On Mars without a space suit. Cyanobacteria will help us breathe on Mars
Mankind has long dreamed of colonizing other planets, but many people forget that only on Earth are ideal conditions created for human life. Next, you will find out how long a person is able to live on other planets of the solar system.
Mercury
Life time: 0.001 second
The temperature on the planet ranges from -180 to +430 ° C: a person (in a spacesuit, or without it) will either burn alive here or freeze to death. But, purely theoretically, it is still possible to build a base on this planet - at the poles, in the region of eternal night. In addition, if you dig tunnels inside Mercury, then the surface will protect a person from radiation. In theory. In practice, hardly anyone will check ...
Life time: 0.94 seconds
Actually, it’s even difficult to say what will destroy a person first: the atmosphere of Venus is 98% composed of carbon dioxide, the pressure is 92 times greater than the earth's and, as if this is not enough, clouds of sulfuric acid envelop the entire planet. The biblical hell could well be located here - only eternal torment would be replaced by instant death.
Lifetime: several days in a light spacesuit
Mars is the first candidate for a large-scale relocation of all mankind. But you can't do without terraforming: the atmosphere here is 95% carbon dioxide, and the radiation is so high that it can kill a person in a few days.
Life time: 0.03 seconds
The presence of at least some life on Jupiter is unlikely: before us is a gas giant. Most likely, a person who got here will simply suffocate in ammonia fumes.
Life time: 0.03 seconds
Another gas giant that leaves no hope for the astronaut who landed here. Even without taking into account the composition of the atmosphere and other things - the wind on Saturn blows at a speed of 1800 km / h: you will simply be torn apart.
Life time: up to several days
The only planet where there was a man. The moon is quite hospitable when compared with other planets. Here, however, there is neither an atmosphere nor a magnetic field, which means that the radiation is very high. Nevertheless, an astronaut in a spacesuit is able to survive on its surface for up to several days.
Life time: 0.001 seconds
Uranus is enveloped in a shell consisting of a hot and dense liquid, a mixture of water, ammonia, and methane. Actually, a person will not even have time to land here, but will almost instantly dissolve without a trace, along with the spacesuit.
Life time: 0.05 seconds
This giant, whose atmosphere is very similar to Uranus, has the strongest winds in solar system. They reach 2,300 meters per second, which, of course, is deadly for humans.
Life time: less than a moment. Even if somehow it turns out to fly and land))
Today we are witnessing how the colonization of Mars is moving from a popular science fiction idea into a real project of many space agencies. But what obstacles await the colonists on the way to settling Mars?
Can humans live on Mars?
In theory, life outside of Earth is possible, but survival on Mars is hampered by the harsh conditions on it. Here short list what stands in the way of creating the first settlement on Mars:
- , which is a third of the earth. Although it seems to be a fairly harmless property, in reality it can turn out to be a source of problems that are difficult to predict now. It will be difficult for earthlings to adapt to such a weak attraction, and its effect on the body of an earthling is unpredictable. In addition, in the perspective of generations, people born outside the Earth will be different from its inhabitants - and the low gravity is to blame. However, the differences will not make the Martians unrecognizable, as their genetics will remain the same.
- Another obstacle that everyone hears is high. Humanity already has the technology to protect itself from radiation, but much more powerful equipment will be required to colonize the neighboring world. Its construction and transportation will greatly delay the preparation of the Martian mission, and people on the surface will be forced to keep their protective equipment in order not to be exposed to the background radiation.
- a hundred times thinner than the earth, consists of 95 percent carbon dioxide and only 0.15% oxygen. In addition, the planet has a changeable climate, and the average temperature is -63 degrees Celsius.
- Dust and dust storms are dangerous both for future settlers and their equipment. Those who can live there will have to make storm forecasts, build shelters and look for ways to protect equipment upon arrival.
- Finally, the absence of water in liquid form will be a difficult factor for the inhabitants of a planet where oceans cover 70% of the area.
All these obstacles can greatly slow down the colonization program, but they are not the reasons why life on Mars is impossible. And let only the next generations be able to check whether this idea is reality or fiction, today we can already talk about the fact that it is possible to live on Mars.
How many people will live without a space suit
Even if the idea of creating an earthly settlement on Mars comes true, going to the surface without a spacesuit is still not worth it for two reasons.
Firstly, the composition of the planet's atmosphere makes it impossible to breathe in it - for the most part it consists of carbon dioxide, and oxygen makes up a tenth of a percent in it.
