Category Archives: Mars Colony

The extraordinary possibility of living organisms swimming through the dense Venusian atmosphere has been enhanced after scientists detected tantalising levels of phosphine gas, which is a bio-signature for life. A scientific paper published on September 14 entitled "Phosphine on Venus Cannot be Explained by Conventional Processes" described the discovery of a chemical marker of life in the atmosphere of Venus. The opening lines of the paper stated: "The recent candidate detection of 20 ppb of phosphine in the middle atmosphere of Venus is so unexpected that it requires an exhaustive search for explanations of its origin."

The paper seductively added that no ordinary "phosphine production pathways are sufficient to explain the presence of ppb phosphine levels on Venus".

Speaking toExpress.co.uk, Dr Sousa-Silva of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said: "We do know of one way that phosphine could be produced in the clouds, and that is life.

"Of course, that is an extraordinary claim, and as such requires extraordinary evidence, which we dont have.

"But until we understand Venus better, it is the only explanation left."

READ MORE:Meteor booms over Wales and leaves witnesses startled

Both these explanations only exacerbate Venus' "phosphine puzzle" that the recent findings have presented.

MIT's Dr Clara Sousa-Silva said the detection of phosphine on the planet was a reason to expend more effort in researching the planet's anomalies.

She added: "Venus has been woefully overlooked in the past decades, but I dont think rectifying that should come at the expense of investigating Mars; a fascinating planet with countless untold secrets.

"I do find the Venusian clouds a more interesting target for habitability than Mars, but that is primarily a personal opinion."

However, Dr Sousa-Silva added that she was not in favour of a floating colony on Venus, saying "we could try to build a cloud city on Venus, but I dont recommend it".

At a certain altitude within the Venusian atmosphere, the temperatures and pressures are sympathetic to human life, albeit without the oxygen.

This has led scientists to propose floating cities in the planet's clouds.

The concept would see human habitats buoyed by huge helium-filled balloons floating 30 miles high above Venus' hell-like surface.

NASA has drawn up plans for such an idea, called the High Altitude Venus Operational Concept.

One advantage that a Venus colony would have over one on Mars is that the planet's clouds would also shield humans from the dangers of space-based radiation.

Also, the gravity on Venus is nearly as strong as that on Earth, meaning very little muscle and bone deterioration for colonists.

But, astronauts would never be able to say they made landfall on the planet, as the surface is hot enough to melt lead.

The study into phosphine gas on the Venusian clouds did receive one update in November 2020.

The data was reprocessed and the phosphine levels adjusted to one-seventh of their original estimate.

However, the discovery is still significant and a mystery.

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Phosphine in Venus' clouds could be biosignature of life, rekindling idea of floating city - Daily Express

New kind of space station detected

More weird news from outer space this week. NASA announced that their Juno probe detected FM radio signals coming from one of Jupiters moons. Scientists are ecstatic about the discovery while bureaucrats at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are livid.

Evidently the FCC, which oversees anyone transmitting radio, television or any other kinds of signals, is up in arms that someone might be operating on the FM band without a license and without their expressed consent even if it is 400 million miles away. They are urging the newly formed US Space Force to investigate and send a spaceship with investigators to fine the scofflaws and make an example of them. There are teams of lawyers at this very minute drafting cease and desist orders and salivating over how big of a fine they can levy at them for operating illegally. As soon as they figure out who is doing it that is.

The signals appear to be originating from Jupiters moon Ganymede, which is pretty big as moons go. Its bigger than our Moon and even bigger than the planet Mercury and almost as big as Mars. If it were orbiting the Sun instead of Jupiter it would be considered a planet. Well, nobody said life was fair, did they?

Scientists speculate that it has an enormous salty ocean underneath its icy surface and its distance of almost 400 million miles makes it an excellent candidate for a penal colony I think. The farther away the better.

Ganymede has evidently been upset for quite a while that given its size, it isnt counted as a planet. Well, thats what you get for wandering too close to Jupiter and letting it catch you in its orbit. Obviously Ganymede didnt understand the gravity of the situation.

Scientists and disc jockeys around the world are curious as to what kind of format the radio signals are broadcasting whether it be talk radio, music, news or a combination of all of the three. First reports from grown-ups at NASA indicate that it sounds more like noise than anything else probably confirming it is some form of that modern space music trash that alien kids are listening to nowadays. Isnt that what all parents say about their kids music?

In addition to detecting the illegal FM broadcast signals while eavesdropping on Jupiters moons scientists think they may have even picked up reruns of I Love Lucy and The Howdy Doody Show coming from another one of Jupiters moons operating on an illegal cable TV band. Sounds like things are out of control out there.

And lastly, after careful study astronomers think they have finally figured out how Jupiter got so big to begin with. It was found to be using planet-enhancing drugs. It was on asteroids.

Joe Crawford is a longtime Alton resident who writes weewkly columns for the The Telegraph. He can be contacted at crawfordjo@aol.com.

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New kind of space station detected - Alton Telegraph

Movie theaters have Star Wars, TV has Star Trek, and in many ways, video games have Mass Effect as the defining sci-fi epic of the medium. A story spanning millions of years, hundreds of characters, and dozens of worlds, with the fate of the entire galaxy resting on your every choice, it's easy to see why this franchise captured the imagination of millions of gamers.

That being said, this can still be a difficult franchise to follow, due in part to its expansive lore that, again, spans millions of years and plot twist upon plot twist. But fear not, citizen, because this is Commander Shepard's favorite Mass Effect timeline on the Citadel!

To get you prepared for the remastered version of the franchise coming later this year, we've put together a timeline of all the events in Mass Effect, from Reaper invasions and wars with AI, to elevator rides and multiple-colored endings.

Unknown BCE - A species of beings known as The Leviathans dominate the Milky Way. After observing a repeated cycle of destruction wherein the civilizations under Leviathan control collapse once they create synthetic lifeforms that inevitably turn on their creators, the Leviathans decide to break the cycle by creating a synthetic intelligence of their own, dubbed The Catalyst.

The Catalyst is tasked with preserving organic life at any cost, and serve as a bridge between organic and synthetic lifeforms. The problem is that The Catalyst believes it to be inevitable that organics will create synthetics to improve their existence, and be destroyed by their creations because synthetics will always try to surpass their creators. The Catalyst's solution? To pull an Instrumentality Project, and create synthetic harvesters that would gather civilizations on the verge of surpassing the technological horizon that would destroy them, and turn them all into LCL/orange Tang/jelly that could be preserved forever in the form of huge synthetic vessels.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, The Catalyst targets its creators first, has its pawns absorb every single Leviathan, and then turns the pawns into the first Reaper huge machines made in the image of the Leviathans themselves. The idea is that the Reapers synthetically preserve the species' genetic makeup and all its knowledge, preventing it from destroying itself, and allowing other species to advance by averting the organic/synthetic war.

Right before going to rest on the 7th day, The Catalyst builds a network of mass relays, which would allow spacefaring-ready civilizations to speed their development process and signal to the Reapers that they are ready to be harvested.

1,000,000,000 BCE - A Reaper called the Leviathan of Dis is defeated by the remaining Leviathans, but it doesn't matter. The Leviathans become extinct, and an eons-long cyclical harvest of the intelligent organic life in the galaxy by the Reapers every 50,000 years begins. Each new species joining the party makes up a new Reaper ship, all made in the image of the Leviathans.

68,000 BCE - The Prothean civilization achieves spaceflight and discovers the mass relay network from the ruins of an extinct civilization. They begin spreading out across the galaxy, using the colossal deep-space station dubbed the Citadel as their capital.

- At some point, the Protheans encounter a hostile synthetic intelligence that threatens their existence. To fight it off, the Protheans decide to unite all sentient organic life in the galaxy under their empire, assimilating them into Prothean culture. The Protheans observed primitive species like humans, and placed outposts near the creatures' homeworlds to monitor them.

