Mars: Home or Hotel? Shannon Prentice 12W SG. 17 April 2017

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1 Mars: Home or Hotel? Shannon Prentice 12W SG 17 April 2017 (1) SpaceX, no date, SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System, online video, 10 April

2 Abstract The concept of one day going to our red neighbour is becoming more and more realistic and the long sought after answers are becoming more and more obtainable. However there are still many problems that need to be solved in order to safely put humans Mars namely: getting away from Earth s gravitational pull with enough supplies to then get to Mars; devising the correct landing spot and style as well as determining which technologies or supplies to take in which order; creating a suitable habitat and living conditions to optimise survival on Mars and finally whether we should bring people back or start up a permanent settlement on Mars. A permanent settlement would be more beneficial to science in the long run in terms of research and experiments. Scientists should also be finding ways in which all the new technology could benefit the lives of the beings on this planet as it is crucial that Earth be helped, now more than ever.

3 Glossary Electrochemically The intro conversion between chemical and electric energy Galactic Cosmic Rays Atomic nuclei from which all surrounding electrons have been stripped away due to their travelling at high speeds through the galaxy Hydrophonically growing plants without soil, most often in nutrient rich water Perchlorate a salt or ester of perchloric acid, a fuming toxic liquid with powerful oxidizing properties. Prototype a first or preliminary version of a device or vehicle from which other forms are developed Space radiation The emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles which cause ionization. Torus Cylindrical, doughnut-like shape

4 Mars: Home or Hotel? Introduction Mars. Our mysterious and seemingly desolate neighbour. For years scientists have been seeking the answers to the many questions surrounding the Red Planet in the hope of better understanding the universe we live in as well as our own Earth and what might become of it one day. To put a human on Mars is an immense task that requires an incredible amount of preparation, technology, bravery and pure human willpower. Scientists and engineers are looking for solutions to problems that they know very little about. These problems can be broken down into four sections namely: getting off Earth; landing and setting up a suitable habitat; surviving and coming back to Earth. The prospect of putting a human being on Mars raises the question of whether visiting or settling on Mars is the right approach. It also raises the debate about whether we should be looking at other planets when there is so much to be done on our own. A 3-20 year Timeline The technology needed to complete this mission does not currently exist therefore the timeline put forward by the two leading space agencies, NASA and SpaceX can be seen as over ambitious but also not necessarily impossible. SpaceX is hoping to launch its Red Dragon mission as early as 2020 while NASA is thinking more long-term and hopes to put humans on an asteroid by 2024 and then onto Mars in the mid-2030s. However the shortened timeline is only partly due to human ambition. The missions have to be planned according to when Earth and Mars are close enough that the trip can be made using the least amount of resources possible. At their furthest points the two planets can be 401 million km apart. Their shortest distance ever recorded was in 2003 when they were only 56 million km apart. SpaceX had originally planned to launch in 2018 as Mars would be 57.5 million km away and the shorter distance would mean less complications. But this date was pushed back to 2020 (when Mars will be 62.1 million km away) as the technologies would never be ready in time for a successful mission. Getting off Earth No rocket ever created has the means to take off and get into space with the supplies, astronauts and fuel storage necessary to complete the trip to Mars. The simple solution to this is to send smaller shuttles up into orbit one by one and slowly assemble the full spacecraft outside of the full force of Earth s gravitational pull. This will, however, elevate the already extremely high cost of the mission. In an effort to minimise this, SpaceX has developed Falcon 9, a booster that will return to the exact launch pad it was launched from thus enabling it to be refuelled and sent up again with another shuttle (1). The assembly will be highly complicated, the International Space Station took 31 flights and over a decade to complete. Though the craft will be significantly smaller than the space station, the Space Shuttle fleet that carried the large, necessary materials has been retired. This makes the task that much more difficult and with current rockets, NASA has estimated it to take many