Secondly, the atmosphere itself is extremely thin. The first of the consequences of this fact is the low pressure near the surface, which is 0.6% of the earth's. This is well below the so-called Armstrong limit, the level at which the pressure is so weak that water boils at body temperature.
Thirdly, low temperature. In summer, at the equator, it reaches +20 degrees Celsius, but in the middle latitudes it is rather closer to -50.
Fourthly, the complete absence of any natural protection from solar radiation, which is the ozone layer on earth.
It is impossible to predict exactly what will happen if you go to the surface without a space suit - you will either freeze, or die from hypoxia, or be exposed to a high dose of radiation. In any case, a man without protection will not live on Mars for more than a few seconds.
How to survive on Mars
Let's assume that the spaceship with a group of settlers has successfully reached its destination. Now they have to survive on an alien planet. Mars itself is unsuitable for life, that is, its future population will have to look for ways to create a colony using terrestrial technologies, and then change the planet itself, adapting it to life. The needs of future colonists can be divided into two main groups: Shelter and Resources.
Let's start with shelters. They will immediately be able to solve problems such as the level of radiation on Mars, as well as protect people and equipment from dust and dust storms. There are two options for what the first city on a distant planet will be:
- Underground settlement. Living in underground tunnels is a common idea. It addresses security issues, but counterbalances them with others - building this type of shelter will take a long time.
- Dome. Strictly speaking, this may not be a real dome - any closed ground structures are included in this item. They can be partially assembled on Earth, so building this type of city should not take the settlers much time. However, the reliability of such buildings is lower. In addition, over time, they will need repairs, and the delivery of goods from Earth is too long and costly, so the colony should be as autonomous as possible.
Perhaps a combination of both methods could solve the problem of how to survive on Mars. Or, over time, a completely different way of building a settlement will be developed. In any case, this will have to be dealt with by anyone who will direct the flight of the colonists.
Let's move on to the second problem - resources. The first is water and oxygen. The issue of oxygen inside closed buildings is solved by growing plants that will also serve as food for their inhabitants.
To address the issue of lack liquid water propose a very ambitious project - melting the polar caps. This will cover the planet with oceans and start the process of terraformation. Part of the water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen, thereby changing the composition of the atmosphere, making it denser and, in the future, even breathable.
So, the short answer to the question of how we will live on Mars is probably difficult. It will take time to adjust, as well as new solutions and technologies for people to safely settle on an alien planet, and the process of changing the surface and atmosphere is likely to last several generations.
All problems are solved, and one question remains - how many people to send? Of course, not everyone is suitable for such a flight - all flight participants will be selected according to criteria, including education, health and psychological stability.
Probably, the sending of people will take place in stages and the first to fly will be those who can create conditions for the arrival of the next group. There will be four of them. When several such groups arrive on Mars, the settlement will consist of 20 people. It is also possible that this number will approach a million by the middle of the 21st century - however, only one project names such figures.
It is hoped that in the future, when Mars becomes habitable, it will help solve the problems of the Earth's population. But at first, people will live there only as a small number of scientists and colonists.
Space remains of interest and attractiveness for a huge number of earthlings, despite any political and economic troubles. Including Mars. Will humans ever be able to live on the Red Planet? Is it possible to establish a more or less stable colony there? many of us ask.
Professionals do not answer quite clearly, according to the principle of “be content with little”. There is no need to talk about the "migration of peoples" to Mars - not in any distant future. But the Martian scientific stations like polar and antarctic ones - yes, it is possible, and, most likely, it will take place sooner or later.
The flight of a handful of the elect is not an option
Even today you can hear the theory that the Earth will someday become unusable, and humanity will have to flee to other planets. But who is meant by humanity? How many people can you really hide in spaceships? Dozens, hundreds? What will happen to the billions?
“We on Earth cannot solve seemingly much simpler problems,” the deputy director of the Space Research Institute reminded the MIR 24 correspondent. Russian Academy Sciences Oleg Korablev. - Why do we need to move to Mars? Some big trouble – we don’t need it.”
The scientist identified "three groups of problems that could make it so bad on Earth to start a story with resettlement." It can be world wars with the use of weapons of mass destruction, catastrophic climate change or simply overpopulation of the Earth beyond any limit.