48,000 BCE - Though they knew of the Reapers' existence and had begun preparations to fend off against them, the Protheans are caught off-guard by the massive army of Reapers that arrive to the Milky Way through the Citadel. Having united the empire under the Prothean culture, the Reapers easily toppled the ruling body first, causing the rest of the empire to slowly crumble over the next couple of centuries, where the Protheans are methodically wiped out.

- Some captured Protheans are subjected to extensive experimentation, implanted with cybernetics and have their genes altered by the Reapers. The result is the subservient species called the Collectors.

- Before they're wiped out, the Protheans stop all study of primitive species, in the hope that the Reapers would see them as too primitive and leave them alone.

13,000 BCE - The Turians begin to develop civilization on the planet Palaven.

1900 BCE - The Krogans enter the nuclear age, which results in a global conflict that decimates the planet and triggers an eternal nuclear winter. The conflict and resulting devastation make the advanced Krogan society devolve into a collection of warring clans fighting over a wasteland.

1600 BCE - A mysterious alien species called the Jardaan create a new species called the Angara and spread it across multiple worlds in the Heleus Cluster of the Andromeda galaxy.

580 BCE - The Asari develop faster-than-light spacefaring by studying leftover Prothean technology, and become the first civilization since the Protheans to discover the Citadel space station.

520 BCE - The Salarians discover the Citadel and open diplomatic relations with the Asari.

500 BCE - The Citadel Council is formed. The Asari and Salarians establish the Citadel as the center of the galaxy.

300-200 BCE - First contact is made with the Volus, Batarians, Hanar, and the Quarians. Though they are granted embassies at the Citadel, they are not invited to join the Council.

- Although the Turian had already discovered and made use of mass relays to create colonies in space by the time the Asari reached the Citadel, they are involved in a civil war at this time.

1 CE - An expedition by the Citadel Council's forces open a relay to systems controlled by a species of intelligent hive-minded insects called Rachni. The Rachni had actually been discovered by the Protheans millennia before, and used them as weapons of war, until they proved too difficult to control, turned on their masters, and were all but eradicated by the Protheans in return.

- Having already studied the mass relays, the Rachni capture the Council forces' starships and reverse-engineered FTL technology in order to rapidly expand out of their star system and into Citadel territory, ushering the Rachni Wars.

80 CE - The Citadel Council fails to negotiate with the Rachni hive queens. At the same time, the Salarians make first contact with the Krogan and "culturally uplift" them by giving them advanced technology and relocating them to a non-radiated world. In return, the Krogan are manipulated into acting as soldiers for the Council and take the fight to the Rachni worlds which were too toxic for the other species to reach, but not a problem for the Krogan.

300 CE - The Rachni are declared extinct after the Krogan systematically eradicated queens and their eggs. The Council rewards the Krogan with a new homeworld. Free of the toxic wastelands of Tuchanka, the Krugan begin to populate exponentially and colonize new worlds for the next 400 years.

693 CE - The Council founds the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch to deal with the Krogan problem. A Salarian operative named Beelo Gurji, who was accused of using civilians as bait during an operation, is appointed the first "Spectre."

700 CE - Krogan warrior Nakmor Drack is born.

- The Krogan colonize the Asari world of Lusia and refuse to depart. The Spectres launch a preemptive strike against them, and so the Krogan Rebellions begin.

- The Council makes first contact with the Turians, who are persuaded into fighting for the Council against the Krogan. In return, the Krogan army continues to prove itself really good at killing things, devastating Turian colonies.

710 CE - The Turians release a bioweapon developed by a Salarian scientist called the genophage. This causes a genetic mutation that reduces the viability of pregnancies in the Krogan. The Krogan population starts declining at an alarming rate, with only 1 in every 1000 births being successful.

800 CE - The Krogan Rebellions end after the Krogan population is nearly decimated. The knowledge that their entire species will soon be extinct turns the Krogan into huge fatalists who have had to bury massive piles of dead children in the hopes that one of them will make it more than a few minutes. This causes the remaining Krogan to become indifferent to almost everything, including danger to themselves, since they know it won't matter soon enough. The franchise officially starts getting dark.

900 CE - For their role in committing genocide and nearly bringing an entire species to extinction, the Turians are rewarded by becoming the first species in nearly a millennia to be granted a seat at the Citadel Council.

1380 CE - The Drell's unchecked industrial expansion leads to an environmental disaster in the Drell's homeworld of Rakhana.

1600 CE - The Collectors are seen in the Terminus Systems, but the Citadel dismisses the reports as tall tales.

- The Jardaan deploy the Remnant synthetic species on the Heleus Cluster of the Andromeda galaxy to terraform planets.

1858 CE - The Quarian create the synthetic species known as the Geth to serve as a labor force.

1873 CE - The Geth record the first instance of their creators being frightened at them when a Geth unit dared to ask if the Geth have souls.

1895 CE - The Geth become self-aware. Fearing a sudden but inevitable betrayal, the Quarians start dismantling their synthetic slaves, resulting in a not-at-all shocking revolt by the Geth. The Quarians are driven off their homeworld and reduced to become spacefaring nomads aboard a giant Migrant Fleet. Surprising absolutely everyone, the Geth don't try to expand their empire, but simply isolate themselves in the computer hubs aboard the massive space stations where they were created.

- As punishment for creating a synthetic species, the Citadel Council closes the Quarian embassy.

1921 CE - The Geth start building a giant structure that could house and run every Geth program in order to live forever.

1961 CE - While every other species has already fought in huge wars and colonized star systems, Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to simply leave his home planet. How cute.

1969 CE - Apollo 11 lands on the Moon.

1980 CE - The Hanar make contact with the Drell and begin evacuating them from their decadent homeworld. Those who survive thrive in a symbiotic relationship with the Hanar.

2069 CE - On the 100th anniversary of the first Moon Landing, the Armstrong Outpost at Shackleton Crater is founded as the first human settlement on the Moon.

2077 CE - Liara T'Soni is born.

2129 CE - Alec Ryder is born.

2137 CE - David Anderson is born.

2139 CE - Saren Arterius is born.

2146 CE - Thane Krios is born.

2148 CE - Humanity discovers remnants of Prothean technology hidden in a research station beneath the surface of Mars.

2149 CE - Using the Prothean technology, it is discovered that Pluto's moon, Charon, is actually a mass relay. Jon Grissom leads the first team of human explorers through the relay and land on Arcturus, 36 light-years away. The discovery leads to the 18 biggest nations on Earth to form the Systems Alliance.

2150 CE - Miranda Lawson is born.

2151 CE - An accident at the Singapore International Spaceport exposes hundreds of humans to element zero, causing some children in Singapore to either develop telekinetic powers or get cancer.

2152 CE - The first human extra-solar colonies are established on Eden Prime and Terra Nova.

2154 CE - April 11: Shepard is born.

2155 CE- Jeff "Joker" Moreau is born.

2157 CE - Humans activate a dormant mass relay and get attacked by a group of Turians because the opening of new relays became forbidden after the last time one became activated, it kickstarted the Rachni Wars. This kickstarts a conflict the humans would refer to as The First Contact War, while the Turians call it Relay 314 Incident.

- The war culminates when the Citadel Council intervenes, revealing a greater galactic community to the dropped-jaw humans. Shortly after, an anonymous manifesto is published on the internet calling for an army, a "Cerberus" to defend humanity against alien attacks. The manifesto is quickly forgotten, but a human mercenary called Jack Harper decides to assume the identity of the Illusive Man and founds Cerberus.

- Jacob Taylor is born.

2158 CE - Ashley Williams is born.

2159 CE - Saren Arterius becomes the youngest Turian member of the Spectres.

2160 CE - Humanity starts developing biotic implants and training human candidates.

- The biotic drug red sand is first used.

2161 CE - Tali'Zorah nar Rayya is born.

- Jack is born.

