Category Archives: Mars Colonization

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Mars Colony: Challenger Trainer, Cheats for PC

Mars is the focus of much speculation and scientific study about possible human colonization. Its surface conditions and the likely presence of water on Mars make it arguably the most hospitable of the planets, other than Earth. Mars requires less energy per unit mass (delta-v) to reach from Earth than any planet except Venus. However, at minimum energy use, a trip to Mars requires 67 months in space using current chemical spacecraft propulsion methods.

Earth is similar to its "sister planet" Venus in bulk composition, size and surface gravity, but Mars's similarities to Earth are more compelling when considering colonization. These include:

Conditions on the surface of Mars are closer to the conditions on Earth in terms of temperature, atmospheric pressure than on any other planet or moon, except for the cloud tops of Venus.[16] However, the surface is not hospitable to humans or most known life forms due to greatly reduced air pressure, an atmosphere with only 0.1%oxygen, and the lack of liquid water (although large amounts of frozen water have been detected).

In 2012, it was reported that some lichen and cyanobacteria survived and showed remarkable adaptation capacity for photosynthesis after 34 days in simulated Martian conditions in the Mars Simulation Laboratory (MSL) maintained by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).[17][18][19]

Humans have explored parts of Earth that match some conditions on Mars. Based on NASA rover data, temperatures on Mars (at low latitudes) are similar to those in Antarctica.[20] The atmospheric pressure at the highest altitudes reached by manned balloon ascents (35km (114,000 feet) in 1961,[21] 38km in 2012) is similar to that on the surface of Mars.[22]

Human survival on Mars would require complex life-support measures and living in artificial environments.

There is much discussion regarding the possibility of terraforming Mars to allow a wide variety of life forms, including humans, to survive unaided on Mars's surface, including the technologies needed to do so.[23]

Mars has no global magnetic field comparable to Earth's geomagnetic field. Combined with a thin atmosphere, this permits a significant amount of ionizing radiation to reach the Martian surface. The Mars Odyssey spacecraft carried an instrument, the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE), to measure the dangers to humans. MARIE found that radiation levels in orbit above Mars are 2.5 times higher than at the International Space Station. Average doses were about 22 millirads per day (220micrograys per day or 0.08grays per year.)[24] A three-year exposure to such levels would be close to the safety limits currently adopted by NASA.[citation needed] Levels at the Martian surface would be somewhat lower and might vary significantly at different locations depending on altitude and local magnetic fields. Building living quarters underground (possibly in lava tubes that are already present) would significantly lower the colonists' exposure to radiation. Occasional solar proton events (SPEs) produce much higher doses.

Much remains to be learned about space radiation. In 2003, NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center opened a facility, the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, at Brookhaven National Laboratory, that employs particle accelerators to simulate space radiation. The facility studies its effects on living organisms along with shielding techniques.[25] Initially, there was some evidence that this kind of low level, chronic radiation is not quite as dangerous as once thought; and that radiation hormesis occurs.[26] However, results from a 2006 study indicated that protons from cosmic radiation may cause twice as much serious damage to DNA as previously expected, exposing astronauts to greater risk of cancer and other diseases.[27] As a result of the higher radiation in the Martian environment, the summary report of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee released in 2009 reported that "Mars is not an easy place to visit with existing technology and without a substantial investment of resources."[27] NASA is exploring a variety of alternative techniques and technologies such as deflector shields of plasma to protect astronauts and spacecraft from radiation.[27]

Mars requires less energy per unit mass (delta V) to reach from Earth than any planet except Venus. Using a Hohmann transfer orbit, a trip to Mars requires approximately nine months in space.[28] Modified transfer trajectories that cut the travel time down to seven or six months in space are possible with incrementally higher amounts of energy and fuel compared to a Hohmann transfer orbit, and are in standard use for robotic Mars missions. Shortening the travel time below about six months requires higher delta-v and an exponentially increasing amount of fuel, and is not feasible with chemical rockets, but might be feasible with advanced spacecraft propulsion technologies, some of which have already been tested, such as Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket,[29] and nuclear rockets. In the former case, a trip time of forty days could be attainable,[30] and in the latter, a trip time down to about two weeks.[31]

