How To Die On Mars

An anonymous reader writes: Many space-related projects are currently focusing on Mars. SpaceX wants to build a colony there, NASA is looking into base design, and Mars One is supposedly picking astronauts for a mission. Because of this, we've been reading a lot about how we could live on Mars. An article at Popular Science reminds us of all the easy ways to die there. "Barring any complications with the spacecraft's hardware or any unintended run-ins with space debris, there's still a big killer lurking out in space that can't be easily avoided: radiation. ... [And] with so little atmosphere surrounding Mars, gently landing a large amount of weight on the planet will be tough. Heavy objects will pick up too much speed during the descent, making for one deep impact. ... Mars One's plan is to grow crops indoors under artificial lighting. According to the project's website, 80 square meters of space will be dedicated to plant growth within the habitat; the vegetation will be sustained using suspected water in Mars' soil, as well as carbon dioxide produced by the initial four-member crew. However, analysis conducted by MIT researchers last year (PDF) shows that those numbers just don't add up."

Comments

Hobbit

[ArcadeMan]

There's still a big killer lurking out in space that can't be easily avoided: radiation.

Except underground, which is the obvious solution but people are too fixated on making housing above the ground.

Even on Earth, living underground would shield us from the extreme cold and extreme heat. That would be better for us and would require a lot less energy to warm us in the winter and cool us in the summer.

Re:Hobbit

[l0n3s0m3phr34k]

We don't need to. The vast canyon systems would provide more than enough caves and places to cap off. It's like a dome with the walls already built.

What about the local magnetospheres

[Anonymous Coward]

Mars has a number of places, where the magnetic field is strong and hundreds of km high. Is it enough? And if not, is not is, in effect, not about the lack of magnetosphere, but about the lack of atmosphere dense enough, which does not stop most of the non-charged particles?

Re:Mars One Plan

[MobSwatter]

Oh no! We're going to cause global warming on Mars now!

Fat chance on that, this country hasn't done anything really the right way since they whacked JFK and killed his original space program. Furthermore I highly doubt that the Mars gig is actually going to happen, aerospace is being privatized and this means corporations cutting corners, and that trip I sure as shit wouldn't want to buy a ticket for nor would I get on a craft at gunpoint. After they have actually reliably created airplane style access to space to reliably test zero G propulsion systems and have a working solution, then space travel might be within reach, the reality is things have only gotten worse for that. I'd wager the Russky's will do it first, the world will have to get past that thing of wanting to use the He3 on the moon for nukes rather than zero G propulsion systems.

Re:They're missing the point...

[jklovanc]

The difference being that Age of Sail colonists could live in pretty much the same condition as the one they left. On Mars the "colonists" will be living underground and will never again feel fresh air in their lungs or sun on their skin. They will be dependent on the next supply mission or they will die. All it will take is for one person to go insane, destroy critical equipment and everyone is dead. Living under Mars conditions for years is very likely to cause this to happen. Then there is the point that Earth will have to spend billions to keep a few people alive. Sorry but a Mars "colony" is just not viable.

and they will be unaffected by the deaths of the colonists.

Except for the things that could have been done with the money wasted on sending people to Mars to die. We are talking billions of dollars that have much better uses here on Earth.

Re:Terraforming potential?

[Rei]

My favorite approach is to build floating solar towers on Venus or the gas giants - big chunks of greenhouse material shaped like an inverted funnel reaching out into space. Unable to radiate its IR radiation back to space, the air under the funnel would become hotter than the surrounding atmosphere and rise (imparting lift to the funnel without even requiring a lifting gas). Due to the size, drag against the funnel surface would be irrelevantly small. As the funnel narrows, the gas velocity would increase - with a large enough funnel, to well over escape velocity. The funnel could be moved and aimed to some degree by directing part of the flow out through adjustable side jets. If the funnel was shaped so as to cause the gases to spiral and then flare out at the end, you could centrifugally sort the gases out by atomic mass, and thus for example rob light gases (such as water and nitrogen) of escape velocity while allowing heavy gases like CO2 the energy to escape.

Venus could send CO2 on a Mars intercept trajectory to raise its temperature and pressure. Jupiter could send hydrogen on Venus and Mars intercept trajectories, for Bosch water generation. Large moons and dwarf planets could be similarly seeded.

Of course, the obvious question: will this, or any other form of terraforming begin any time in the next many-hundred years?

Nope.