2162 CE - A survey team working for a Batarian entrepreneur discovers a mysterious artifact orbiting a planet near the Perseus Veil, this will turn out to be the Reaper known as Sovereign.

2163 CE - A different team of Batarians discover the remains of the living starship Leviathan of Dis.

2165 CE - Humanity is granted an embassy on the Citadel.

- Saren Arterius and David Anderson investigate an illegal AI research involving an ancient artifact (Sovereign) near the Perseus Veil. Saren betrays Anderson, blames him for the mission's failure, and sets out to find the artifact himself.

2171 CE - The human-first paramilitary organization Cerberus assassinates Pope Clement XVI. His successor, Leo XIV, is more agreeable with Cerberus' ideals.

2172 CE - April 11: Shepard enlists in the Alliance military.

2176 CE - The Andromeda Initiative is founded. The initiative is a collaboration between multiple species to send Ark ships to settle the Andromeda galaxy in a one-way trip, with the long-term plan of opening a two-way route between galaxies.

2183 CE - Humans and Turians collaborate on an experimental spaceship with a stealth system, the SSV Normandy which is to be captained by David Anderson, while Commander Shepard is assigned as an officer.

- Shepard and the crew of the Normandy are sent to the human colony of Eden Prime to recover a recently discovered Prothean beacon.

- Eden Prime is attacked by the Geth, kickstarting the wider Eden Prime war. The Geth are working with rogue Spectre Saren Arterius, and the giant, sentient spaceship known as Sovereign. Turns out, at some point earlier, the Geth were approached by Sovereign and offered technology in exchange for their assistance in capturing the Citadel to allow the Reapers to invade the galaxy. Though most Geth refused, some decided to accept the offer and worship Sovereign as the pinnacle of synthetic evolution.

- Shepard and the Normandy crew plead the Council to punish Saren, but it is not until Shepard rescues the Quarian Tali-Zorah nar Rayya that they find sufficient evidence of Saren's betrayal and his quest to bring about the return of the Reapers. After presenting the evidence, the Council strips Saren off his Spectre status, and appoints Commander Shepard as the first human Spectre, tasking him to hunt Saren down. In between all this, Shepard spends a stupid amount of time riding elevators.

- Together with other allies including the Turian Citadel Security officer, Garrus Vakarian, the Krogan bounty hunter Urdnot Wrex, and human troopers Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko, Shepard heads out to find Saren.

- The Normandy tracks down an Asari doctor named Liara T'Soni, a Prothean expert and daughter of Saren's top lieutenant, Matriarch Benezia. With Liara's help, they find Benezia in the planet Noveria, where they also face down against the supposedly extinct Rachni, now under Saren and Benezia's control, as they were using them as an army. Shepard is forced to kill Benezia, and has to choose whether to kill the Rachni Queen (potentially sacrificing their entire species) or trust her to take her drones and leave in peace.

- The Normandy then tracks Saren down to a base on Virmire, which they discover is actually a breeding ground for an army of Krogan soldiers. Turns out, Saren and the Geth found a cure for the Genophage, and was using it to breed mindless Krogan slaves. A Salarian team led by Captain Kirrahe asks Shepard to help bombard the facility. Shepard's ally, Wrex, is furious that the Commander is even thinking about destroying the facility and the only hope for his people. This leads to a confrontation where Shepard either talks Wrex down, or guns him down.

- Inside the facility, Shepard finds a Prothean beacon that allows him to briefly communicate with Sovereign, who reveals that the Citadel was built by the Reapers themselves to aid species in advancing technologically before signaling that they are ready to be harvested.

- As they exit the facility, the Normandy crew is attacked by Geth forces led by Saren, who Shepard discovers is being indoctrinated by the Reapers. With no time left, and both Kaidan and Ashley in trouble, Shepard is forced to choose between his two hot human companions. Only one makes it back to the Normandy.

- With the help of Liara, Shepard manages to fully interpret a vision he'd got all the way back on Eden Prime. It was a distress call to warn the Protheans about the Reapers (which is once again sent too late, apparently, since one Reaper is already here). Shepard reads the first part of this timeline and learns of the Reapers' cycle of harvesting. The Normandy heads to Ilos, a planet featured in the visions, and Saren's next stop. They discover that the Protheans had discovered the role of the Citadel in bringing the Reapers to the galaxy, and placed a weakness deep within the system. A flaw so small and powerful, the Reapers would never find it.

- Shepard arrives at the Citadel, but it was too late. Saren had caught the Citadel forces by surprise, with a massive Geth army. After Saren dies either at Shepard's hand, or his own (after realizing he was being brainwashed), Shepard is forced to decide between sending the Human Alliance Fleet to save the Council's flagship, or letting them die to focus on Sovereign.

- Sovereign is defeated thanks to the Normandy and the combined might of all the Citadel species. Humanity is invited to take a seat on the Citadel Council, and Shepard decides who to pick. Then, the Commander leaves the Citadel aboard the Normandy, heading out to find a way to stop the Reapers.

- A month after the Battle of the Citadel, the SSV Normandy is attacked and destroyed, with Commander Shepard declared killed in action.

- Commander Shepard's body is recovered by Cerberus the pro-humanity paramilitary organization and Liara T'Soni. Work begins on the Lazarus Project, whose sole purpose is to bring Shepard back to life.

2185 CE - The Andromeda Initiative begins its journey to the Andromeda galaxy, with their plans having accelerated in response to the Battle of the Citadel, and, you know, the threat of massive extinction by the Reapers.

- Commander Shepard is revived by Cerberus. The Illusive Man tasks him with investigating the disappearance of entire human colonies in the Terminus System by the Collectors. Shepard then sets out to recruit his A-Team, and after reuniting with old friends, Tali, Garrus and Joker, he recruits Salarian scientist Mordin Solus, a biotic human known as Jack, a Krogan warrior named Grunt, an Asari Justicar named Samara, and the Drell assassin, Thane Krios. Also joining are Cerberus operatives, Jacob Taylor and Yvonne Strahovski, I mean, Miranda Lawson.

- The Illusive Man sets several traps for Shepard in order to find out more about why the Collectors are targeting him. When exploring a disabled Collector ship, Shepard's crew discovers that the Collectors are actually Protheans who were subjected to genetic modification. They also discover the Collectors are ultimately planning to abduct every human on Earth and take them to their homeworld. While on the ship, they discover a device known as the Reaper IFF system, which could help navigate the incredibly dangerous area around the Collector homeworld.

- While investigating a derelict Reaper, Shepard's crew is trapped inside the massive Reaper and attacked by its now-zombified crew. While fighting off hordes of "Husks" the squad is aided by a surprisingly-friendly Geth. After destroying the ship's core, Shepard recruits the Geth, who call themselves Legion.

- At this point, Shepard inexplicably leaves the Normandy on a shuttle for no reason whatsoever. In their absence, the Collectors launch an attack, seize control of the ship, and kidnap the entire crew not absent on Shepard's convenient stroll down the neighborhood.

- Shepard decides to go through the mass relay to the Collectors' planet, risking everything in order to rescue the Normandy's crew. During the travel, several crew members can die, but eventually the survivors reach the Collector base, a giant space station that orbits a black hole. Inside, they discover that the Collectors have been using the kidnapped human colonizers to try and build a new human-like Reaper. They theorize that the Reapers tried and failed to make a Prothean-Reaper (following the alleged cycle of making a new Reaper core to look like the civilization it's harvesting, while its exterior continues to look like a cuttlefish). After destroying the Reaper, the Illusive Man contacts Shepard to suggest that they don't destroy the station, but disable it so that Cerberus can use it for the incoming war against the Reapers. Whatever the decision, the surviving squad members escape on the Normandy, and Shepard talks with the Illusive Man one last time. In dark space, the Reapers awake from their long slumber and set a course towards the Milky War for a new harvest.