During the journey the astronauts are subject to radiation, which requires a means to protect them. Cosmic radiation and solar wind cause DNA damage, which increases the risk of cancer significantly. The effect of long term travel in interplanetary space is unknown, but scientists estimate an added risk of between 1% and 19%, most likely 3.4%, for men to die of cancer because of the radiation during the journey to Mars and back to Earth. For women the probability is higher due to their larger glandular tissues.[32]

Mars has a gravity 0.38 times that of Earth and the density of its atmosphere is about 0.6% of that on Earth.[33] The relatively strong gravity and the presence of aerodynamic effects makes it difficult to land heavy, crewed spacecraft with thrusters only, as was done with the Apollo Moon landings, yet the atmosphere is too thin for aerodynamic effects to be of much help in aerobraking and landing a large vehicle. Landing piloted missions on Mars will require braking and landing systems different from anything used to land crewed spacecraft on the Moon or robotic missions on Mars.[34]

If one assumes carbon nanotube construction material will be available with a strength of 130 GPa then a space elevator could be built to land people and material on Mars.[35] A space elevator on Phobos has also been proposed.[36]

Colonization of Mars will require a wide variety of equipmentboth equipment to directly provide services to humans and production equipment used to produce food, propellant, water, energy and breathable oxygenin order to support human colonization efforts. Required equipment will include:[31]

According to Elon Musk, "even at a million people [working on Mars] youre assuming an incredible amount of productivity per person, because you would need to recreate the entire industrial base on Mars... You would need to mine and refine all of these different materials, in a much more difficult environment than Earth".[39]

Communications with Earth are relatively straightforward during the half-sol when Earth is above the Martian horizon. NASA and ESA included communications relay equipment in several of the Mars orbiters, so Mars already has communications satellites. While these will eventually wear out, additional orbiters with communication relay capability are likely to be launched before any colonization expeditions are mounted.

The one-way communication delay due to the speed of light ranges from about 3 minutes at closest approach (approximated by perihelion of Mars minus aphelion of Earth) to 22minutes at the largest possible superior conjunction (approximated by aphelion of Mars plus aphelion of Earth). Real-time communication, such as telephone conversations or Internet Relay Chat, between Earth and Mars would be highly impractical due to the long time lags involved. NASA has found that direct communication can be blocked for about two weeks every synodic period, around the time of superior conjunction when the Sun is directly between Mars and Earth,[40] although the actual duration of the communications blackout varies from mission to mission depending on various factorssuch as the amount of link margin designed into the communications system, and the minimum data rate that is acceptable from a mission standpoint. In reality most missions at Mars have had communications blackout periods of the order of a month.[41]

A satellite at the L4 or L5 EarthSun Lagrangian point could serve as a relay during this period to solve the problem; even a constellation of communications satellites would be a minor expense in the context of a full colonization program. However, the size and power of the equipment needed for these distances make the L4 and L5 locations unrealistic for relay stations, and the inherent stability of these regions, although beneficial in terms of station-keeping, also attracts dust and asteroids, which could pose a risk.[42] Despite that concern, the STEREO probes passed through the L4 and L5 regions without damage in late 2009.

Recent work by the University of Strathclyde's Advanced Space Concepts Laboratory, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, has suggested an alternative relay architecture based on highly non-Keplerian orbits. These are a special kind of orbit produced when continuous low-thrust propulsion, such as that produced from an ion engine or solar sail, modifies the natural trajectory of a spacecraft. Such an orbit would enable continuous communications during solar conjunction by allowing a relay spacecraft to "hover" above Mars, out of the orbital plane of the two planets.[43] Such a relay avoids the problems of satellites stationed at either L4 or L5 by being significantly closer to the surface of Mars while still maintaining continuous communication between the two planets.

The path to a human colony could be prepared by robotic systems such as the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity. These systems could help locate resources, such as ground water or ice, that would help a colony grow and thrive. The lifetimes of these systems would be measured in years and even decades, and as recent developments in commercial spaceflight have shown, it may be that these systems will involve private as well as government ownership. These robotic systems also have a reduced cost compared with early crewed operations, and have less political risk.

Wired systems might lay the groundwork for early crewed landings and bases, by producing various consumables including fuel, oxidizers, water, and construction materials. Establishing power, communications, shelter, heating, and manufacturing basics can begin with robotic systems, if only as a prelude to crewed operations.

Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander MIP (Mars ISPP Precursor) was to demonstrate manufacture of oxygen from the atmosphere of Mars,[44] and test solar cell technologies and methods of mitigating the effect of Martian dust on the power systems.[45][dated info]

Before any people are transported to Mars on the notional 2030s Mars Colonial Transporter envisioned by SpaceX, a number of robotic cargo missions would be undertaken first in order to transport the requisite equipment, habitats and supplies.[46] Equipment that would be necessary would include "machines to produce fertilizer, methane and oxygen from Mars' atmospheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide and the planet's subsurface water ice" as well as construction materials to build transparent domes for initial agricultural areas.[47]

In 1948, Wernher von Braun described in his book The Mars Project that a fleet of 10 spaceships could be built using 1000three-stage rockets. These could bring a population of 70people to Mars.

All of the early human missions to Mars as conceived by national governmental space programssuch as those being tentatively planned by NASA, FKA and ESAwould not be direct precursors to colonization. They are intended solely as exploration missions, as the Apollo missions to the Moon were not planned to be sites of a permanent base.

Colonization requires the establishment of permanent bases that have potential for self-expansion. A famous proposal for building such bases is the Mars Direct and the Semi-Direct plans, advocated by Robert Zubrin.[31]

Other proposals that envision the creation of a settlement have come from Jim McLane and Bas Lansdorp (the man behind Mars One, which envisions no planned return flight for the humans embarking on the journey),[48] as well as from Elon Musk whose SpaceX company, as of 2015[update], is funding development work on a space transportation system called the Mars Colonial Transporter.[49][50]

The Mars Society has established the Mars Analogue Research Station Program at sites Devon Island in Canada and in Utah, United States, to experiment with different plans for human operations on Mars, based on Mars Direct. Modern Martian architecture concepts often include facilities to produce oxygen and propellant on the surface of the planet.

As with early colonies in the New World, economics would be a crucial aspect to a colony's success. The reduced gravity well of Mars and its position in the Solar System may facilitate MarsEarth trade and may provide an economic rationale for continued settlement of the planet. Given its size and resources, this might eventually be a place to grow food and produce equipment to mine the asteroid belt.

A major economic problem is the enormous up-front investment required to establish the colony and perhaps also terraform the planet.

Some early Mars colonies might specialize in developing local resources for Martian consumption, such as water and/or ice. Local resources can also be used in infrastructure construction.[51] One source of Martian ore currently known to be available is metallic iron in the form of nickeliron meteorites. Iron in this form is more easily extracted than from the iron oxides that cover the planet.

Another main inter-Martian trade good during early colonization could be manure.[52] Assuming that life doesn't exist on Mars, the soil is going to be very poor for growing plants, so manure and other fertilizers will be valued highly in any Martian civilization until the planet changes enough chemically to support growing vegetation on its own.

Solar power is a candidate for power for a Martian colony. Solar insolation (the amount of solar radiation that reaches Mars) is about 42% of that on Earth, since Mars is about 52% farther from the Sun and insolation falls off as the square of distance. But the thin atmosphere would allow almost all of that energy to reach the surface as compared to Earth, where the atmosphere absorbs roughly a quarter of the solar radiation. Sunlight on the surface of Mars would be much like a moderately cloudy day on Earth.[53]

Nuclear power is also a good candidate, since the fuel is very energy-dense for cheap transportation from Earth. Nuclear power also produces heat, which would be extremely valuable to a Mars colony.

Mars's reduced gravity together with its rotation rate makes it possible for the construction of a space elevator with today's materials,[citation needed] although the low orbit of Phobos could present engineering challenges.[citation needed] If constructed, the elevator could transport minerals and other natural resources extracted from the planet.

Space colonization on Mars can roughly be said to be possible when the necessary methods of space colonization become cheap enough (such as space access by cheaper launch systems) to meet the cumulative funds that have been gathered for the purpose.

