Daily Archives: April 13, 2022

A big thank you to Steve Lee andAnthony Johansen for submitting their Engineering Professional Practice (FACC 400) blog post to The Turret. This guest post will have you thinking about a future society on Mars.

Steve LeeAnthony Johansen

Mars, also known as the Red Planet, have caught many scientists and engineers attention after rovers sent by NASA have found evidence of water on the planet in 2012. The discovery of water was very important since it indicated possibility of life on Mars, and further implies that the Earth is not the only planet where living being exists. Since then, many space agencies around the globe have sent their probes and rovers to collect more information about Mars. Recently, Mars became a popular topic again due to success of SpaceX, a private aerospace company which aims to reduce cost of space transportation and colonize Mars. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, believes colonizing Mars is potentially something that could be accomplished in about 10 years, maybe sooner, maybe 9 years. But despite all the efforts to make Mars colonization true, how can this benefits our society?

Establishing a colony on Mars would benefit our society in a number of ways. The first, and most notable way, is that a colony on Mars would mark the first interplanetary settlement in human history. This would be the most monumental achievement in our history to date and would likely be a point in history we would never forget. A settlement on Mars would also prove that such an endeavor is possible and pave the way for future colonizations of other planets and moons, inside our solar system as well as out.

Additionally, the worlds population growth have exponentially increased over the last centuries. United Nations projects that the worlds population will reach 9.8 billion in year 2050 and 11.2 billion in year 2100. At this fast growing rate, there is no doubt that the society will suffer due to limited resources available on Earth. However, colonization of Mars would leverage the problem by distributing the population of the Earth to Mars, and as well as improve the chances for mankind to survive in case the Earth is no longer sustainable.

Another important impact of a Mars colonization would be scientific research. As humans attempt to reach further and further into space, new and innovative advances in technology and science are required in order for us to reach these new heights. For example, since 1976 NASA has published a report every year called Spinoff which features new technologies based on research done by NASA. As of 2016, there are over 1,920 products in the Spinoff database which can be attributed to advances made by NASA researchers. A well known example is the Infrared Ear Thermometer, initially this technology was designed to measure the temperature of stars and planets across large distances, however it was eventually adapted to be used as a way to record human body temperature without direct contact with the body.

Unfortunately, as with any kind of undertaking of this magnitude, there exists risks. And while we do our best to plan for and minimize those risks, there is always a possibility of something going wrong. Some of the main risks in regard to the colonization itself lie in the environment of Mars. As Mars does not have a very substantial atmosphere, the mars colonists would need to be protected not only from the extreme weather and temperatures that can occur on Mars but also from the radiation that penetrates the atmosphere. Mars gravity is only 38 percent of that of the Earth and the difference affects greatly on human body. As a side effect, it causes weakness of bone and muscle, motion sickness, fluid redistribution and more.

Another element that creates risk is the human factor. Many engineers and scientists, try to make fault tolerant equipments, but sometimes a tiny little mistakes could result a great disaster. For example, on Jan 28, 1986, crews of the NASAs space shuttle Challenger were killed during the launch due to failure of O-rings that seals the booster. It was mainly due to lack of experience launching the space shuttle in a specific environment, and lack of tests. Therefore, if the system designed for the Mars exploration have flaws, then it could lead to disasters.

Although there are risks associated to Mars colonization, there are many things that people can benefit from. As Neil Armstrong once said, the beginning of the mission will be one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

Dunbar, Brian. NASA Rover Finds Conditions Once Suited for Ancient Life on Mars. NASA, NASA, 19 Nov. 2015, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20130312.html.

Kelechava, Brad. The Benefits of Colonizing Mars (Other Than Getting to Live There) ANSI Blog. The ANSI Blog, 4 Feb. 2019, http://www.blog.ansi.org/2016/10/the-benefits-of-colonizing-mars/.

World Population Projected to Reach 9.8 Billion in 2050, and 11.2 Billion in 2100 | UN DESA Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations, United Nations, http://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html.

Patel, Neel V. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Says His Company Could Have a Mars Colony by 2026. Inverse, http://www.inverse.com/article/21156-elon-musk-says-spacex-could-start-a-mars-colony-by-2026.

Mars, Kelli. The Human Body in Space. NASA, NASA, 30 Mar. 2016, http://www.nasa.gov/hrp/bodyinspace.

Tate, Karl. The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: What Happened? (Infographic). Space.com, Space Created with Sketch. Space, 28 Jan. 2016, http://www.space.com/31732-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster-explained-infographic.html.