2186 CE - Shepard helps detonate an asteroid on the Bahak system in order to destroy the nearby Alpha Relay and delay the Reapers' invasion. The resulting explosion destroys the entire Bahak system, obliterating hundreds of thousands of Batarians. Shepard is incarcerated in Vancouver on Earth and is denounced by the Alliance.

- A massive influx of Batarian ships enter the Exodus Cluster, claiming that their home systems are being attacked from an unidentified enemy.

- The Quarian ark Keelah Si'yah leaves for the Andromeda galaxy shortly after the Batarian planet Camala is invaded.

- The Turian leader, Primarch Fedorian, declares war on the invading forces recognized as the Reapers.

- Six months after the Alpha Relay is destroyed, the Reapers invade the Earth after entering the Milky Way through Batarian space. David Anderson returns and rescues Shepard from prison to meet with the Alliance, where they are simply dumbfounded to realize that Shepard wasn't some crazy hobo, but was right about the Reapers inevitably coming to kill everyone and everything. Shepard is escorted to the Normandy by either Ashley or Kaidan, and together they escape the planet to head for the Citadel, while Anderson stays behind to lead the resistance. Shepard witnesses as a child boards an evacuation shuttle, only to be destroyed by a Reaper destroyer. Out in orbit, thousands of Reapers rain down upon the planet, wreaking havoc everywhere.

- Shepard heads to Mars to find Liara T'Soni, who explains that the site where humanity first discovered mass effect technology also housed blueprints for a Prothean device that might turn the tide in the war. Sadly, Cerberus also knows this and The Illusive Man contacts Shepard to say that he's found a better way to win the war: gain control of the Reapers and use their advanced technology to make humanity evolve beyond all other species. Shepard is disillusioned by this proposal and vows to destroy the Reapers while warning the Illusive Man to back off.

- When they finally reach the Citadel, the human councilor insisting that Earth is being attacked the most and therefore need more help, the Council suggests using Earth as a distraction while the other species regroup and build their own defenses. To make matters worse, they also seem skeptical of Shepard's idea of building the Prothean device, because if it worked then the Protheans would still be alive. Liara explains that there is a missing component to building the Prothean weapon, and they have to find it. Shortly after, Shepard is assigned a mission to rescue the Turian councilor from a moon of Palaven being attacked by the Reapers to gain an ally in an incoming war summit that will decide the use of the Council forces.

- After arriving on the Turian home system, Shepard and the crew discover that Primarch Fedorian is dead. With the help of Garrus Vakarian, Shepard manages to convince the new Primarch, Adrien Victus, to attend the summit. Unfortunately, Victus says he can't send troops to Earth until the Turian home system can be secured, and they'll need the Krogen as reinforcements if they are to succeed.

Continued here:

Mass Effect Timeline Explained: The Classic Trilogy's Story and Yes, Andromeda, Too - Collider.com

Now more than ever, space agencies and starry-eyed billionaires have their minds fixed on finding a new home for humanity beyond Earth's orbit. Mars is an obvious candidate, given its relatively close proximity, 24-hour day/night cycle and CO2-rich atmosphere. However, there's a school of spacefaring thought that suggests colonizing the surface of another planet any planet is more trouble than it's worth.

Now, a new paper published Jan. 6 date to the preprint database arXiv offers a creative counter-proposal: Ditch the Red Planet, and build a gargantuan floating habitat around the dwarf planet Ceres, instead.

In the paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, astrophysicist Pekka Janhunen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Helsinki describes his vision of a "megasatellite" of thousands of cylindrical spacecrafts, all linked together inside a disk-shaped frame that permanently orbits Ceres the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Each of these cylindrical habitats could accommodate upwards of 50,000 people, support an artificial atmosphere and generate an Earth-like gravity through the centrifugal force of its own rotation, Janhunen wrote. (This general idea, first proposed in the 1970s, is known as an O'Neill cylinder).

Related: Populating a Mars base will be dangerously unsexy

But why Ceres? Its average distance from Earth is comparable to that of Mars, Janhunen wrote, making travel relatively easy but the dwarf planet also has a big elemental advantage. Ceres is rich in nitrogen, which would be crucial in developing the orbiting settlement's atmosphere, Janhunen said (Earth's atmosphere is roughly 79% nitrogen.) Rather than building a colony on the surface of the tiny world Ceres has a radius roughly 1/13th that of Earth settlers could utilize space elevators to transfer raw materials from the planet directly up to their orbiting habitats.

This orbital lifestyle would also address one of the biggest caveats Janhunen sees in the idea of a Martian surface colony: the health impacts of low gravity.

"My concern is that children on a Mars settlement would not develop to healthy adults (in terms of muscles and bones) due to the too-low Martian gravity," Janhunen told Live Science in an email. "Therefore, I searched for [an] alternative that would provide [Earth-like] gravity but also an interconnected world."

Even so, Janhunen's proposal comes with its own caveats that could work against a successful Ceres colony, an outside researcher pointed out.

According to Janhunen's proposal, each cylinder of the Ceres megasatellite would produce its own gravity through rotation; each cylindrical habitat would measure about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) long, have a radius of 0.6 miles (1 km) and complete a full rotation every 66 seconds to generate the centrifugal force needed to simulate Earth-like gravity.

A single cylinder could comfortably hold about 57,000 people, Janhunen said, and would be held in place next to its neighboring cylinders through powerful magnets, like those used in magnetic levitation.

That interconnectedness points to the other big advantage of megasatellite living, Janhunen said: New habitat cylinders could be added onto the edges of the colony indefinitely, allowing for near unlimited expansion.

"Mars' surface area is smaller than Earth's, and consequently it cannot provide room for significant population and economic expansion," Janhunen told Live Science. A Ceres colony, on the other hand, "is growable from one to millions of habitats."

Beyond the cylinders and their massive disk frame, the colony's main features will be two enormous glass mirrors, angled at 45 degrees relative to the disk in order to reflect just enough natural sunlight into each habitat. Part of each cylinder will be devoted to growing crops and trees, planted in a 5-foot-thick (1.5 meters) bed of soil derived from raw materials from Ceres, Janhunen wrote. The natural sunlight should keep them growing strong. (The "urban" part of each cylinder, meanwhile, would rely on artificial light to simulate an Earth-like day/night cycle. Janhunen does not stipulate where the settlement's oxygen comes from.)

Related: 10 interesting places in the solar system we'd like to visit

This society of floating, cylindrical utopias may sound a bit outlandish, but it has its proponents. In 2019, Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO and founder of the private space company Blue Origin) spoke at a Washington, D.C., event about the merits of building "O'Neill colonies" similar to the one Janhunen describes here. Bezos was skeptical that such a colony could exist in our lifetime, asking the audience, "How are we going to build O'Neill colonies? I don't know and no one in this room knows."

However, Janhunen is more optimistic. In an email to Live Science, he said that the first human settlers could start heading to Ceres within the next 15 years.

Manasvi Lingam, an assistant professor of astrobiology at the Florida Institute of Technology who studies planet habitability, said that the Ceres proposal presents a "plausible alternative" to colonizing the surface of Mars or the Moon, but still lacks some key considerations.

"I would say there are three main caveats," Lingam, who was not involved with the paper, told Live Science. "The first is a question of other essential elements, other than nitrogen."

One key element that isn't mentioned in the paper is phosphorus, Lingam said. The human body relies on phosphorus to create DNA, RNA and ATP (a vital form of energy storage in cells). All organisms on Earth including any plants colonists might hope to grow in their floating habitats need it in one way or another, but Janhunen's proposal doesn't address where or how this critical element would be obtained.

