Cr ossing t he Void The problems of going to M ars and how we'll solve them By Carter Brooks
O
Image courtesy of NASA
ver fifty years ago, two men
away, it takes a minimum of six
just one singular view of how the first
became the first to walk on the
months just to get there with current
manned mission will play out, and
surface of the Moon, marking a new
technology. The surface is also
multiple different groups have
chapter in history. Since then, the
inhospitable to human settlement,
different ideas for how humans will
sights of space exploration have been
with temperatures that can plummet
reach the dusty plains of Mars. Take
set much higher ? and much farther
to -243 degrees Fahrenheit and a
NASA, for example. Their ambitious
away ? to Earth?s nearest neighbor:
carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere less
?Moon to Mars? program will see the
the planet Mars. Visiting the red
than 1% as thick as Earth?s. Despite
Moon transformed into a hub for
planet has long been a far off dream,
all of these major roadblocks, the
interplanetary travel, as well as a
confined to the realm of science
international community has decided
destination for refueling. Assuming
fiction. In recent years, however, the
that paying the planet a visit is worth
the plan?s first phase, the Artemis
prospect of a manned mission to
the risk because of everything it has
program, is a success, this will
Mars within the next few decades has
to teach us.
hopefully become a reality by the
increased every day due to our expanding knowledge of the planet, thanks to numerous robotic missions.
Government agencies and private businesses from all over the world have been working toward a common
That being said, there are still quite a
goal: make Mars a place where
few hurdles that need to be jumped
humans can live, and do it by the end
for such a mission to succeed. At an
of the century, at the latest.
average distance of 158 million miles
4 | Crossing the Void | E-volution
2030s. In contrast, the private company SpaceX prefers a more direct approach and plans on using their Starship rocket to fly straight from Earth to Mars. However, before any of these options can ever become a reality, there are a number
Even with this goal in mind, there isn?t
of obstacles that require immediate
