Biology | 27
THE FUTURE OF LIFE ON MARS How humans could call the red planet home BY ZACK LAPOINTE, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, 2021
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n 2001, technology entrepreneur and founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, came up with an idea to send an experimental greenhouse into space. His goal was to land it on Mars and grow plants. Musk’s announcement of his “Mars Oasis” project, as he called it, was meant to stir public interest in space exploration.
Studies of astronauts who have completed missions of extended durations have revealed that lower gravities lead to decreased muscle mass, aerobic capacity, and bone density. Today, astronauts counteract this physiological deterioration with well-structured exercise and diet regimens, so future Mars travellers would need to be in great shape.
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union made space programs one of their top priorities. The ensuing “Space Race” drove unimaginable progress in space exploration that included human spaceflight to low-Earth orbit and the Moon and launching unmanned probes to the Moon and Mars.
Another obstacle of life on another planet is the vast difference in temperatures due to the varying atmospheres and distances from the sun. Temperatures on Mars range from -153 to 20 degrees Celsius. If Thursday is just above freezing, then by Friday the temperature may have dropped 150 degrees.
Today, it seems that the next milestone in space travel will be traveling to Mars and establishing a civilization there. By making multiplanetary life a priority, humans could travel to the Red Planet, colonize it, and terraform Mars into a new home.
Qualities taken for granted on this planet, such as the climate, air, and gravity, pose serious concerns on Mars that will need countermeasures. With all the pressurization, oxygenation, and temperature regulation, it may seem that life on Mars is more trouble than it’s worth.
Before this can be done, however, scientists and engineers need to address the differences between the two planets and produce solutions that will allow people to live on Mars. While it won’t be easy, humans could overcome the obstacles and adapt to life there by the end of the century.
However, with Earth’s finite resources and growing population, there may come a day when our resources run out. Humans may need another place to live with new resources to harness, and that place would likely be Mars. Being the most Earth-like alternative in the galaxy, Mars may become the second planet that humans call home.
The most seemingly impossible task that humans face in their quest for multiplanetary life is how to actually adapt to life on a planet that is so radically different than Earth. For starters, people would not be able to just walk around outside and breath fresh air. Humans can survive here where the air is made up of 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen, whereas 95 percent of the Martian atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide with only trace amounts of oxygen. With this composition, getting some “fresh air” would kill a person instantly. Additionally, Mars has extremely thin air, with the surface air pressure at around one percent of the sea level pressure on Earth. To walk around outside on Mars, people would need to wear pressurized, oxygenized suits. Even with an adequate space suit, a hike across the Martian outdoors would be very different from those that people take on Earth. Due to Mars’ smaller mass, the strength of gravity on the planet is only 38 percent of that felt on Earth. So, a 160 pound person on Earth would weigh around only 60 pounds on Mars.
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DESIGN BY TRAM ANH NGUYEN, BIOLOGY, 2022
If Thursday is just above freezing, then by Friday the temperature may have dropped 150 degrees.” IMAGE BY GOOGLE CREATIVE COMMONS
Before anyone can adapt to life on the red rock, there first needs to be a way to get people to and from Mars. Today, spacecraft can take people to the Moon, the International Space Station, and other destinations within low-Earth orbit. However, the rockets and shuttles that will be needed to transport people to Mars are still being developed, and likely will not be available until the mid-2020s. It is currently looking like SpaceX will be the first to reach Mars, with Elon Musk announcing plans for the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) spacecraft to make its first manned mission to Mars by 2024. BFR’s reusability and ability to fly long distance will make it ideal for travelling to Mars. These vessels are only one of the many solutions to interplanetary life that are currently being developed in anticipation of travelling to Mars. Whether or not SpaceX is the first to do it, people could terraform Mars and call the planet home in the near future, making humans an interplanetary people.