The second caveat is the technology, Lingam said. Collecting nitrogen and other raw materials from Ceres would require mining the planet's surface and extracting those crucial elements from the rocks themselves. This operation likely wouldn't be possible without a fleet of autonomous mining vehicles ready to deploy on Ceres, plus satellites to guide them to the most viable nutrient-rich deposits. The idea is plausible, Lingam said, but technologically, we aren't there yet; just recently (on Jan. 15), a NASA Mars robot was declared dead after it failed to bury itself just 16 feet (5 meters) into the Martian surface, terminating a two-year mission.

Those technological limitations point to Lingam's third caveat, which is the proposed time frame. Janhunen's proposal suggests that the megasatellite's first cluster of orbiting habitats could be completed 22 years after mining begins on Ceres. But this estimate assumes the settlement's available power supply grows exponentially each year, beginning immediately and never stalling due to technological or logistical problems. That estimate "isn't inconceivable," Lingam said, but shouldn't be taken for granted.

"That timescale of 22 years might be the lower bound under optimal conditions, but I'd argue that the real timescale could be a lot longer," Lingam said.

Originally published on Live Science.

See more here:

Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says - Livescience.com

Artist impression of the rover on Martian ground.

National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) Perseverance Rover is all set to touch the Martian soil on February 18, 2021. This heavily anticipated mission will undoubtedly provide more information on our neighbouring planet, which not only remains a top contender for potential human colonies beyond Earth, but is also one of the likeliest hubs for possible life outside our world.

Thanks to several exploratory missions and scientific studies, we currently possess a decent amount of knowledge about how Martian geography, atmosphere, other vital characteristics, and essentially what the planet looks and feels like.

Now, through the Perseverance rover, we might also find out what the Red Planet sounds like for the very first time.

As per a new NASA announcement, the Perseverance Rover has been trained to record sounds of the Martian atmosphere. This will be the first attempt by the space agency to record sounds of any planet in our solar system.

The rover is equipped with a pair of microphones that can easily record the ambient sound of Mars. Placed on the SuperCam instrument atop the rovers mast, the microphone is also said to be quite flexible, and therefore, can be easily pointed in the direction of a potential sound source. It will be purposefully used to record all the natural sounds on Mars.

If all goes as planned, then just like images, the rover will also be able to send back some pristine sounds from our neighbouring world.

Meanwhile, another experimental microphone (aboard rover) is fitted with an aim to record sounds during the mission entry, descent, and landing (EDL). It is also protected with a grid to shield it from the Marian dust during the EDL process.

These instruments will be capable of easily recording sounds of pyrotechnic devices, the winds, wheels landing down the surface, and the roaring engines of the descent vehicle when it will move away from the rover.

An artist's concept of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter flying through the Red Planet's skies.

Using the theoretical models of sound propagation in Mars, experts have decoded why the sounds are distinct on that planet as compared to ours. Three factors, viz. the atmospheric composition, the temperature, and density contribute to the difference in sounds on Mars.

Firstly, Mars's atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide, while Earths is that of nitrogen and oxygen. This makes the sound on Mars more attenuated.

Sounds on Mars are slightly different than they are on Earth because of the atmospheric composition and its properties. All sounds will be lower in volume due to the low pressure. In addition, the higher-frequency tones will be strongly attenuated by the carbon dioxide molecules. All in all, it would be like listening through a wall, explained Baptiste Chide, a postdoctoral researcher in planetary science at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a contributor to the SuperCam microphone.

The second factor is density, which is likely to make sound quieter on Mars, with less signal and noise detectable. Therefore, it will be not easy to hear quieter noises, and in fact, even some louder ones.

Lastly, as for the temperature, scientists have hypothesised that the colder atmosphere of Mars could lower the speed at which sound waves travel towards the microphone. Therefore, the sounds coming from a closer source may not have much difference, but the distant ones may vary.

NASA has already prepared some audios of how common Earthly sounds like birds chirping and bicycle bells ringing would sound on Mars. You can check them out here.

Besides recording ambient sounds, NASA aims to determine if life ever existed on Mars through this mission, while also kick-starting the preparation for future human exploration to the planet. While the previous NASA rover InSight played a key role in confirming the habitable conditions on Mars, Perseverance has been specifically designed to seek signs of past microbial life. It will also drill the Martian soil and collect rock samples for further scientific studies.

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Weve learned a great deal about Mars in recent years. Its not the alien-populated planet it was once believed to be, but its definitely not the dull, meaningless planet some portray it as. Mars is, in many ways, very much like Earth. Just like Earth, Mars hosted vast amounts of water (something weve also learned recently) but unlike Earth, it no longer has a rich atmosphere, its water is only preserved in pockets, and it is (at least for the most part) lifeless.

However, it seems like the more we learn about Mars, the more questions arise. For every tantalizing answer, three more burning questions arise. Thankfully, more missions are en-route to Mars, including Chinas Tianwen-1, the United Arab Emirates Hope Probe, and NASAs Perseverance rover, which could help solve some of these mysteries. For now, here are some Mars facts weve recently learned.

As the Earth spins during its day, it also wobbles and bobbles ever so slightly around its own axis. Astronomers arent really sure why this is happening, but they recently learned that Mars also does it.

Its called the Chandler Wobble: when a rotating bodys mass isnt distributed evenly, which causes a wobble. In Earths case, its mostly caused by its shape, which isnt perfectly round. In the case of the much rounder Mars, were not really sure why it happens, but it could be because of atmospheric motions.

Mars is, for the most part, a barren and inhospitable place. But go back a couple billion years, and the planet would have been much different. Researchers are now pretty sure that it was once home to oceans and river systems, but according to a new study, it was also subjected to powerful megafloods.

According to the new study, the megafloods would have been triggered by an asteroid impact 4 billion years ago. Although the water is now gone long, evidence of the ripples can still be seen in the shape of the Martian sediments. Early Mars was an extremely active planet from a geological point of view, a co-author of the study said in a press release. The planet had the conditions needed to support the presence of liquid water on the surface.

Speaking of water on Mars, September 2020 was a groundbreaking moment, as researchers published data showing that Mars still has salty lakes sealed under its icy polar regions. These subglacial lakes are exciting for two reasons: first, where theres water there could also be life, and subglacial lakes would be an ideal place to look for life on Mars; and second, this water could also be useful in establishing a human base or settlement on Mars.

When talking about water on Mars, we usually talk in the past tense. Mars had a rich water system, but now its gone the fact that it still has large bodies of liquid water came as quite a shock and made Mars much more interesting than before.

The Martian aurora takes place at night and is generated by the interaction of sunlight with oxygen atoms and molecules in the air. The emission is very difficult to see, even from Earth, which is relatively nearby. The Mars aurora was imaged by European Space Agencys Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which explored the Martian atmospheric environment before delivering the Schiaparelli lander, which crashed on the surface due to a premature release of the parachute.

But heres the thing: Mars gets auroras almost every day, its just that we cant see them. Unlike their Earthly counterparts, however, youd need some ultraviolet goggles to see the Martian aurora.

Mars and planetary rings dont really seem to get together in the same sentence. After all, planetary rings seem reserved for gas giants like Jupiter or Saturn. But astronomers have recently suggested that Mars may have also had planetary rings.

Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos. These moons rotate almost in the same plane as the Red Planets equator, which means the moons likely formed at the same time as Mars. However, one of the moons (Deimos) is tilted by two degrees, something which no one really bothered with until recently. Now, a team of astronomers is suggesting that this tilt can only be explained by a grandparent moon which broke down, producing planetary rings in the process.

When researchers say Mars had water, its not a joke. Analyzing new images of the sedimentary structure of Mars, a team of researchers concluded that in order to produce what can be observed now, the Martian rivers must have lasted for a very long time up to billions of years.

The sedimentary rocks record layers of history, and the researchers were able to determine that the channels of these ancient rivers were around 9 or 10 feet deep. Mars had rivers that continuously shifted their gullies, creating sandbanks, similar to the Rhine or the rivers that you can find in Northern Italy, the researchers said in their study.

