Category Archives: Mars Colonization

Shannon Nangle finished her PhD ready to take on a new challenge and set her sights on research to help makeMars colonization possible. But she isnt pursuing research on rocket fuels or space suits. Shes using synthetic biology to improve biomanufacturing of needed resources using simple inputs like sunlight,water, and CO2.

In 2015, a collaboration between Pam Silver and Daniel Noceras lab showed that the bacteriumRalstonia eutropha could be used along with water splitting to create biomass andfusel alcohols. Then in 2016 they followed up with bionic leaf 2.0 that useda more biocompatible catalyst to beat the efficiency of natural photosynthesis. Now, the technology has to beexpanded and scaled up to take on the many potential applications of an efficient solar to bioproduct technology.

To find out about the latest work to help move the bionic leaf out of the lab and maybe one day to Mars, I met with Shannon and graduate student Marika Ziesack, both members of Pam Silvers lab, in their Harvard Medical School lab space. I saw the benchtop setup for testingRalstonia eutrophawiththe biocompatible catalysts. A power source connects to the small electrodes that sit in the compartment with the bacteria. As the electricity is applied it splits waterwhich as H2O has two hydrogens and one oxygen atom into hydrogen and oxygen. The bacterium,Ralstonia eutropha in this case, can then use that hydrogen along with carbon dioxide to produce biomass like thebio-plastic precursor polymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB).

Ralstonia eutrophacan also be engineered to overproduce certain fatty acids and enzymes that allow for more biopolymers than just PHB. Thats one of the improvements that Shannon and Marika are working on so that biopolymers with different structural properties can be produced and used as biodegradable materials here on earth or as renewable building blocks on Mars.

Other engineering improvements can be made so the bacteria can tolerate stresses like high salt concentrations that can improve conductivity of the solution. They even mentioned the possibility of a bacterium that can grow in a mixture that includes urine waste to allowmore sustainable water recycling. Bacteria grown in a lab or production facility usually need a feedstock of biomass that can end up being the big cost in the bioplastic production. With sunlight, water, and air as inputs its possible to bypass the expensive feedstocks that would be normally be used to create these bioplastics.

To truly tackle applications like space exploration, synthetic biology will need to prove itself in the field. Others have noted that synthetic biology can be crucial to a Mars mission but first it has to get off of a lab bench. Thats why the team at Harvard areworking on more portable versions of the bionic leaf to hopefully show that it could work outside of the labusing only resources readily found on Earth or on Mars: solar power, water, and carbon dioxide.

Among the many challenges of Mars colonization would be the need to use resources found on Mars instead of bringing everything from Earth. This use of resources found in space is usually referred to as in situ resource utilization, and it would be necessary for long term space missions or colonization. There is a different set of resources out in space than on Earth, but in the last few years NASA has shown that water exists on Mars with frozen deposits reaching the amount of water in Lake Superior. Then if solar power can be used to split that water then hydrogen would be produced and you would just need CO2 to produce bioplastics. Fortunately, even though Mars atmosphere is 100 times less dense than on Earth, 96% of it is made up of CO2. So if a technology like synthetic biology can reliably turnwater and CO2 into useful materials would be ideal for conditions on Mars.

Then once engineered bacteria can convert the in situ resources into something useful like bioplastics, further processing can be done to make needed tools. With bioplastics that can mean 3D printing of products that are made in a renewable fashion with biodegradable materials. So even if this technology never makes it to Mars it may finds ways to replace some of the harsh chemical processes we currently use with biological processes.

Biology has already found a way to do many chemical processes extremely efficiently without high heat or harshchemicals often used in industrial processes. As researchers learn to harness the diverse biological pathways that already exist there will be more opportunities to engineer cells that can replace chemical reactors. More sophisticated models could even lead to predictions of exactly which pathway should be used to meet your final product needs. The possibility of taking advantage of so many capabilities that biology provides is what excites so manyover synthetic biology as a technology.

But for now,the bionic leaf and other promising synthetic biology tools will haveto prove how they can scale and perform in tough conditions outside of the lab. As they do that, synthetic biology researchers like Shannon will be moving us toward the big goals likemaking Mars colonization possible.

