On Mars
November 3, 2023
Traveling to space itself is not hard. The International Space Station is located only 250 miles away from the surface and making it to the edge of space requires minimal effort — that is, if you wish to come straight back down.
For spacecraft intending to stay in space by either traveling in Earth’s orbit or escaping its gravitational pull, the energy requirement is much more astronomical. Orbital velocity is around 25 times the speed of sound at the lowest point above Earth’s atmosphere and the escape velocity for spacecraft is much larger as well.
Over six decades after the moon landings, humans are still struggling to venture to the next extraterrestrial target: Mars. To give some context as to the difficulty, while the moon is less than 250,000 miles away from Earth, Mars is nearly 34 million miles away at the closest point. The planet is much more distant than anything humans have ever set foot on. If we were to send people to Mars, the challenging endeavor would take space vehicles over half a year.
The most arduous part of Martian exploration comes after the initial burden of reaching Mars has been accomplished. The Martian atmospheric pressure is one percent of Earth’s atmospheric pressure and the percentage of carbon dioxide in the red planet’s air floats above ninety-five percent. For reference, Earth’s atmosphere is around seventy-eight percent nitrogen and only four-hundredths of a percent carbon dioxide. Needless to say, even the most resistant of animals would perish almost immediately. Before the asphyxiation and toxic atmosphere even take effect, the radiation would likely rip apart animal bodies first.
Scientists have long speculated that subterranean microbial life could likely exist under Mars. If extracted, these extraterrestrial beings could greatly advance scientists’ understanding of life in the universe. However, were life to be found locked away in the polar ice caps on Mars or underground, it is advisable that those organisms should not be transported back to Earth to protect our planet from biocontamination.
Once scientists can reasonably conclude that life cannot be found on the barren planet, steps can be taken to make it habitable. Prominent suggestions to warm the planet and reduce its toxicity include installing giant orbital mirrors to focus sunlight, redirecting a comet or asteroid to bring the necessary components of life to the planet, or engineering extremophiles that can withstand and photosynthesize or otherwise terraform the landscape.
Mars habitation may be a reality for our generation and steps can be taken to make it a reality.