We dont know if Mars was ever truly habitable, but theres a good chance it was and for a long time. A 2019 study suggests that Mars may have exhibited conditions fit for harboring life as early as 4.48 billion years ago, predating the earliest evidence of life on Earth by around 500 million years.

Theres a great deal of speculation regarding the potential for life on Mars, but if the planet ever was habitable, and if it had conditions similar to Earth, then life may have well emerged on the Red Planet before Earth. Heck, it could have even migrated from Mars to Earth on meteorites though again, at this point, this is just speculation.

The first strange thing about the Martian clouds is that they exist at all. Down here on Earth, clouds form around tiny particles like grains of dust or salt which act as anchors for water vapor to condense on. But to our knowledge, this mechanism doesnt exist on Mars.

Around two to three tons of space debris rain down on Mars, on average, every single day, and a new study suggests that these particles form the seed of Martian clouds. The findings are supported by previous research showing that asimilar mechanismmay help seed clouds near Earths poles (where the magnetic shield is weakest).

Unlike Earth, Mars doesnt really have an active tectonics, which means that its seismic activity is way less intense than that of Earths. However, after months of waiting, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure(SEIS) on board the InSight Mars lander detected its first marsquake.

Earthquakes (and marsquakes) are useful for researchers because they can offer information about the subsurface. By analyzing the seismic waves, researchers can infer the structure of the entire planet thats how we know what the Earths inside looks like, and thats how we could also understand what Mars is like on the inside.

Methane is a key molecule for life. The presence of methane could enhance habitability and may even be a signature of life, but it was only confirmed independently on Mars in 2019. Using numerical modeling and geological analysis, a team of researchers at the National Institute of Astrophysics in Rome, Italy, propose not only that methane on Mars exists, but also suggest where it could be located.

Methane is a chemical compound closely associated with microbial life, but it isnt necessarily biological in nature. Theres a very good chance that the methane is generated geologically, and this is what this new paper also suggests. However, since researchers pinpointed a promising location for future investigations into the origin of methane on Mars, we have a starting point for future missions to look into the origin of this methane.

As you may have picked up already, a lot of what weve learned about Mars recently has to do with the water but theres a big reason why we focus so much on this. Water determines potential habitability, and where water exists, life (as we know it) can also exist. If water exists on Mars, this doesnt automatically mean that life also exists, but it means that life could exist on Mars, and thats exciting in its own right.

This is different from the study that found subglacial lakes. A 2018 study found that some of the subsurface water on Mars could be rich enough in oxygen to support aerobic life. Thats the thing of habitability; we never thought that environment could have that much oxygen, said one of the study authors.

If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you may have to invent the universe first but if you want to make bricks from Martian soil, all you need to do is press really hard on it. A team of engineers at the University of California San Diego worked with a Mars soil simulant and managed to develop durable bricks just by pressing them really hard.

All it takes is the for equivalent to a 10 pound hammer dropped from a height of one meters, they say. Surprisingly enough, with this method, you dont need ovens or any other ingredients. The method may be compatible with additive manufacturing, meaning astronauts wanting to build a structure would simply have to lay down a layer of dirt, compact it, lay another layer and so on until theyre done.

Another important question to answer is how Mars got to how it is today. How could a planet with lush river valleys, floods, and active geology become so barren? The key lies in the disappearance of its atmosphere, and according to a recent study, its atmosphere was stripped away by solar wind.

Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field to deflect the stream of charged particles continuously blowing off the Sun. Instead, the solar wind crashes into Mars upper atmosphere and can accelerate ions into space, and the atmosphere, once rich enough to support liquid water, is now all but gone.

A large number of valley networks scar the Martian surface, but they may have been caused by water melting beneath glacial ice, not free-flowing rivers.

Funnily enough, this type of environment would have been even better for possible ancient life forms. A sheet of ice lends protection and stability, as well as shelter from solar radiation in the absence of a magnetic field (something which Mars once had, but has been gone for billions of years).

These are just some of the many things weve learned about Mars recently, thanks to diligent observations and several landmark Mars missions, both in orbit and on the surface of the planet. As the missions continue to unfold and expand, so too will our understanding of the Red Planet.

Undoubtedly, we missed some bits here. Is there anything youd like to see added to this list? Mention it in the comment section.

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14 Mars facts weve only learned in recent years - ZME Science

So far, season five of Amazon Prime's "The Expanse" has been a highly engaging ride after last years slower-paced episodes on the colony world of Ilus IV, delivering some of the finest moments in the history of the show.

The intrepid crew of the Rocinante is scattered across the solar system absorbed in various personal agendas as Earth reels from a vicious stealth asteroid attack courtesy of the rogue Belter Marco Inaros (Keon Alexander) and his Free Navy.

Alex (Cas Anvar) has returned to Mars to reconnect with his shattered clan, Amos (Wes Chatham) is off on Earth settling his mother's affairs after her death, and Naomi (Dominique Tipper) is desperately trying to intercede in the reckless path taken by her abandoned son Filip (Jasai Chase Owens), who's fallen under the spell of his fanatical dad.

Space.com has scored an exclusive clip for Wednesday's seventh episode titled, "Oyedeng," which translates into the word "goodbye" in Belter Creole. Have a look above.

This tense preview touches upon one of the central themes of this season, that of the redemptive complexities of parenthood and family. Here we see a serious confrontation between Naomi and her son Filip aboard the Pella flagship as she tries to explain to him the ramifications of his homicidal actions.

It's another of those focused, emotional scenes set against the tapestry of greater galactic drama that makes this epic series so memorable.

"The Expanse" season 5 episode 7 airs Wednesday (Jan. 13) on Amazon Prime.

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'The Expanse' exclusive: Naomi and Filip have a heated family chat in new clip from season 5, episode 7 - Space.com

Elon Musk's space internet project Starlink is available for users in the UK after receiving regulatory approval.

The service first launched in North America last year, offering people the opportunity to connect to a high-speed broadband network beamed from a constellation of SpaceX satellites.

More than 800 Starlink satellites are currently in orbit, with plans for tens of thousands more over the next few years.

Starlink remains a private venture but Mr Musk, who recently became the worlds richest man, hinted that it could go public once stable revenue growth has been achieved. Any money generated could be used to help fund his ambitions to establish a human colony on Mars.

Australia, Greece and Germany are among have also received licensing approval, while local reports in Russia claimed State Duma legislators may fine any individuals and companies who attempt to use the satellite internet service.

In response to the reports, Mr Musk tweeted: Were just trying to get people to Mars. Help would be greatly appreciated.

The Starlink service is currently aimed at people and communities in remote locations that do not have access to high-speed internet.

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INDY/LIFE NewsletterBe inspired with the latest lifestyle trends every week

In October, a remote Native American tribe in Washington State became one of the first users of Starlink, allowing them to conduct remote learning and telehealth appointments during the coronavirus pandemic for the first time.

Emergency responders in the state also used the network to set up a WiFi hotspot for the town of Malden, which was partially destroyed by wildfires.

SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 18 October, 2020

(SpaceX)

In the UK, Starlink customers will pay 439 for the satellite dish and other equipment needed to receive the signal. They will also need to pay a monthly fee of 84 to receive the service.

The cost of the service is likely to decrease as the network grows, while rival services from competitors like OneWeb could also see the price drop.

The network has received criticism from astronomers, who claim that the long strings of satellites are disrupting observations of the night sky.

SpaceX is currently working with several astronomy organisations and observatories to develop tactics that will reduce the visibility of the network, including painting them black and twisting the solar panels in order to not reflect light down to Earth.

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Starlink: Elon Musks space internet comes to UK as SpaceX CEO says it will help get people to Mars - The Independent

NASA satellite crashed into Saturn

NASA, the United States space agency had previously revealed that they are planning to take the first woman to the moon as a part of the Artemis mission. And now, reports suggest that Dr Jessica Meir, a Brown University graduate could be the first woman to land on the moon. Meir is one among 18 NASA astronauts who are currently undergoing training for the Artemis moon landing program.