The surface of the Red Planet resembles terrestrial deserts
All these dangers exist, and mankind has not yet succeeded in eliminating them. But still, some prospects for the actions of more or less reasonable statesmen are visible.
Breed and settle - will not work
Maybe Mars will be gradually colonized by small groups of enthusiasts? Suppose they wish to leave the "overpopulated, littered and depraved" old lady-Earth? Equip such a Mayflower ship in a space version, and then populate Mars with generations of your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren - descendants of the strong and brave?
Alas, this is also a utopia. And it's not even that it's too cold - the average temperature is about minus 50, drops from minus 170 to plus 20 (on the Martian equator in the summer at noon). By the way, the pressure on Mars does not reach even one hundredth of the earth's, approximately like in the stratosphere - and this is also not for people.
Although the Red Planet has a residual atmosphere, it cannot be breathed. “On Mars, most likely, there are resources that would allow us to fill its atmosphere and eventually raise the pressure and temperature there,” said Oleg Korablev. But it is not yet clear how to do this. And since Mars is not protected magnetic field, the atmosphere will be destroyed, perhaps faster than it can be created. And people will also suffer from radiation, as in outer space.”
In general, people on Mars will be able to be either in spacesuits or in specially equipped rooms. A whole civilization does not survive like this, and it would be too naive to hope that a person somehow mutates and adapts.
The main thing is not to “fry” while flying
However, what is impossible, so to speak, at the macro level, looks completely different if we go to the “micro” level. After all, the Earth has a North and South Pole. And there - in our days it is Antarctica that is more relevant - small but vigorous teams of scientists live at polar stations. True, they are not engaged in reproduction and colonization there - but in general, as they say, they do not live hard. When there is funding.
These are relatively modest but reasonable tasks, in the opinion of Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Korablev, that can actually be set and solved. If we manage to solve the most pressing issue - radiation protection.
Let's not forget that the flight is very long. The minimum distance from the Earth in favorable years, when it is exactly between the Sun and Mars, still exceeds 55 million km.
A selection of images transmitted from Mars by the Curiosity spacecraft
Just a month ago, in March, the Exomars spacecraft, a joint project of Roscosmos and the European Space Agency, was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It will reach Mars in six months - that is, a total of seven months for the flight. But there are no people on the ExoMars, only equipment. And what will happen to people?
“Theoretically, we can assemble a “transport ship” surrounded by some tanks, fill them with water so that this water protects against radiation, and then use recycled water,” Korablev suggested.
But to launch such a mass ship from the Earth, it will take "inconceivably powerful launch vehicle." As the scientist noted, it is more expedient to assemble the whole ship in parts in orbit. And maybe not even on the earth, but on the moon. Still, the complexity is enormous.
Another option under discussion is to achieve higher speeds and drastically reduce flight times. At the last meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of the Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov recalled that it was the Martian program that made it possible to seriously consider the creation of nuclear rocket engines - until now, they fly into space only on chemical fuel.
But a nuclear engine is also “easy to say”. "The most efficient of options- "direct action engine", - said Oleg Korablev. - But his exhaust is a radioactive contamination. Testing such an engine on Earth is unthinkable. It’s better to have a ship with an onboard nuclear power plant, but it’s even more difficult.”
There is water. Cold
And yet, although there is no solution to the problem yet, it is at least in principle solvable. And the road will be mastered by the walking one. There is no radiation protection on Mars either - the Red Planet has lost its magnetic field. But there it is already possible to build premises, find shelters of a natural type, caves, and supplement them with blocks brought from the Earth.
But water is the most important condition for human life- there is on Mars. “There is a lot of concentrated water in the form of ice near the poles,” Korablev said. “But it’s cold there, just like on Earth. In temperate equatorial latitudes, where the best place for the establishment of such a station, water sources from the Earth are not yet visible. But, perhaps, it can be explored.
More than 30 years ago, Viking 1 and Viking 2 landed on the surface of Mars for the first time.
If you're lucky, then the Martian soil, according to scientists' cautious forecast, "may have some kind of fertility." So growing potatoes on Mars, as in the movie "The Martian", is in principle possible if you arrange greenhouses.
To Mars - in prehistoric times
There will be not just a lot of work for such scientists, but no end. To date, scientists on Earth do not even have a sample of Martian soil (unlike the lunar one) - and it is planned to deliver it no earlier than 2030.