Link:
Synthetic biology to help colonize Mars - PLoS Blogs (blog)

Artist's impression of how Mars colonists might look after thousands of years of life on the red planet. Joseph Ventura

In other words, becoming a multiplanet species might lead us to become multiple species.

"This

New species or not?

Six thousand years isn't long in evolutionary terms. After all, Homo sapiens has existed as

"Evolution to a new species by the classic definition of not being able to breed with humans would take a long time, probably thousands of generations and a hundred thousand years," University of Arizona astronomer Dr. Chris Impey told NBC News MACH in an email. On the other hand, he added, "changing enough to look physically distinct would be much quicker, tens or perhaps a hundred generations."

Dr. Philipp Mittercker, a theoretical biologist at the University of Vienna in Austria, said in an email to MACH that he, too, is dubious of rapid speciation.

"Speciation is a long-term process that usually requires reproductive isolation over millions of years," Mittercker said. "Some human populations had been isolated for thousands of years and are still far away from being a separate species. It is thus unlikely that humans who had colonized Mars [would] become a separate species."

Solomon acknowledged that the path of human evolution on Mars is speculative. But he told MACH in an email that "it follows from what we know about evolutionary biology" that Mars colonists might evolve faster than some think.

And the apparent absence of microbial life on Mars might play a key role.

Evidence suggests that Mars may be devoid of life, and that goes for pathogenic bacteria as well as other life forms. If humans were to establish and live within a germ-free Mars colony, Solomon said, the colonists' immune systems could eventually lose the ability to fight off infections that might be introduced to the colony by germ-carrying humans or animals visiting from Earth. That risk presumably would encourage the colonists to minimize contact including sexual contact with potentially infectious earthlings. That, in turn, could accelerate the pace at which the colonists' bodies would begin to adapt to their new world.

Surprising differences

How might these Martian people differ from their distant ancestors in other words, from us? Whether or not they evolved into a new species, they might have anatomical as well as immunological and other physiological differences. Solomon said they might have notably thicker bones (including the skull bones), which might give them a more robust appearance perhaps a bit like members of the extinct proto-human Paranthropus genus, including

Why would that be? Bones need to work against the force of gravity to stay strong.

Evolutionary pressure for beefier skeletons might be especially strong for female Mars colonists, Solomon said, given the risk of pelvic fractures during childbirth. Beefier skeletons or not, Solomon said, female colonists might come to opt for cesarean section over natural childbirth. And since the size of the human head is constrained in part by the dimensions of the birth canal, the heads of Mars colonists might become larger than what is seen in humans on Earth.

If that sounds far-fetched, consider this: recent research by Mittercker and others suggests that the rising popularity of C-sections may be allowing an

So Mars colonists might have beefy bones and big heads. Then there's the question of their eyes.

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Mars is much farther from the sun than is the Earth, and the extra distance and the lower levels of sunlight on the Martian surface could cause changes in the colonists' eyes.

"During a good day, Mars looks like an overcast day on Earth," Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, a planetary scientist at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., told NBC News MACH in an email. "Our eyes are accustomed to a certain amount of light on Earth. If there has to be some adaptation to these new ambient conditions, then either our optical system and brain will have to develop new ways of collecting more light on the retina, or we will develop new retinas or bigger eyes."

The need to protect those bigger eyes might be another reason the colonists' skulls might become more robust, Cabrol said, adding that it wasn't clear whether the changes she envisions would be evidence of a new species or simply a version of Homo sapiens adapted for life in a different environment.

Of course, evolutionary changes in humans on Mars would occur only if humans were able to reproduce and successfully raise their children in the low-gravity Martian environment. Cabrol said the colonists might need some sort of "gravity chamber" in which to reproduce and in which their offspring could spend their early developmental years in conditions closer to those on Earth.

Peculiar pigmentation

Another potential change for the Mars colonists would be their skin pigmentation.

"Because of less light," Cabrol said, "I would say that it is possible that the skin of these humans will become ... pale over time, and their hair light-toned."

Solomon sees things differently.

The Martian atmosphere is thinner than Earth's, and the red planet has essentially no protective magnetic field. Thus people living on Mars would be exposed to high levels of cancer-causing radiation even if they spent most of their lives indoors. Pigmentation helps block the effects of radiation. The deeper the color, the better the protection. Thus Solomon figures Mars people might evolve to have darker skin than anyone on Earth.