Although there are no immediate prospects for the large amounts of money required for any space colonization to be available given traditional launch costs,[54][full citation needed] there is some prospect of a radical reduction to launch costs in the 2010s, which would consequently lessen the cost of any efforts in that direction. With a published price of US$56.5 million per launch of up to 13,150kg (28,990lb) payload[55] to low Earth orbit, SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets are already the "cheapest in the industry".[56] Advancements currently being developed as part of the SpaceX reusable launch system development program to enable reusable Falcon 9s "could drop the price by an order of magnitude, sparking more space-based enterprise, which in turn would drop the cost of access to space still further through economies of scale."[56] SpaceX' reusable plans include Falcon Heavy and future methane-based launch vehicles including the Mars Colonial Transporter. If SpaceX is successful in developing the reusable technology, it would be expected to "have a major impact on the cost of access to space", and change the increasingly competitive market in space launch services.[57]

Alternative funding approaches might include the creation of inducement prizes. For example, the 2004 President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy suggested that an inducement prize contest should be established, perhaps by government, for the achievement of space colonization. One example provided was offering a prize to the first organization to place humans on the Moon and sustain them for a fixed period before they return to Earth.[58]

Mars's north and south poles once attracted great interest as settlement sites because seasonally-varying polar ice caps have long been observed by telescopes from Earth. Mars Odyssey found the largest concentration of water near the north pole, but also showed that water likely exists in lower latitudes as well, making the poles less compelling as a settlement locale. Like Earth, Mars sees a midnight sun at the poles during local summer and polar night during winter.[citation needed]

Mars Odyssey found what appear to be natural caves near the volcano Arsia Mons. It has been speculated that settlers could benefit from the shelter that these or similar structures could provide from radiation and micrometeoroids. Geothermal energy is also suspected in the equatorial regions.[59]

The exploration of Mars's surface is still underway. Landers and rovers such as Phoenix, the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity have encountered very different soil and rock characteristics. This suggests that the Martian landscape is quite varied and the ideal location for a settlement would be better determined when more data becomes available. As on Earth, seasonal variations in climate become greater with distance from the equator.[citation needed]

Valles Marineris, the "Grand Canyon" of Mars, is over 3,000km long and averages 8km deep. Atmospheric pressure at the bottom would be some 25% higher than the surface average, 0.9kPa vs 0.7 kPa. River channels lead to the canyon, indicating it was once flooded.[citation needed]

Several lava tube skylights on Mars have been located on the flanks of Arsia Mons. Earth based examples indicate that some should have lengthy passages offering complete protection from radiation and be relatively easy to seal using on-site materials, especially in small subsections.[60]

Robotic spacecraft to Mars are required to be sterilized to have at most 300,000 spores on the exterior of the craftand more thoroughly sterilized if they contact "special regions" containing water,[61][62] otherwise there is a risk of contaminating not only the life-detection experiments but possibly the planet itself.

It is impossible to sterilize human missions to this level, as humans are host to typically a hundred trillion microorganisms of thousands of species of the human microbiome, and these cannot be removed while preserving the life of the human. Containment seems the only option, but it is a major challenge in the event of a hard landing.[63] There have been several planetary workshops on this issue, but with no final guidelines for a way forward yet. [64] Human explorers would also be vulnerable to back contamination to Earth if they become carriers of microorganisms.[65]

Mars colonization is advocated by several non-governmental groups for a range of reasons and with varied proposals. One of the oldest groups is the Mars Society who promote a NASA program to accomplish human exploration of Mars and have set up Mars analog research stations in Canada and the United States. MarsDrive is dedicated to private initiatives for the exploration and settlement of Mars. Mars to Stay advocates recycling emergency return vehicles into permanent settlements as soon as initial explorers determine permanent habitation is possible. Mars One, which went public in June2012, aims to establish a fully operational permanent human colony on Mars by 2023 with funding coming from a reality TV show and other commercial exploitation, although this approach has been widely criticized as unrealistic and infeasible.[66][67][68]MarsPolar intends to establish a human settlement, around 2029, on Mars' polar region, the part of the planet with abundant quantities of water ice. They intend to finance this project with donations.[69]Elon Musk founded SpaceX with the long-term goal of developing the technologies that will enable a self-sustaining human colony on Mars.[70] In 2015 he stated "I think weve got a decent shot of sending a person to Mars in 11 or 12years".[71]Richard Branson, in his lifetime, is "determined to be a part of starting a population on Mars. I think it is absolutely realistic. It will happen... I think over the next 20 years, we will take literally hundreds of thousands of people to space and that will give us the financial resources to do even bigger things".[72]

A few instances in fiction provide detailed descriptions of Mars colonization. They include:

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Colonization of Mars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in the Solar System, after Mercury. Named after the Roman god of war, it is often referred to as the "Red Planet" because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance.[15] Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth. The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth, as is the tilt that produces the seasons. Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the planet and may be a giant impact feature.[16][17] Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids,[18][19] similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars trojan.