Steve Lee U3 Computer Engineering studentAnthony Johansen U2 Software Engineering student

The rest is here:
Benefits and risks of Mars Colonization | The Turret

Weve got some awesome news for you. Right now, you are standing on the edge of history. Yeah, you. Sometime soon, somethings gonna happen that will send you tumbling over into a whole new era of human evolution. Were gonna colonize Mars.

You read that right. That big, cold, lonely lump of rock spinning through the endless void 54.6 million kilometers away? Were gonna land there. And were gonna build. Small bases. Biodomes. Research labs. Houses. And, eventually, even cities.

We can guess what youre thinking: Yeah, right. Sure, Mars seems a long way away right now. Colonizing it sounds like the stuff of a science-fiction film, one that probably stars Matt Damon freaking out about a bunch of space potatoes. But its much, much closer than you think. At some point, in your lifetime, theres gonna be a functioning civilization on the red planet. How can we be so sure? Were glad you asked.

Imagine youre out and about, strolling along the beach or whatnot, when you stumble across a nest of dinosaur eggs. Like, real-life dino eggs, the kind that havent been seen for millions of years. As far as you know, theyre the only ones in existence.

They seem to be doing OK, but you cant help but wonder whether theyre as safe as they seem. What if some predator comes along and eats them? What if some kid stomps on them? Isnt it kinda your responsibility to move a few of those eggs, to make sure they survive?

In a nutshell, thats the problem facing humanity today. Like the eggs, were doing fine right now, safe and sound on planet Earth. But, like with the eggs, our safety could be an illusion. Theres a chance that a meteor could come along at any moment and wipe us out. Its slim, sure, but not impossible. And here the worry starts to creep in. As far as we know, we humans are the only intelligent life in the universe. Like the dino eggs, we could be invaluable. Isnt it our responsibility to spread out, in case some meteor metaphorically stomps on us?

Thats the argument guys like Elon Musk are putting forward for why we need to colonize Mars: as a form of interplanetary risk insurance. And its proving pretty powerful. Already SpaceX are gearing up to send a manned craft to Mars by 2022, for this very reason.

Make no mistake, getting to Mars is probably the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced. Most of us probably cant even grasp the technical leaps required to colonize a whole other celestial body. But you know what else once seemed an impossible challenge? Establishing a permanent base on Antarctica. Heck, even getting to Antarctica in the first place. Or climbing Everest. Or navigating the Northwest passage. Or colonizing the New World. Or

Well, you get the idea. If humans were a sensible species that erred on the side of caution, wed probably still be living in caves, congratulating ourselves on not being dumb enough to venture out into the sabretooth tiger-infested woods around us. But sensible is exactly what humans arent. We do dumb things, like climbing a mountain we know could easily kill us, just to say we reached the top. We even build civilizations in horrifically hostile places like Greenland and the Sahara, for Petes sakes.

What were trying to say is that humans rise to challenges, especially crazy ones like setting up a base on Mars. And especially when theres the added incentive of competition

Landing on the Moon was, arguably, one of the biggest wastes of money in US history. The entire Apollo program cost the equivalent of $110 billion in todays dollars, a sum that doesnt include the earlier Mercury and Gemini programs necessary to prepare NASA for Apollo. And what did America get out of it?

Well, there are two answers to that question. The utilitarian one would go something like a dude, standing on a lump of rock. But the other one would ring much truer. The US got something intangible from Neil Armstrong stepping on the lunar surface: a sense of prestige, of national pride.

The last part is the key here. The only reason man ever set foot on the Moon was because the Americans were terrified Russia would get there first. During the Space Race, it was calculated that spending insane amounts of money was preferable to losing the propaganda war. Fast forward to 2017, and we may be witnessing the dawn of Space Race II.

Like all sequels, SRII is gonna be bigger, crazier, and chock full of extra characters. China has already declared it wants to get to Mars in the next decade. NASA wants a man on Mars by 2030. India is sending satellites and probes. Then there are the private actors. SpaceX is already facing competition from Blue Origin and, to a lesser extent, Mars One. With everyone fighting for that sweet Martian prestige, expect SRII to start hotting-up like crazy.

One of the big stumbling blocks for a Mars mission let alone a colony has long been getting there. Mars is 182 times the distance from Earth as the Moon. Getting there will require flying for over six months. There are cosmic rays to deal with. The problem of landing on a planet with gravity and atmosphere conditions very different to Earths. Many have called the idea impossible (at least, without killing all the astronauts).