On the other hand, Solomon said, life on Mars might yield people whose skin is pigmented by carotenoids rather than our usual pigment, melanin. (Something similar has been

Cultural and technological changes

Is Solomon right, generally speaking, about the changing appearance of Mars colonists? That's impossible to say. But no matter what, experts agree that Mars colonists would likely drift away culturally and technologically from their terrestrial ancestors.

As Impey told MACH, "They will probably be aggressive in genetic engineering and self-modification (body part and organ enhancement and replacement), to the extent of embedding various monitoring and repair devices, and taking a cyborg path. This will be a very technology-forward cohort, advancing far beyond the average terrestrial society."

Video:

Impey said it was hard to predict the psychological effects of living on Mars. But as the colonists "are removed from human affairs," he continued, "they will probably develop their own cultural norms and dialects, and start to feel very distinct or post-human."

If the colonists do change dramatically from their ancestors back on Earth, how would we view them? Would we consider them alien beings or just subtly different humans?

Solomon thinks the latter possibility is more likely.

"In the past, when there were multiple species of human around (i.e. Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Homo sapiens), we know they had sex with one another and had babies that survived," he said in an email. "That suggests to me that we view other humanlike species as being more human than animal."

Here's to good neighbors.

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Will Mars Colonists Evolve Into This New Kind of Human? - NBCNews.com

Anyone with any serious interest in science fiction has come across the novels of Philip K. Dick. Many have spawned Hollywood movies such as Blade Runner and Minority Report, and TV shows such as The Man in the High Castle, and the recently announced Electric Dreams. In Dicks novels, brand new colonies on other planets are grim and depressing, with colonists dying off, or enduring hardships and deprivations, and going to great lengths to find distractions from their hovels and the horrors they encounter.

Despite this, so far, more than 100,000 have signed up to help colonize Mars, each desiring to etch their name in the annals of history. Those scant few chosen will never return. Theyre of course told this upfront. But do they really know the risks?

Lots of organizations including Mars Onea Dutch nonprofit, SpaceX, NASA, The European Space Agency (ESA), and Russias Roscosmos, have plans. Lets look at two of the most prominent, as NASAs plan is extra careful, inching humans toward low-Mars orbit by the 2030s, and a surface landing in the 2040s.

A private enterprise will likely beat them and other government organizations to it. Mars One is being financed initially through a successful crowdfunding campaign and colonist application fees. It was started by Dutch entrepreneurs in 2012. They plan to have a permanent base on the Red Planet by 2023.

Mars Ones plan starts off with a telecom orbiter in 2018. A settlement rover follows in 2020. This will prepare the habitat, including starting the oxygen creation process. The first astronauts should arrive in 2025, four of them.

Of the 100,000 and counting signed up, only 40 will be chosen. Each will be trained in colonizing skills for eight years. After the first batch, four more colonists will follow every two years, when Earth and Mars are at their closest point. The goal is a sustainable colony. The colonists and their gear will be transported by a SpaceX Falcon 9 Heavy rocket. Elon Musk has in his possession what looks to be the workhorse of the second space age.

After an eight month journey (five if new tech is used), each lander, carrying colonists and supplies, will plop down on the surface. The capsules will then be repurposed as shelters. Power is to be generated through solar panels. While the food supply will be replenished with each new arrival. Colonists can begin growing their own food too, hydroponically. Oxygen, water, nitrogen, and a host of other useful things can be collected from the planet. Water for instance, may be extracted from the soil, or the atmosphere.

Mars One plans to fund the venture through media coverage, a sort of reality TV show of colonists daily lives. "It will be bigger than the Olympic Games, CEO Bas Lansdorp told CNN. And what if it turns into a real-life, horror story?

In September of last year, Elon Musk announced SpaceXs plan. He started out by saying that humans have two choices, eventually going extinct, or becoming an interplanetary species. Going right now would be expensive, Musk said, running $10 billion a ticket. However, with sleek new, high-powered engines, carbon fiber fuel tankswhich are strong but incredibly light, and reusable rockets, he believes he can bring the cost down to $200,000 per person.