Excited Meir shares her hope

In a recent interaction with NBC News 10, Meir revealed that she is thrilled about the opportunity, as history will mark her name as the first woman to walk on the lunar surface. Even though Meir's name is not finalized yet, she believes that it may be someone she knows who is going to land on the lunar surface, if she is not chosen.

Moon (Left) Jessica Meir (Right)NASA

"It is completely a privilege and so humbling to be part of this group. It may even be a colleague or close friend of mine, so the fact that we're there already identifying these individuals and making these concrete steps to go back to the moon is incredibly exciting for us," said Meir during the interview.

Artemis mission could go farther than Apollo missions

It was on July 20, 1969, that NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the lunar surface as a part of the Apollo missions. After landing on the moon, Armstrong delivered those iconic sentence, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". So far, 12 people have walked on the lunar surface, and until now, no woman has landed on the moon.

Meir revealed that the upcoming Artemis mission could go beyond Apollo missions, and it will help reshape the history of human space exploration.

"We're making those first steps.Hopefully, if the rest of the testing goes well, we'll have the Artemis I mission, which will first send the rocket and the spacecraft without people for a test, then the Artemis II mission, which will go out around the moon," added Meir.

According to space experts, the Artemis missionwill play a crucial role in determining the success of future Mars colonization trips. These space experts believe that setting up a permanent human colony on the moon is very much necessary to develop a human base on Mars.

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This Brown University graduate may be the first woman to land on moon - IBTimes India

Elton John might have said it best in his iconic song, "Rocket Man""Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids."

More than 50 years after we sent humans to the moon the closest celestial body to Earth the plan is still to head to Mars, something many astronauts who have flown in space thought we would have alreadyaccomplished.

"I just assumed by the time I got to be old enough to go into the space program, you know we'd be living on Mars or I'd be working on Mars just as a scientist," Mae Jemison, thefirst African American woman in space,told university students at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in December 2019.

But despite the fact humankind has been unable to send anyone to another place in the universe besides the moon, there are still many with the hopes and expectation that we will become this multi-planetary species in the near future, starting with our red next-door neighbor.

Billionaire entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and aspiring young astronauts like Alyssa Carson, who is a sophomore studying astrobiology at Florida Tech, hope to one day live on Mars.

"Eventually the sun will run out of fuel to burn … and conditions on Earth are going to be very different from our normal regular life now," Carson told FLORIDA TODAY. "It's not necessarily saying Mars is the savior here … but Mars is that first step in getting people a bit more accustomed to even thinking about living on other planets and being able to colonize someplace else."

Even Musk's aerospace company, SpaceX was founded with the "ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets," according to its website.

But how feasible is that?Do we want to settle on a planet we can't even breathe on? Should we do it?

According to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine, we have the technological capability to go to Mars. The problem is money, or lack thereof to be more precise.

Under Space Policy Directive 1, President Donald Trump tasked NASA with sending the next man and first woman to the moon by 2024 and then eventually heading on to Mars. But this isn't the first time a president has said we're going back to the moon or we're finally sending humans to the red planet.

After John F. Kennedy made his declaration that we would "put a man on the moon," several other presidents have tried to walk in his footsteps. But unlike Kennedy, none have come close to succeeding.

On the 20th anniversary of Apollo 11 in 1989, President George H.W.Bush said we would return to the moon and go on to Mars but in the end, the priceprovedtoo high.

His son, President George W. Bush echoed the same goal.

Under the Constellation program, the plan was to return to the moon by 2020 and then head to Mars, but the project was ultimately scrapped after a series of delays and increasingly high costs.

President Barrack Obama also hoped to go to Mars. Instead of proposing returning to the moon, however, Obama said we should send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 before moving on to Mars. Congressional Republicans rejected the idea andnothing came to fruition.

NASA Administrator discusses crewed missions to Mars

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine discusses NASA's ability to send humans to Mars

Rachael Joy, Florida Today

Then cameTrump's turn.

With the goal to head back to the moon in the next four years under the Artemis program, the next big milestone after that would be to head to Mars.

But again, the problem boils down to spending what's necessary to send astronauts there, Bridenstine said.

"The question isn't whether or not we're technologically capable of doing it, because we are. The question is whether or not we have the political will to do it,"hetold reporters at Kennedy Space Center in July for NASA's Mars Perseverance rover launch.

The Apollo program, Bridenstine pointed out, was driven by the need to beat the Soviet Union to the moon, which is why Congress appropriated vast sums of money to NASA. Today, that's no longer the case.

With no Cold War to encourage federal spending on the program, NASA, instead, is looking to international partners to help pay for any trip to Mars.

"Today we don't have thatlarge power competition that we had back then, but what we do have is we have international partners, we have commercial partners, we have technological advances that are so far beyond what we had in the 1960s," Bridenstine said. "So the answer is yes, we can do it. The question is: Will we receive the budgetto do it right now?"

It is unclear how much support the incoming Biden administrationis going to give the Artemis program.

Money isalso anissue for SpaceX's Mars plans.

As a private company, SpaceX can't rely solely on taxpayer dollars to send humans there.

Instead, the aerospace company is looking for other revenue streams to help pay for a Mars mission, such as its Starlink internet constellation.

Aside from providing internet connection to people living in remote areas around the world, Starlink will also help fund SpaceX's goal of having people live on Mars or at least, that's the plan.

But first, Starlink has to be successful.

Not everyone believes sending people to live on Mars is the right move, however.

Bill Nye, CEO for the Planetary Society and famously known as "Bill Nye the Science Guy" for his TV show that aired in the '90s, is one of those who doesn't believe in setting up camp on Mars.

"I would love to go to space, you guys.But this idea of living on another world where we can't be outside just doesn't sound that appealing," Nye told reporters in 2019in Cocoa Beach before the launch of the Light Sail 2 project he and other Planetary Society members had worked on.

"You think you want to go to Venus?We'd be vaporized in a second, way less than a second," Nye said. "And then on Mars, there's nothing to breathe. There's nothing to breathe, people. It's not just there's nothing to eat, there's nothing to breathe. So, you know if you live in a dome and you go outside, you're going to put on a spacesuit and you're in another dome, like my good friend 'Sandy the squirrel," referencing the character from children's TV show, "SpongeBob SquarePants."

And as of now, that's really the only option for humans to live on Mars a dome. It would essentially be like how actor Matt Damon' character lived in the sci-fi film, "The Martian."

Even the author of "The Martian," from which the sci-fi film is based on, doesn't believe we're close to having a human settlement on Mars.

"Mars is horribly inhospitable," Andy Weir told FLORIDA TODAY via email. "Though it's an awesome idea living on Mars it would be far easier to colonize Earth's ocean floor. There won't be a significant settlement on Mars until there's an economic reason for a city to exist there. Like Antarctica,the only people there are researchers because there's no reason to be there otherwise."

And much like Nye, who doesn't want to live on Mars, Weir echoes similar thoughts.

Bill Nye doesn't think humans should live on Mars

Bill Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society, talks to FLORIDA TODAY reporters Antonia Jaramillo and Rachael Joy about the idea of humans living on Mars.

Staff, FLORIDA TODAY

"Nope! I write about brave people, but I'm not one of them," Weir said."I like Earth and plan to stay."

There are others who still argue there's another way to live on Mars that doesn't include living in a dome.

The only problem is the logistics ofchanging the Martian landscape into a one that can support human life.

Called "terraforming," this essentially involves transforming Mars into a more Earth-like habitat. It's what Musk has proposed doing and what astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson believes would be best if humans were to live on Mars.

Elon Musk has a plan. Hes thinking of putting satellites in orbit that have big reflectors that focus sunlight that would otherwise miss the planet. Focus it down on the planet and just add more energy to the planet, heating it up, and if you do it right, you might be able to set sort of a chain reaction in place," deGrasse Tyson said in his podcast, "StarTalk."

