3). If we successfully land on Mars, could we live there? Astronomy Magazine. Retrieved January 4, 2024, from https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/if-we-successfully-land-on-mars-could-we-live-there/

Williams, M. (2015, December 7). Mars compared to Earth. Phys.org. Retrieved January 4, 2024, from https://phys.org/news/2015-12-mars-earth.html