Youd have the ride of a lifetime. Sometime around 2027, one hundred colonists will perch atop a rocket as high as a 40-story building. After blasting through the atmosphere at tens of thousands of miles per hour, the rocket will return to Earth, picking up fuel to refuel the vessel. Itll go through this process several times. Then, youd spend the next several months traveling at 19,014 mph. Youd cover approx. 140 million miles of space, farther than any human has traveled before.

Musk pictures colonists spending time playing video games or hanging out at the ships pizza shop. One thing left out of this teen space drama, itll be impossible to shower, so itll smell bad. One might start to experience cabin fever as well, leading to irritability, depression, and fatigue. On the plus side, pizza in zero gravity.

The heat shields should protect you from reentry and the retro-propulsion, should-repeat-should, stop the vehicle and land it. At every point along the way, you and the crew had better do a lot of things to keep your spirits high. Because long-term isolation and confinement can cause depression, fatigue, stress, and a decline in cognition or morale.

With Musks plan, methane is gathered from Marss surface to fuel the ships return journey, thus cutting costs. The end game is to build a colossal metropolis on Mars, housing millions. Thatll take tens of thousands of trips and thousands of ships. Musk believes he can do it within a century. The first step is sending a Dragon 2 capsule to the Red Planet next year. Then SpaceX will shoot off another every 27 months, taking two or three tons of equipment with each trip.

The company is already doing a swift business launching satellites and resupplying the ISS. But according to Musk, these are just ways to finance Marss colonization. SpaceX doesnt have the budget to do it all on their own. As such, the announcement was seen not merely as an unveiling, but a way to court investors. The company will need billions to make their vision a reality.

The first real worry is a safe landing. Only one-third of the missions to Mars have been successful, thus far. But even if you land okay and arent an emotional wreck, months in space means high exposure to cosmic rays. Working on the international space station is equivalent to working on a nuclear reactor.

Mars doesnt have a magnetic field, so youll be exposed often, depending on what shielding is employed. This leads to a higher risk of cancer and Alzheimers. Theres a space suit designed at MIT which can protect against such radiation. But how well itll work on Mars, no one really knows.

Not only will this affect adults, but children born into the colony. Today, scientists warn against having children born beyond Earth. Thats not only due to radiation exposure but the difference in gravity. Mars has one-third the gravity of Earth.

This might cause motion sickness upon arrival, until colonists adjust. But the bigger problem is, we dont know what low gravity would do to a developing fetus or a human child. Another problem is a low gravity environment causes bones to weaken. Without a significant pull, the body slowly strips nutrients from the bones, at a little over 1% per month.

Astronauts on the International Space Station work out all the time to maintain muscle and bone density. One plus though, the lack of gravity may give one superhuman strength, speed, and agility, at least compared to Earth. You could easily leap a car in a single bound.

Superpowers versus dying early, and making history versus depriving yourself of every luxury of Earth, including your family, your favorite foods (youll be eating mostly dried food), and the internet? Thats a lot to consider. If youre still weighing a trip to Mars, best of luck. At least now you have a good idea of what youd be up against.

To learn more about the Martian colonization process, click here:

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Here's Everything You'll Need to Know If You Want to Help Colonize Mars - Big Think

Blackbird Interactive, the studio made up of ex-Relic staff and the team who made Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, has revealed that it's working on a game for NASA.

Called Project Eagle, it's an interactive art demo of what a Mars base in 2117 might look like:

According to a post from Blackbird, Dr. Jeff Norris from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory got in touch to see if the studio would like to collaborate on the project. "The proposal was to create an interactive art demo showcasing what a base on mars could look like, with the hopes of inspiring new generations to dream of human settlement beyond planet Earth and support the exploration and colonization of our solar system," Blackbird says. "When you are a company of self proclaimed 'space nerds' this is simply an offer you cant refuse.

"Project Eagle is an interactive model of a Mars colony in Gale Crater at the base of Mount Sharp, near the original landing site of the Mars Curiosity Rover. It was created using terrain data from the HiRise camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and designed with input from NASA scientists about the technological and material constraints and possibilities for building human habitation on the red planet. Project Eagle is set in 2117, 44 Martian years (82.8 Earth years) after first human mission to Mars."

The demo is going to be shown off in full on Wednesday at the D.I.C.E. summit. Until then we can only stare at these lovely images:

Link:
Homeworld Developer is Making a Game for NASA | Kotaku UK - Kotaku UK (blog)

The UAE may not be the first country that comes to mind when one thinks of space exploration, but it has big plans to colonize mars, and its got the oil money to do it. The plan is already in the works, complete with a concept design for a mini city, to be built by robots.