5 more trips than it did to build the ISS. Landing and Set-up The landing section isn t so much the physical act of putting a craft the size of a commercial aeroplane on Mars, as it is what to bring and when. NASA has built four Valkyrie robots as the first step in their plan to have robots set up the habitats for the humans before they arrive. These 6ft2in, 136kg humanoids will complete the dangerous tasks as well as work alongside the astronauts when they arrive. Objects such as the Mars Ascent Vehicle, 3D printers and other essentials will also have to go first but will have to be made to withstand long periods of time on a planet where extreme dust storms and radiation are prevalent. This also include where to land. Ideally the colony would be on top of a frozen water reservoir to aid in the development of the habitat. Surviving on Mars This is the bottom line. If we cannot solve this problem everything else is rendered useless. Luckily it is a topic that has led to innovative and fascinating ideas and creations. Of the many proposed living arrangements for humans on Mars, one stands out: the Mars Ice Dome. It is essentially a torus covered in a layer of ice. The ice provides protection from the galactic cosmic rays and space radiation that are a large cause of worry as they increase the risk of the astronauts developing cancer and other radiation-linked diseases. The ice could also be used in the process of making rocket fuel and therefore the layer becomes a useful storage facility as well. A layer of carbon dioxide between the structure of the home and the ice would maintain a comfortable temperature. The structure itself could be made translucent to allow sunlight to enter creating a friendlier working and living space. This could also decrease the psychological effects being on a high-stress mission can have on the human mind. As recent discoveries have shown there is an ice lake roughly the size of North America s Lake Superior (12 100km 3 ) and the Martian atmosphere has no shortage of carbon dioxide thus making this structure sustainable. Food is an essential part of life and at the moment astronauts are still taking most of their food with them. Alternative methods are having to be developed as it is virtually impossible to take enough food to last the two and a half year round trip. At the moment experiments are being done on the International Space station in regards to the cultivation of crops in space. Fresh lettuce has been a part of the ISS menu for a while with the astronauts eating half of the yield and freezing the rest so it can be studied back on Earth. Seeds are much smaller than dehydrated food packs and so would make the transportation of food more efficient. The lettuces are grown hydroponically from seed pillows under red, blue and green LED lights. The plants only need the red and blue light waves to photosynthesise effectively but the green lights are added to make the plants seem less purple and foreign to the human eye. Not only does this mean more nutrients and fresh food for the astronauts but it also provides many psychological benefits. Astronauts on deep space trips will be in a confined space with limited people. The growing of and caring for plants provides a calming escape and allows them to have some familiar greenery and life so far away from Earth. Growing crops on the surface of Mars is also a very real option as the nutrients our crops

6 need to grow, have been detected in Martian soil. However astronauts will need to add some fertilisers and remove some of the perchlorates before beginning to farm. These perchlorates, though technically toxic chemicals, can actually be very useful as they draws in water and when heated release all the water as well as giving off oxygen in the process (2). It is adaptations such as this that will ultimately make or break the entire mission. In an attempt to introduce more oxygen into the Martian atmosphere a prototype machine called MOXIE (Mars Oxygen Experiment) will be included in the next Mars rover in It will shed some light on how operating systems will function on the surface of Mars and most importantly convert the carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. It does this by collecting some of the carbon dioxide, compressing it, electrochemically splitting it into carbon monoxide and oxygen and then testing the oxygen for purity before expelling it, the carbon monoxide and other by-products into the atmosphere. Bringing People Back to Earth This is where the question of visiting or settling on Mars comes into play. Regardless of which option is chosen, the astronauts will have to survive on Mars for at least months, the time it takes for Mars and Earth to realign. Visiting is defined as Stay temporarily with (someone) or at (a place) as a guest or tourist (3) which would imply that humans would not have constant presence on Mars. Settling, defined as make one s home in a new place (4), would not necessarily mean the humans who go would never come back, it purely means that there will be a permanent colony on Mars. NASA is developing the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) which would be pre-assembled and sent to Mars years before the humans arrive where it will have to withstand the harsh weather and radiation. It will be the vessel the takes the humans out of the Martian atmosphere to the Earth Return Vehicle which would then bring them back to Earth. But this technology has not been developed yet so as it stands it will most likely be a one way trip. All humanitarian reasons aside, settling on Mars would be the best option for science. Humans could explore the planet at a faster and more precise rate than the rovers; fuel, funds and other resources costs would decrease as we would not have to develop return transportation; new ways of creating sustainable living arrangements that can be implemented on Earth; long-term experiments could be conducted to finally answer some of the big questions e.g. Was Mars once like Earth?; Was/Is there life on Mars? and so on. (2) NASA Johnson, 2015, What Makes Liquid Water on Mars Possible?, YouTube video April (3) Oxford Living Dictionaries, no date, Visit, 19 April (4) Oxford South African Pocket Dictionary, 3 rd Edition, 2002, Oxford University Press, South Africa