Until the first successful Mars flyby in 1965 by Mariner 4, many speculated about the presence of liquid water on the planet's surface. This was based on observed periodic variations in light and dark patches, particularly in the polar latitudes, which appeared to be seas and continents; long, dark striations were interpreted by some as irrigation channels for liquid water. These straight line features were later explained as optical illusions, though geological evidence gathered by unmanned missions suggests that Mars once had large-scale water coverage on its surface at some earlier stage of its life.[20] In 2005, radar data revealed the presence of large quantities of water ice at the poles[21] and at mid-latitudes.[22][23] The Mars rover Spirit sampled chemical compounds containing water molecules in March 2007. The Phoenix lander directly sampled water ice in shallow Martian soil on July 31, 2008.[24]

Mars is host to seven functioning spacecraft: five in orbit2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN and Mars Orbiter Missionand two on the surfaceMars Exploration Rover Opportunity and the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity. Defunct spacecraft on the surface include MER-A Spirit and several other inert landers and rovers such as the Phoenix lander, which completed its mission in 2008. Observations by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.[25] In 2013, NASA's Curiosity rover discovered that Mars's soil contains between 1.5% and 3% water by mass (about two pints of water per cubic foot or 33 liters per cubic meter, albeit attached to other compounds and thus not freely accessible).[26]

Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye, as can its reddish coloring. Its apparent magnitude reaches 2.91,[6] which is surpassed only by Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and the Sun. Optical ground-based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 kilometers (190mi) across when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earth's atmosphere.[27]

Animation (00:40) showing major features

Mars is approximately half the diameter of Earth, and its surface area is only slightly less than the total area of Earth's dry land.[6] Mars is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth's volume and 11% of Earth's mass. Although Mars is larger and more massive than Mercury, Mercury has a higher density. This results in the two planets having a nearly identical gravitational pull at the surfacethat of Mars is stronger by less than 1%. The red-orange appearance of the Martian surface is caused by iron(III) oxide, more commonly known as hematite, or rust.[28] It can also look like butterscotch,[29] and other common surface colors include golden, brown, tan, and greenish, depending on the minerals present.[29]

Like Earth, Mars has differentiated into a dense metallic core overlaid by less dense materials.[30] Current models of its interior imply a core region about 1,79465 kilometers (1,11540mi) in radius, consisting primarily of iron and nickel with about 1617% sulfur.[31] This iron(II) sulfide core is thought to be twice as rich in lighter elements than Earth's core.[32] The core is surrounded by a silicate mantle that formed many of the tectonic and volcanic features on the planet, but it now appears to be dormant. Besides silicon and oxygen, the most abundant elements in the Martian crust are iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium, and potassium. The average thickness of the planet's crust is about 50km (31mi), with a maximum thickness of 125km (78mi).[32] Earth's crust, averaging 40km (25mi), is only one third as thick as Mars's crust, relative to the sizes of the two planets. The InSight lander planned for 2016 will use a seismometer to better constrain the models of the interior.[33]

Mars is a terrestrial planet that consists of minerals containing silicon and oxygen, metals, and other elements that typically make up rock. The surface of Mars is primarily composed of tholeiitic basalt,[34] although parts are more silica-rich than typical basalt and may be similar to andesitic rocks on Earth or silica glass. Regions of low albedo show concentrations of plagioclase feldspar, with northern low albedo regions displaying higher than normal concentrations of sheet silicates and high-silicon glass. Parts of the southern highlands include detectable amounts of high-calcium pyroxenes. Localized concentrations of hematite and olivine have also been found.[35] Much of the surface is deeply covered by finely grained iron(III) oxide dust.[36][37]