Though space exploration usually conjures up visions of Russia and the U.S., the UAE has a long history of high-profile, futuristic technological developments, for everything from artificial islands to the worlds first rotating skyscraper and 3D printing.

This time, however, the Emiratis are in no rush: their project is called Mars 2117 and media have praised them for not being overambitious, unlike, some say, Elon Musk and NASA, with their plans to start sending people to Mars some time over the next few decades. As one author points out, neither SpaceX, nor NASA have the money needed to advance space transportation technology quickly enough.

The Emiratis, however, are starting slow, from square one. According to a press release from the government of Dubai, the initial stage of the project will focus on developing the skills and expertise necessary to move forward. This stage will in effect involve a change in the educational system of the emirate, to enable future generations to sprout the engineers who will take the project further. Related:How Long Can The Permian Craze Continue?

In a poetic summary, the emirates ruler, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, said that The new project is a seed that we plant today, and we expect future generations to reap the benefits, driven by its passion to learn to unveil a new knowledge.

One cannot help but appreciate the sober, rational approach, devoid of the urge for quick results. It is this approach that has the biggest chance of success, after all, and we or rather our descendents may see the Emirati-international team in a nose-to-nose race with SpaceX because, to be fair, Elon Musk has not set a tight deadline for SpaceXs manned mission to Mars. It could take place in 40 to 100 years.

So, the interesting question is: will the Emiratis team up with Musk to take people to Mars? Its not unlikely, to say the least.

The UAEs space agency was set up just three years ago and has yet to build sufficient expertise and experience to enable the education of those future engineers we mentioned. SpaceX, on the other hand, has been around for 13 years and is already sending rockets to space and getting them back, too. The company has scheduled its 10th commercial launch for tomorrow, to take supplies and science reports to the International Space Station. Related:Is The Bakken A Bust?

Its a perfect fit, really. SpaceX and Elon Musk have the expertise, the experience, and the skills, and Dubai has the money. Of course, just because they look like a perfect fit this doesnt mean they will team up. And yet, on a speculative note, lets recall that Musk last week opened a Tesla showroom in Dubai. Thats the first Tesla presence in the Middle East and many considered it an exceptionally bold move, given the Emirates oil focus.

The Emiratis, despite the oil price crash, still have a respectable stash in their sovereign wealth fund, the Investment Corporation of Dubai. The fund was worth US$175 billion three years ago, when it launched its international expansion strategy, and now, according to one author, it has reached US$500 billion. With that kind of moneyand technological prowessMars seems feasible.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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This Oil Nation Aims To Colonize Mars - OilPrice.com

Futurism

The UAE has a plan to colonize Mars in the next 100 years, and the oil money to finance it Quartz ... eyed the elaborately decorated exhibit booth of the United Arab Emirates space agency, founded in 2014, wondering whether itand the UAE's $500 billion sovereign wealth fund, swollen with petrodollarscould be the financiers needed for a Mars ... UAE Announces Plans to Have a Human Colony on Mars by 2117Futurism The UAE Has Announced Plans To Build A City The Size Of Chicago On MarsWccftech United Arab Emirates Reveal Plan to Build City on MarsCrave Online Dubai Media Office -Washington Post -T.co all 101 news articles »

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The UAE has a plan to colonize Mars in the next 100 years, and the oil money to finance it - Quartz

Project Eagle - Press Release

For release 10am PST, February 21st, 2017

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Project Eagle

A collaboration between NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Blackbird Interactive Inc. (BBI), Project Eagle is an interactive model of a Mars colony in Gale Crater at the base of Mount Sharp, near the original landing site of the Mars Curiosity Rover. It is set in 2117, 44 Martian years (82.8 Earth years) after first human mission to Mars.

Using BBIs world class art team and cutting edge in-game video and lighting technology, Project Eagle creates an unparalleled vision of a future on Mars.

The interactive demonstration will be presented live on stage by JPLs Dr. Jeff Norris, at the 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit on Tuesday, February 21st, 2017. Jeff will be joined on stage by BBI CEO Rob Cunningham and CCO Aaron Kambeitz.

