Mars, also known as the Red Planet because of the rust-coloured, oxidized iron minerals in its ground and atmosphere, is a cold, dry and uninviting place. Temperatures there can drop to around -150 °C, there’s very little water and the atmosphere, which is 96 per cent carbon dioxide, is too thin to block ultraviolet radiation from space.
These problems alone would make human existence on Mars very challenging. But there’s much more to add to the difficulty – such as soil that’s highly toxic to humans, and the huge distance from home. Since Mars is on average 225 million kilometres away from Earth, if something went wrong for the people living there, help would take many months to arrive (currently about nine months).
A futuristic Noah’s ark
Long ago, Mars may have been more similar to Earth than it is today. So far, six robotic Mars rovers have landed on the planet to search for signs of life. They’ve found evidence of ancient magma, a river delta, a lake and organic molecules preserved in rocks and dust. What seems certain is that Mars was once much wetter than it is now.
Scientific research also suggests that the early atmosphere of Mars was thick enough to create a greenhouse effect. This combination of warmth and water could have once harboured life on the now inhospitable planet. Nowadays, Mars has much less water than Earth. The water that’s been discovered on the planet is either in the form of ice at the planet’s north and south poles or in the form of saltwater, trapped under the ice at the planet’s south pole.
Nevertheless, the harsh conditions on Mars haven’t stopped Elon Musk, CEO and chief engineer at SpaceX and CEO of Tesla Motors, from making plans to create a self-sustaining Martian city, supported by solar-powered, hydroponic farms. Musk sees the project as “a futuristic Noah’s ark” that would involve sending people and animals to permanently live on Mars.
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In reality, life on Mars would involve serious challenges. As Musk said in an interview in April 2021 with X Prize Foundation founder Peter Diamandis, “Honestly, a bunch of people probably will die at the beginning.”
Apart from the low temperatures, lack of water, radiation and toxic soil, there are huge storms. Every 26 months, the planet has a dust storm season, during which fine dust particles block the sunlight for months. Human survival would mean having to live in artificial habitats like ecosystems, where people would be sealed in and protected from the harsh conditions outside.
It seems there’s still some way to go before humans can call Mars home. Robotic mining for water and fuel could be the key to making this possible, but that’s unlikely to happen before 2050, according to Professor Serkan Saydam of the University of New South Wales Sydney.
“Everything is all about water,” Professor Saydam comments. “Innovation in robotics and autonomous systems are clearly important so that we have the water ready and the hydrogen separated and ready for when human beings land.”