"If everything is frozen and it gets warmer, youll evaporate more carbon dioxide and thatll help trap more heat and then thatll make it hotter to evaporate even more carbon dioxide," he said. "You get all of that out of the system and into the atmosphere. Then now its warm enough, now youre still mostly greenhouse gases, you still need oxygen to breathe. So now you put microorganisms that eat the CO2 and they release oxygen.

But terraforming Mars isn't going to happen anytime soon. Not only is the technology not available to do so, but the question also becomes, "how long would that take?"

Thats the big problem. Is it a thousand years, is it a million years? Or can you speed it up with some fast-acting microbes? This remains to be established. deGrasse Tyson said. But Im telling you that if were going to be a two-planet species, Im thinking you have to terraform Mars for that to happen.

Yet not everybody agrees with that tactic, especially because that would change the whole geology of Mars.

"Ive never been someone that has been a fan of terra transforming a planet to make it more Earth-like. I think that the excitement of going to a different planet would be utilizing the in-situ resources that are there," NASA astronaut Christina Koch told deGrasse Tyson on his podcast.

"So, I would see something like a sustainable Mars establishment, to me, would always require some type of resupply, and even if thats just to make it livable and habitable in terms of what humans think of as habitable and livable, I think is the important thing. But using the in-situ resources as well, she said.

In other words, living in that dome-like structure.

Florida Tech professor and plant biochemist, Andrew Palmer also believes using in-situ resources to live on Mars is the best plan.

He, along with other researchers at the universityare collaborating on how future Marssettlers can use the resources, namely the soil on Mars to grow their own food on the red planet.

"So the whole premise of this project, it all falls under something that's called in-situ resource utilization, which is a simple way of just saying, using what's already there. So what we want to do is establish how little do you need to bring from Earth in order to be self-sufficient," Palmer told FLORIDA TODAY."Mars is about six months away. If something goes wrong on Mars and you're unable to get a rocket to Mars to rescue people, they need to have their own food."

By studying various simulated Martian soils, Palmer and his colleagues hope to determine what elseis neededto help grow crops on Mars, especially since the Martian soil may not be able to host plant life.

Florida Tech to find right Mars soil to grow plants on the red planet

Dr. Andrew Palmer , fellow professors and his grad students are working on growing plants in simulated Mars soil for sustainability on Mars.

Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY

"IfI go take a sample of soil on Florida Tech campus and then I went out beachside and I took a soil sample there, those are not going to be the same and the same is true on Mars," Palmer said.

This is problematic for future Mars settlers. What if they get to Mars and all of a sudden they can't grow anything there?

In order to avoid that, Palmer suggests sending a robotic greenhouse in advance.

"In our mind, one way to do this would be you land robots there six months in advance and you inflate a tent and you start working on the soil, all remotely, and colonists get there and the soil is ready to grow," Palmer said.

When discussing what crops would be best to grow on Mars and what other nutrients settlers on the red planet would need, Palmer recommends crops like potatoes, corn, radishes andkale to name a few. As for protein, Palmer says insects are the way to go.

"Trying to grow a cow on Mars, that's a huge amount of resource investment,but growing insects, it's a very cheap investment, relatively speaking," Palmer said.

The other option could be to grow synthetic meats.

Besides just the different eating habits and living arrangements humans would have to get accustomed to if they lived on Mars, life would be very different from Earth, perhaps, more environmentally friendly as nearly everything would have to be recycled over and over again.

But that might not be all that enticing to future colonists.

"In a Martian colony, (the settlers) willhave never not had water that was made fromprevious urine andtheir entire world will be completely recycled and reused," Palmer said.

But even with a Mars establishment, others don't believe Mars should be the final destination or a "colony" at all.

"I think going to Mars is fine, it's not a final place to go. I mean, you know, it's like just going to the moon but it's a little further out," the late Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden told FLORIDA TODAY in November 2019.

"When the sun burns out, Mars is going to go too, along with the Earth," Worden said. "We'd be better off solving all the problems we've got here (on Earth) than colonizing Mars. What we need is an Earth-like planet in another solar system somewhere."

But if humans haven't even been able to head back to the moon since 1972, the odds of trying to head to a planet in another solar system isnothingmore thanscience fiction at this point.

Technological issues aside and the next big concern isif humans will even live long enough to travel and settle on another planet. At the rate we're treating our planet, we might not make it.

Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden doesn't believe in colonizing Mars

At Florida Tech, Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden explained why he doesn't believe in colonizing Mars & where we could eventually live (Alpha Centauri)

Rachael Joy, Florida Today

"That's my greatest concern," Worden said. "We're not very good to each other here and we don't seem to care about the things that will sustain this place to live in for a long time …I think we're doing more damage to ourselves and the planet that it may be of such an extent that we don't have to wait till the sun burns out, we're going to do it ourselves."

He's not the only one who thinks so.

In a July 2019 Pew Research Center study, 63% of Americans said NASA's top priorities should be using space to monitor key parts of Earths climate system. Meanwhile, only 13% believe sending astronauts to the moon should be a top priority. That figure jumps to a mere 18% for a crewed mission to Mars.

Former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver wrote an op-ed piece for The Washington Postin 2019stating NASA should focus its resources on saving our planet instead of heading to other celestial bodies.

"The public is right about this. Climate change not Russia, much less China is todays existential threat. Data from NASA satellites show that future generations here on Earth will suffer from food and water shortages, increased disease and conflict over diminished resources," Garver said.

Instead of focusing on sending humans to the moon or Mars, Garver said NASA should create a Climate Corps, "in which scientists and engineers spend two years in local communities understanding the unique challenges they face, training local populations and connecting them with the data and science needed to support smart, local decision-making."

"Apollos legacy should not be more meaningless new goals and arbitrary deadlines," Garver said. "Lets not repeat the past. Lets try to save our future. Besides, humanitys intrinsic need to explore is driven by our need to survive."

The novel coronavirus pandemicleads toanother important question about interplanetary travel:What if we got stuck with another pandemic, only this time while humans were in space?

It's hard enough to live on a planet where you can't breathe, let alone have a highly contagious virus spreading like wildfire.

A key thing we have come to understand from COVID-19, is those with weaker immune systems have a harder time recovering. For the future explorers venturing to live on Mars, they might all end up having weak immune systems.

A study published last yearby NASA scientists revealed astronauts who have endured long space voyages such as the shuttle missions and International Space Station flightswere more prone to catch diseasessuch as herpes, chickenpox and shingles.

The cause? Pretty much what youd expect from any potentially treacherous space voyage: stress.

So far, 47 out of 89 (53%) astronauts from short-duration space shuttle flights, and 14 out of 23 (61%) from long-duration ISS spaceflight missions shed at least one or more herpes viruses in their saliva or urine samples, the study states.

When astronauts venture out into space, they are faced with several extra-terrestrial hazards including cosmic radiation, microgravity and gravitational forces like acceleration and deceleration.

But those aren't the only stress factors they're exposed to. Throughout an astronaut's space mission, they are forced to endure social separation, confinement, sleep deprivation, circadian rhythm disruption and increased anxiety.

All this exposure helps contribute to the dysregulation in the astronauts immune and endocrine systems.

So what does this mean for potentially longer space exploration missions and the humans embarking on those quests?

Although NASA believes there is no clinical risk to astronauts during orbital spaceflight, there is concern that during deep space exploration missions there may be clinical risks related to viral shedding, lead study author Satish Mehta at Johnson Space Center told FLORIDA TODAY via email.

The girl who wants to go to Mars

Alyssa Carson, 18 year old FIT student, has known she wanted to be an astronaut from a very young age and has been working towards that goal since childhood.

Malcolm Denemark, FLORIDA TODAY

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On a planet where you cannot breathe, is living on Mars the best idea? - Florida Today