Following in the footsteps of legendary space artist Chesley Bonestell, Project Eagle hopes to inspire new generations to dream of human settlement beyond planet Earth and support the exploration and colonization of our solar system. Its been a profound honour and pleasure for us here at Blackbird to work with Jeff and the JPL team to dream up what a future base on Mars might really be like, and to deliver that experience as interactive art. said Blackbird Interactive CEO, Rob Cunningham.

Blackbird Interactive Inc. Company Information

Blackbird is an independent game development studio located in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Founded in 2010, we are dedicated to creating uncompromising immersive games with a strong narrative and distinctive art style. We are a team of industry veterans that launched our first game, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, to critical acclaim in 2016.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a unique national research facility that carries out robotic space and Earth science missions. JPL helped open the Space Age by developing America's first Earth-orbiting science satellite, creating the first successful interplanetary spacecraft, and sending robotic missions to study all the planets in the solar system as well as asteroids, comets and Earth's moon.

D.I.C.E. Summit

D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit is an annual videogame conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The summit is focused on trends and innovations in video game design Established in 2002 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS). The following is the brief for the Dr. Jeff Norris D.I.C.E. summit talk:

Science fiction artist Chesley Bonestell didnt simply offer an imaginative vision of humanitys future in space he helped to create that future. Chesleys collaboration with NASA rocketeer Wernher Von Braun convinced the public that expeditions to the moon and beyond were within our grasp. Dr. Jeff Norris, Mission Operations Innovation Lead, NASA JPL, challenges the D.I.C.E. community to follow in Chesleys footsteps and use their medium to inspire a new course for space exploration. Presenting a collaboration on stage with Rob Cunningham and Aaron Kambeitz from Blackbird Interactive, they will share an artistic work that depicts a vision for space exploration through the medium of games.

http://www.dicesummit.org/news/five_additional_speakers_cover_mars_exploration_and_vr.asp

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NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Blackbird Interactive Inc. Join Forces to Showcase a Future on Mars - Develop

Life as we know it requires liquid water. So you can imagine the excitement when, in 2015, hydrated minerals or compounds that form in the presence of water were seen on the same Martian slopes as mysterious features known as "recurring slope lineae" or, simply, RSL.

First imaged in high resolution by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in 2006, these features tend to appear and disappear over several months, appearing at times when the sun shines most strongly upon those slopes. Now, the theory is that these RSL could be seasonal flows of water flowing down the slopes. On Earth, where there's water, there's life could this hold true for the Red Planet?

The challenge for life on Mars is that this water is extremely salty, with a far higher salt concentration than the limit known for Earth microbes. But they are still regions of interest for possible life, and a potential source of water for future Mars exploration.

A new paper published in the journal Astrobiology argues that we should make studying these features a priority.

RELATED: So Liquid Water Flows on Mars Now What?

"The discovery of a large deposit produced by brines on Mars could hold the key to further human exploration or even colonization of the Red Planet," wrote Javier Martin-Torres and Maria-Paz Zorzano, both members of Lulea University of Technology's division of space technology. "The question then is, are we ready for the next exploration impulse? And from a political and operational point of view it must be asked, in what ways would the discovery of brines on Mars help steer our exploration efforts? In what ways would it hinder our control over Mars contamination? And if we were to colonize Mars, can we do so without further contaminating the planet?"

These questions of interest because of the risk of contaminating Mars with Earth microbes. As careful as we are at sterilizing a Mars rovers, it seems there's always a few hardy microbes left behind.

NASA and other agencies have guidelines for planetary protection during missions, especially for "special regions" that could have an increased probability of life. So until we get close to these places, the new paper argues, it is best to figure out how to best decrease the risk of us contaminating it. And of course, we must also consider how to stop Martian microbes (if they exist) from contaminating any sample return mission in the future that would bring parts of Mars back to Earth.

Recurring slope lineae in Raga Crater on Mars. Such features have been suggested as "special regions" where life may be present. This image is also from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Not everyone agrees that RSLs could host life, however.

Richard Zurek is chief scientist both for the MRO and for NASA's Mars exploration program. He cautioned that the amount of water in RSLs is likely more of a "seep" than a stream of water. Furthermore, microbes would have to contend with a very cold, very salty, low-pressure environment if they were to survive in these brines. It's a combination that is difficult for Earth microbes to survive, so he is skeptical microbes could be in these regions on Mars.