Although Mars has no evidence of a current structured global magnetic field,[41] observations show that parts of the planet's crust have been magnetized, and that alternating polarity reversals of its dipole field have occurred in the past. This paleomagnetism of magnetically susceptible minerals has properties that are similar to the alternating bands found on the ocean floors of Earth. One theory, published in 1999 and re-examined in October 2005 (with the help of the Mars Global Surveyor), is that these bands demonstrate plate tectonics on Mars four billion years ago, before the planetary dynamo ceased to function and the planet's magnetic field faded away.[42]

During the Solar System's formation, Mars was created as the result of a stochastic process of run-away accretion out of the protoplanetary disk that orbited the Sun. Mars has many distinctive chemical features caused by its position in the Solar System. Elements with comparatively low boiling points, such as chlorine, phosphorus, and sulphur, are much more common on Mars than Earth; these elements were probably removed from areas closer to the Sun by the young star's energetic solar wind.[43]

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Mars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Exploration A Crewed Mission to Mars - Mars Reference Mission Living Aloft: Human Requirements for Extended Spaceflight - NASA Report Mars Exploration Reference List - Center for Mars Exploration Exploring Mars - NASA Johnson Spaceflight Center Space Radiation Shielding for Exploration Missions - NASA report Colonization Romance to Reality - Moon and Mars Settlement Bibliography The Mars Society - Flashline Arctic Research Station Mars Colonization Information - Red Colony Colonization of Mars - Mankind's Future Lies in Space Terraforming Terraforming Information Pages - Martyn Fogg Greening of the Red Planet - NASA Science News Global Warming on Mars - NASA Science News Astrobiology Web - Terraforming References Terraforming Reference List - NASA Quest Mars Exploration Home Page Mars Home Page NSSDCA Planetary Page Author/Curator: Dr. David R. Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov NSSDCA, Mail Code 690.1 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD 20771 +1-301-286-1258 NASA Official: Ed Grayzeck, edwin.j.grayzeck@nasa.gov Last Updated: 30 September 2009, DRW

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Mars Exploration, Colonization and Terraform Links

"Ask NASA" Mars Colony Project Resources

Building a Mars Colony seems to be a pretty big project for many schools around the world. We receive more questions about this subject than any other. We thought it best to give this project it's own page. These links are not categorized by age group.

Remember, you can search the NASA Quest Q&A Archives for answers to your questions!

Mars Colony Project Help and Ideas Mars Atmosphere Building on Mars Mars Geology and Terraforming Mars Maps and Images Is There Life on Mars? Mars Missions: Past, Present and Future Water and Ice on Mars Getting to Mars Growing Plants on Mars Search for Archived Live Events related to Mars at NASA Quest

The Great Mars Debate

Mary Urquhart's Reaching for the Red Planet

The Nine Planets

Welcome to the Planets! Mars

Mars Live!

Imagine Mars Home Page

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Mars Colony Project Help and Ideas - Welcome to NASA Quest!

Mars has been the next frontier for humans since astronauts first bounced around the moon in 1969, and while we work on rockets that will get us to our red neighbor, scientists are thinking hard about how to build a sustainable colony on Mars. What would we need to bring to survive? That's the question NASA is asking the public through a new competition. The challenge asks for written submissions detailing what astronaut-explorers will need to colonize a new planetand the space agency is offering a total of $15,000 in prize money, to be split between three winners.

The competitions prompt is broad, but so are the challenges facing planet colonization: NASA lists "shelter, food, water, breathable air, communication, exercise, social interactions and medicine" as potential topics areas for participants to tackle. And since theres only so much space and weight on the rockets that will propel humans to Mars, NASA is pushing for innovative solutionsnot just solutions available today, but solutions from years in the future when those Mars rockets will be ready.

"Were not going to get humans to Mars until at least the mid-2030s, and the world is going to change by then," NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan told Fast Company in a recent interview. "So how do we make sure that the path were choosing has enough flexibility, so that as technology develops we can adapt what were doing? That way, if someone figures out how to do something much better, you can adapt without starting from square one or making costs go way up."

Though a manned Mars mission is decades away, NASA is making significant progress toward that goal now. Mars rovers and orbiting probes are feeding information back every day, and NASAs Orion astronaut capsule is inching closer to space readiness, Stofan says. And while NASA battles governmental budget cuts, it has been turning to private companies and international partners to fill the gaps. But other countries do not need much of a push to collaborate on a mission to Mars, says Stofan:

"With the mission to Mars, the whole world wants to get involved," Stofan told Fast Company. "So we actually have 13 different space agencies from around the world working on the global exploration road map. That helps us because we dont have unlimited resources. And its a benefit to all the other countries that want to participate."