Yet all this overlooks one key fact. We already have the technology to get there.

For years now, SpaceX have been flying payloads for NASA to the ISS. As part of each mission, theyve casually tested some of their Mars-landing tech on the side. Importantly, theyve been doing it at a distance of 40 kilometers to 70 kilometers above Earths surface, where our atmosphere perfectly mimics conditions on Mars. And theyve succeeded. Repeatedly. The ingredients for a successful Mars landing are essentially already there.

What about those pesky cosmic rays? NASA already has the tech to eliminate around 33% of the risk they pose, and engineers are confident that number is only gonna increase.

Heres a quote to blow your mind. It comes from aerospace experts Chistopher McKay and Robert Zubrin, and were gonna reproduce it exactly as they said it, just to let the full weight of its craziness sink in. In a paper, the two wrote: a drastic modification of Martian conditions can be achieved using 21st century technology.

Weve highlighted that last bit, because its the important one. What McKay and Zubrin are saying is that its totally possible for humanity to start terraforming Mars, using technology we have at our disposal right now. Thats right, 2017 man is so advanced he can literally change the surface of an entire alien world (though for some reason he still chooses to wear sweatpants in public. Weird, huh?).

If you dont read Sci-Fi, terraforming means changing a planet so it becomes more Earth-like, and thus more-livable for humans. On Mars, that means we could trigger a deliberate greenhouse gas effect that would melt the ice at the poles, release a load of CO2, make the atmosphere denser, and trap more heat and energy from the sun. Then wed have liquid water and could start planting; little mosses at first, but then plants, flowers, and even trees.

The end result would be a planet that looked like Earth, was warm enough to not kill us and with a bearable pressure. The air wouldnt be breathable, but even that could change. A few centuries after terraforming, Mars could have an atmosphere as breathable as that on Earth.

Water is the main ingredient we humans need to live. No water, and the deal is off. Luckily, Mars has something that very, very few other places in our solar system do: ice. Lots and lots of ice. Frozen H20, just waiting to be thawed, filtered and used to keep a human colony alive.

Were not exaggerating. Beneath just one stretch of the Martian plains, NASA have discovered a single ice deposit containing as much water as the whole of Lake Superior. It exists in an area known as Utopia, because it would be easy to land a craft there and then drill down to and extract the water. And thats just on the plains. Go to the poles, and youll be sitting on enough water to keep a civilization running more or less eternally. If you melted all the ice on Mars, youd wind up with enough liquid to drown the entire planet beneath an ocean some 30 feet deep.

This means you wouldnt need to transport your own water from Earth, something so hideously impractical as to make it effectively impossible. It also means you could sustain not just an expedition, but an entire colony. Even if we reach the point where there are a million or so people living on Mars, we could rest safe in the knowledge that the water supply was unlikely to ever run out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ak6fVSskmc

Of course, building a habitable city on another planet takes a lot more than water. It requires an insane amount of construction materials, which would cost eye-watering sums of money to send from Earth. At least, it would if we had no alternative. But we probably do. Theres a relatively good chance that Mars has the minerals we need to start building our space utopia.

We should stress the relatively part of that sentence. We dont have a huge amount of geological data on Mars, and NASA have been unable to identify any large ore deposits. However, they have identified areas where the probability of mineral deposits is quite high. Nickle, copper, platinum, titanium, iron and silicone dioxide are all likely to exist on Mars, along with clay for making porcelain and pottery. Put it all together, and you have the fundamentals for building some pretty complex stuff.

As for the technology to extract it well, the basics are already there. We could use bacteria to mine from ore, or we could just develop robots to do some old-fashioned digging.

Every grand scheme needs its visionary backers. Without Columbus, you dont have the new world. Without Genghis Khan, you dont have the Mongol Empire. Without JFK, you dont have Neil Armstrong standing on the Moon. Lucky for humanitys interplanetary prospects, we already have our Mars visionary. In fact, weve got more than one.

The most-famous is a guy weve already namechecked a few times in this article. Eccentric billionaire/possible supervillain Elon Musk has been key to pushing private space exploration from a dystopian dream to a benign reality. Through his company SpaceX, hes made huge technological leaps toward making Mars colonization a Thing We Could Actually Do. But hes not the only one. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also determined to get millions of humans into space and living on other planets. Like Musk, he has the money and the technology via his private space company Blue Origin to potentially make it happen.

Then theres the signals coming from the current administration. In March 2017, President Trump signed a bill adding manned exploration of Mars to NASAs official mission statement. The last time humanity looked this serious about space exploration, it resulted in Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon.