"The measurements [from MRO] are measured over 100 meters, a football field, and you can't tell some times if there are hot spots or cold spots somewhere," he told Seeker, adding that the individual features are often only a couple of meters across.

For that region, MRO tends to target areas that have lots of RSLs. Another limitation is different instruments on MRO have different resolutions, making it difficult to compare data across the various observations. "It is hard to get an adequate measurement of the temperature," he said.

Scientists are also still trying to figure out where the briny water originates. MRO can only sample the temperature of the first few centimeters of the regolith, or Mars "soil." Scientists also aren't sure how much water is needed to produce an RSL.

RELATED: Mystery Solved: Water DOES Flow on Mars

Complicating that, MRO is peering through an atmosphere that could make it difficult to see the true contrast on the slopes, so it's not clear how much darker the RSL is than the surrounding terrain. Ongoing calibrations of MRO observations are happening as scientists learn more.

There are some slope streaks on Mars that may or may not be related to RSLs, including some spotted from Gale Crater the landing site of NASA's Curiosity rover. It is known that there are dark streaks within the long-range view of Curiosity's cameras, but whether these are RSLs are unknown at this point. Then the next question is whether Curiosity should take time from its other work to image these streaks from a distance, Zurek said. Right now, Curiosity is probing different layers of Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) for signs of ancient habitable environments.

"The argument is, should we make an exception and drive the rover deliberately to one of these [dark-streak] sites to get a better view, and trade between its ongoing investigations to get to the layers where there are definitely minerals that have been altered in water?" Zurek asked, pointing out the rover could be detouring to image "something that may be no more than a dry debris flow."

NASA's Curiosity rover may be able to image RSLs from a distance, but doing so may detract from its main mission to explore the layers on Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) in Gale Crater (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

It certainly leaves plenty of work available for the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the MRO, both of which are in excellent health despite spending more than a decade at Mars.

Another new paper in the journal Icarus identifies 239 candidate and confirmed RSL sites within Valles Marineris alone, which is a large canyon that stretches across the equivalent distance of the United States. The valley hosts half of all globally known RSL locations, and given its vast size there are always at least some RSL growing within, "regardless of the season", the paper abstract reads.

"If RSL are caused by water, such a long active season at hundreds of [Valles Marineris] RSL sites suggests that an appreciable source of water must be recharging these RSL," says the paper, which is led by David Stillman at the Southwest Research Institute. The research team adds that modelling indicates a melting temperature of at least -16 degrees Fahrenheit would be needed to make the briny water flow.

"The mechanism(s) by which RSL are recharged annually remain uncertain. Overall, gaining a better understanding of how RSL form and recur can benefit the search for extant life on Mars and could provide details about an in situ water resource," the paper adds.

RELATED: Weird Mars Streaks Could be Liquid Water Stains

Zurek said his team knows there is still a lot to learn about the water activity, especially how RSLs could form in a Martian environment (low pressure, very cold) as opposed to Earth. There are laboratory studies going on to try to get the temperature cycle exactly right; it's hard to replicate because the soil composition is difficult to forecast beyond the salt concentration, he said.

"We are arguing for more work there. Also, we should map out where we think these features might be," he added. While HiRISE has been imaging Mars for more than a decade, it has only mapped out 3 percent of the planet in high resolution. One of the spots it's keeping an eye on now is Gale Crater to see if those streaks are RSLs, which should become clear within the next Martian year (the equivalent of two years).

Zurek added there still is time for MRO to collect much more data, as the orbiter is forecast to work at Mars until at least 2023. This would allow MRO to also act as a communications relay for the Mars 2020 rover, which is expected to land somewhere on Mars in 2021.

Image (top): A 3-D computer model of dark streaks, known as "recurring slope lieae", on the walls of Garni Crater on Mars. Data came from the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

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Mars Life Could Lurk Within These Salty Streaks - Seeker

The Race Is On

The race to the Red Planet is, indeed, on, and the United Arab Emirates wants to be a part of it. Yesterday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice president of the UAE, announced the Mars 2117 Project. Its goal? To establish the first inhabitable human settlement on the Red Planet by 2117.