7 Remembering Home The above mentioned technologies being developed by NASA and SpaceX are groundbreaking but how are they being used to better our own world? A world that has 795 million starving people, 783 million people who don t have access to clean water, dozens of species going extinct every day, sea levels rising, natural disasters becoming more extreme and frequent. Mars is an undeniably incredible frontier, it will revolutionise the perspective of space but there needs to be more application of the technologies on Earth. For example, scientists are trying to change Mars atmosphere but are not doing more to save our own. Engineers are trying to build a colony around sustainability but are not implementing the same thought process when it comes to towns and cities here. It is an enthralling time to be alive. The world is about to be revolutionised. The first human who will step foot on Mars is most likely sitting in a primary school somewhere and the engineer who will design the final shuttle is still playing with Legos. Conclusion Completing the mission to mars will not be easy, but it is not impossible. The craft can be assembled in space; the perfect timeline and landing spot can be created and there are ways to survive on the red planet. Settling on Mars would open the door to many other scientific opportunities and discoveries and allow scientists to get the answers they have been looking for for so long. However NASA itself has stressed that the implications of putting off healing our own planet will be dire (5) thus the technologies that are being developed should be so developed as to keep Earth in mind. The science to successfully accomplish all these tasks and many more is there somewhere, all that s missing is the right minds to uncover it. The limits of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible - Arthur C Clarke (5) NASA Global Climate Change, 2017, Climate Change: How do we know?, 17 April

8 Bibliography ABC News, 2015, Five things we would need for people to go to Mars, 9 April 2017, CBC News, 2016, NASA builds Valkyrie robots to get Mars ready for humans, 16 April 2017http:// Fox News, 2017, Six essential reasons why we need to send humans to Mars, 17 April Gadgette, 2016, Visit or settle: a one-way trip to Mars, 10 April Ideas.Ted.com, 2016, 4 Big Questions About the Race to Mars, 10 April 2017 < LiveScience, 2016, Sending Humans to Mars: 8 Steps to Red Planet Colonization, 17 April NASA 2020 Mars Rover, no date, Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE), 17 April NASA Global Climate Change, 2017, Climate Change: How do we know?, 17 April NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2016, Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior, 17 April 2017, NASA Johnson, 2015, What Makes Liquid Water on Mars Possible?, YouTube video, 17 April NASA, 2014, Veggie Plant Growth System Activated on International Space Station, 17 April 2017, NASA, 2015, Can Plants Grow with Mars Soil?, 17 April 2017, National Geographic, 2015, How Will We Get Off Mars?, 17 April Oxford Living Dictionaries, no date, Visit, 19 April Oxford South African Pocket Dictionary, 3rd Edition, 2002, Oxford University Press, South Africa Quartz, 2017, Should we leave Earth to colonize Mars? A NASA astronaut says nope, 17 April 2017 < SpaceX, no date, SpaceX Interplanetary Transport System, online video, 10 April

9 Wired, 2013, Why we can't send humans to Mars yet, and how we'll fix that, 16 April 2017, Wired, 2016, Nasa's Valkyrie robot as you've never seen it before, 16 April