One objection that often gets raised when talking about Mars is that we should focus on solving problems here on Earth first. Well, what if we told you that the two arent mutually exclusive? That by going to Mars, we will improve life for billions of people on Earth?

Intrigued? You should be. Technological advances in one area often bleed through into others, in hugely unpredictable ways. When Hubble was first launched, it had a fault in its lens that meant images came back all blurry. For 3 years, NASA scientists were stuck trying to decipher space photos that looked like a dogs regurgitated dinner. So they developed an algorithm to detect images in the mess. A really good algorithm. So good, in fact, that it turned out to be excellent at detecting early-stage breast cancer from X-ray images. There are thousands of people alive today because NASA messed up Hubble.

Need some more examples? OK. NASA tech has given us everything from portable vacuum cleaners, to freeze-drying, to modern firefighting gear, to grooved tires and roads that lower the number of car crashes. Artificial limbs have improved drastically due to Nasa tech, as have insulin pumps. Thats just from trundling around in our planets orbit. Imagine what totally unexpected stuff could result from the process of landing on and terraforming Mars?

Stop and think about the future for a minute. No, we dont mean five years from now. We dont even mean fifty years from now. We mean hundreds, if not thousands, of years from now. We mean a span of time as great as that separating you from Jesus or Julius Caesar. What do you see happening to our species when all that time has passed? Where are we?

One cynical answer might be: dead. Wiped out by war or disease or a marauding AI. But move away from the worst case scenario, and a clearer picture likely emerges. Of humanity, spread out among the stars. Of colonies on Titan and Ganymede. Of cities in space. Of exploration beyond the edges of the Oort Cloud, out into the depths of our galaxy. Imagine: a future where we have the space and minerals for everyone. You could even call it our destiny.

Now, terms like manifest destiny come with a lot of historical baggage. It was destiny that led European settlers to kill a whole lotta Native Americans. But Mars doesnt have any native population at all (unless theyre really, really good at hiding). Nor does the rest of our solar system. Humanity can expand without prejudice or violence, or anything but a Star Trek-style desire to learn and explore. And when you put it like that, we come to maybe the simplest, best reason we have for colonizing Mars: why on Earth would we choose not to?

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10 Reasons We Will Colonize Mars - Toptenz.net

Christopher Columbus was a 15th and 16th century explorer credited for connecting the Old World (Europe, Africa, and Asia) and the New World (North America and South America).

Born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451, Columbus made his way to Spain, where he gained support from the Spanish monarchy. He persuaded King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I to sponsor his quest to find a westward route to China, India, and Japanlands then known as the Indies.

The monarchy considered Columbuss expedition as an opportunity to expand Spains trading network into the Indies lucrative economy. Proponents of the Catholic Church, the monarchy also hoped the voyage would help spread Christianity into the East.

In August 1492, Columbuss expedition set sail with three ships: the Nia, Pinta, and Santa Mara. After more than two months of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, the fleet spotted what would eventually be known as the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. The fleet also came across other Caribbean islands on this expedition, including modern-day Cuba and Haiti, which Columbus believed were the Indies. While it has been commonly said that Columbus discovered the Americas, that is not accurate. Even before he set sail from Spain, thousands of people were already living on these lands for centuries. There is also the saga of Leif Eriksson's voyage to Vinlandthe mysterious spot on which he landed in North America. The exact location of Vinland is debated among scholars, but it is generally agreed it was somewhere along the northern Atlantic coast.

Columbus may not have discovered the Americas, but it was his arrivaland subsquent three additional voyages over the next twelve yearsthat shephereded in an era of exploration and colonization of North and South America.

While this opened up economic and political opportunities for European powers, the colonization of the New World led to the exploitation of its indigenous peoples, often violently and eventually with disastrous results for many cultures. Columbuss participation in such brutality eventually led to his arrest and caused him to lose favor with the Spanish monarchy. Columbus Day is a national holiday in the United States, but due to inhumane actions taken by the European powers who came in waves to the Americas, several states have replaced the holiday with Indigenous People's Day to honor the original inhabitants of these lands.

Columbus also continued to believe that he had found a route to Asia, despite the increasing evidence that proved otherwisea denial that would severely tarnish his reputation. While Columbus obtained great wealth from his expeditions, he became an outcast and died of age-related causes on May 20, 1506 in Valladolid, Spain.

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Christopher Columbus Day and Indigenous People's Day 2018