The project will expand on what Dubai sees as its role as aworld leader in space science investments. The new project is a seed that we plant today, and we expect future generations to reap the benefits, driven by its passion to learn to unveil a new knowledge, Sheikh Mohammedsaid, reports Aljazeera.

A statement released by the Dubai government media office said that the plan involves working with major international scientific institutions to accelerate research that would make traveling to and from Mars, as well as living on the planet, possible:

The first phase of the project will focus on preparing the human cadres able to achieve scientific breakthrough to facilitate the arrival of human to the Red Planet in the next decades. The Mars 2117 Project also aims to prepare an Emiratis scientists team and to develop an international scientific consortium to speed up the research project. The project will start with an Emiratis scientific team and will be extended to include international scientists and researchers, in addition to streamline the human efforts in term of exploring and settlement of the [Red Planet].

The Mars 2117 Project isnt the first time the UAE has expressed its desires to probe Mars. Back in 2014, the government announced the creation of a space agency with a goal to send an unmanned explorer to Mars by 2021.

The UAE joins a number of international efforts already in motion to bring the first human settlement to Mars. At the top of the list is SpaceXs plan, which Elon Musk shared in September. Also in the private sector isveteran aeronautics companyBoeing, which is working on its own plans to get to Mars.

Through NASA, the U.S. government has prioritized a mission to Mars, thoughrecent announcements from the current administrationcould indicate a shift in focus.China has also announced an ambitious plan to get to the Red Planet by 2020. In the Netherlands, space tech organization Mars One is working on plans to establish a human settlement on Mars, and it recently received a sizable investment from a Swiss financial outfit.

Getting to Mars is a race, yes. But the daunting tasks involved developing technology to travel fast enough, getting back from Mars, etc. require a more collaborative approach. According to Sheikh Mohammad, this seems to be what UAEs Mars 2117 Project brings to the table: The landing of people on other planets has been a longtime dream for humans. Our aim is that the UAE will spearhead international efforts to make this dream a reality.

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UAE Announces Plans to Have a Human Colony on Mars by 2117 - Futurism

Artist's concept of a very green city on Mars.

Dubai media office

Some sort of a sweet 22nd century ride on Mars.

Dubai media office

Is that a gun turret overlooking a Martian city?

Dubai media office

A bird(?) shaped Martian city.

Dubai media office

For now, UAE residents will have to content themselves with a virtual reality experience of the Martian surface.

Dubai media office

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, right, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan confer before the announcement.

Dubai media office

NASA says it intends to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, but the space agency does not have a realistic budget to do so. SpaceX's Elon Musk says he will send the first human colonists to Mars in the 2020s, but his company also lacks the funding to implement its bold plans without a major government partner.

We can now add the United Arab Emirates to the list of those entitieswho want tosee Mars colonized. However, even if it too lacks the space exploration budget or technology to do so at this time, the federation of seven Arab emirates appears to have a much more reasonable timeline for sending humans to the red planetthe year 2117, a century from now.

The ruler of one of the seven emirates, Dubai'sSheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced UAE's colonization plan this week at the World Government Summit in Dubai. Later, in a series of tweets,Sheikh Mohammad explained, "The project, to be named 'Mars 2117,' integrates a vision to create a mini-city and community on Mars involving international cooperation.We aspire in the coming century to develop science, technology, and our youth's passion for knowledge. This project is driven by that vision."

According to Dubai's media office,an Emirati team of engineers, scientists, and researchers has developed a concept for the first human city on Mars, which will be constructed by robots in advance of human habitation. This Martian city would have transportation, power production, food andbased upon some concept drawings releasedvery modern-looking buildings.

This is all rather ambitious for a space agency that was formed just three years ago. However, the new goal does seem consistent with UAE's interest in Mars, as the Arab federation has previously announced a plan to launch an automobile-size probe named "Hope" to Mars in 2020 to study the planet's atmosphere.

What is perhaps most notable about Mars 2117 is that it represents a third major stakeholder interested in sending humans to Mars, alongside NASA and SpaceX. Most of the rest of the global space community, from Europe to Russia to China, have expressed far more interest in developing lunar resources rather than far more ambitious human missions to Mars.

Listing image by Dubai media office

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Finally, someone has a realistic timeline for Mars colonizationthe UAE - Ars Technica