Just as turning to the international community makes the journey to Mars an international mission, NASA turning to the public for Mars colony ideas makes the project a collective effort.

"Every time I give a talk," Stofan told Fast Company, "I ask the audienceespecially if its kidshow many want to go to Mars. At least half raise their hands. I dont think theres going to be any shortage of volunteers."

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NASA Wants Your Ideas For A Mars Colony | Fast Company ...

[SEMINAR] - System Engineering of a Martian Ice Miner by Thierry De Roche
For a number of reasons Mars #39; colonization is the next stop in our exploration of the Solar System. in order to sustain human presence on our neighbour planet as well as optimizing the launch...

By: ACSER UNSW

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[SEMINAR] - System Engineering of a Martian Ice Miner by Thierry De Roche - Video

Should We Colonize Venus Instead of Mars? | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios
Tweet at us! @pbsspacetime Facebook: facebook.com/pbsspacetime Email us! pbsspacetime [at] gmail [dot] com Mars One. The Mars Rover. Bruno Mars. Mars Bars. It #39;s pretty clear we #39;re OBSESSED...

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Should We Colonize Venus Instead of Mars? | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios - Video

Sol 0. 15
Sol 0 Mars Colonization. ( , ) ... ) -...

By: Ray Anor

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Sol 0. 15 - Video

In an era when even in Antarctica researchers can tap into iTunes, its hard not to wonder if such connectivity is causing formerly seemingly remote parts of the world to lose their edgy sense of place. And thats just here on Earth. What happens when humans move offworld? Will Mars Mars pioneers want the Red Planet to remain as remote and untamed as when they first risked life and limb to get there?

After returning to her hometown of Oakland in the first half the last century, Lost Generation author Gertrude Stein famously wrote but there is no there there. Her observation wasnt a late nonsensical nod to Dadaism, but rather a statement about how development was skewing the landscape of her childhood. Thus, to paraphrase Stein, will the first Mars colonists find that the Red Planet is really there there? Or will interplanetary communication hinder the Red Planets own cultural evolution by continually tethering it to mother Earth? Even though [Mars colonists] will be fully committed to their vision of colonizing Mars, they will still experience the typical emotional change curve of shock, anger, rejection, acceptance, healing, astronaut trainer Mindy Howard, Founding Director of The Netherlands-based Inner Space Training, told Forbes. On the International Space Station (ISS ISS), astronauts are able to have real-time conversations with Earth and to speak with a psychologist in real time if needed. This will not be possible on Mars, because there will be about a seven minute time delay.

Even so, its likely that even a couple of decades after a Mars One-type colonization project makes its first inroads on that desolate red landscape, they will continue to cherish regular Earth contact. Thats something thats unlikely to change until a colonized Mars develops its own sense of culture in a way that may not be possible until the colonists overcome the physical constraints on offworld procreation. Or even until a portion of the planet is actually terraformed.

Howard says the full

This NASA image shows a view by the Mars Rover Spirit of a sunset over the rim of Gusev Crater, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) away. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Texas A&M/Cornell University)

How will the harsh Martian environment affect the evolution of a separate human culture on the Red Planet?

Although Martian environmental features will influence the new colonists culture as it evolves; they may talk about red mountains instead of blue ones, the environment itself will have no influence on the underlying cultural structure, Richard Handler, a professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, told Forbes.

Given ongoing [Earth] contact, it would [probably] take hundreds of years for a truly distinct separate Mars-based human culture to emerge, said Handler.

But that doesnt mean that once it does, it wouldnt have its own vibrancy.

[Mars culture] will start like Houston or Singapore, all squeaky clean and futuristic, and it will evolve into layered complexity like Mumbai and Rio with energy and color, Michael Fischer, a multi-disciplinary professor at MIT, told Forbes. Human Mars culture, he asserts, will either evolve to incorporate the Red Planets novel conditions or it will whither and collapse.

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Mars Colonization As A Hothouse For Offworld Human Culture ...