“Mars is very interesting because geological activity stopped there 3.5 billion years ago,” Korablev emphasized. - There are fossils of that era, but they were not on Earth a long time ago, everything was recycled by the movement of plates earth's crust, the biosphere. We can better understand what happened to the planets early on.”
Of the five planets terrestrial group Mars is completely unique. It did not go through such a long and gigantic evolution as the Earth and Venus, but it did not completely lose the atmosphere and water and did not remain “naked” like the Moon and Mercury.
“Mars was in an intermediate position - he did not lose everything,” Korablev recalled. - And he has a magnetic field, we know exactly what it was. It is not clear only why it stopped, and whether it stopped altogether. Because of this, the loss of the atmosphere is much stronger. But the one that is, can live a very long time.
If humanity itself will live more or less decently, it will learn these secrets of the universe.
Leonid Smirnov
In March 2016, the Proton-M launch vehicle with vehicles for the ExoMars international research mission successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The rocket flew in October 2016, but the soft landing of the Schiaparelli descent module on Mars failed: the module crashed. The world is watching the conquest of Mars with great interest. Mankind is raving about Mars and the success of the film "The Martian" is one of the proofs of this. People have been training to survive on Mars for a long time. We find out how well we prepared for interplanetary travel.
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Launch of Proton-M
See Mars and not go crazy
Scientists have long been trying to figure out how a person would feel on Mars. In 1967, a secret experiment took place in the Soviet Union. Three testers spent a year in a closed research laboratory, the prototype module of the Martian ship. The conditions of the experiment were harsh: overcrowding, hunger, constant thirst, emergency situations. In addition, according to the program of the experiment, the psychologists deliberately provoked the crew into conflicts. Released in 2010 documentary about this "See Mars... and not go crazy" experiment.
Youtube
Three million in 520 days
In 2010-2011, the grandiose international project "Mars 500" took place - six "marsonauts" spent 520 days in a space module model that simulated here on Earth a flight to Mars and even an exit to the Red Planet. Inside the module there was a greenhouse, a living compartment, a laboratory, something like a cockpit, a gym and a Mars simulator, where they got through the airlock.
For a year and a half, the testers got up at six in the morning, engaged in scientific experiments, maintenance of the experimental complex and physical training. The schedule was tight. AT free time"Martians" read, listened to music, played the guitar, watched vegetables growing on the "space" garden.
The main goal of the project is the study of psychophysiological reactions human body for long-term isolation. All participants of the project reached the finish line. Despite the daily obligatory classes, the doctors who observed the "cosmonauts" found a noticeable decrease in physical activity. A decrease in metabolic rate has also been reported.
Each member of the Marsolet crew received a fee of three million rubles.
Before the start of the experiment, it seemed that this fee was a considerable amount. But now, having worked on board for more than 500 days, I understand that the amount is not that big. The plans are to spend part of the money on studying and improving their qualifications as a surgeon. In addition, I would definitely like to go to the sea: for a year and a half without sun and water, I, as a southern person, had a hard time. I just want to lie on the beach - no matter where, in Russia or abroad, and look at the oncoming wave.
Survive in Hawaii
In August 2015, NASA launched its Mars Survival Experiment in Hawaii. A team of six lives under a dome on the slope of a dormant volcano. The participants of the experiment go outside only in spacesuits. For a whole year, the colonizers of Mars will not breathe fresh air. From the food of the "marsonauts", for example, powdered cheese and canned tuna.
AFPAFR
The American space agency has previously conducted similar experiments twice: they lasted four and eight months. The current experiment is the longest in time and as close as possible to the real conditions of a flight to Mars.
Survival experiments like this on Mars have drawn a lot of criticism.
It's nothing but a test ordinary people for a long stay in a closed environment, where they are forced to improve their lives and relationships, relying only on their own strength. Here everything is conditional, as if preparations for drifting on an ice floe in the Arctic were carried out in the winter on a pond near Moscow. People involved in this experiment can at any moment refuse to continue it, go out and hug their loved ones. So such studies are of little relevance to understanding the possibility of interplanetary flight.
Is it possible to create life on Mars?
The Martian day (sol) is 24 hours 39 minutes 35.244 seconds, which is very close to Earth. The surface temperature of Mars is much lower than Earth's. The maximum mark is +30 (at noon at the equator), the minimum is -123 (in winter at the poles). Atmospheric pressure is too low for people to survive without an air suit.
For the colonization of Mars, a person will have to solve many problems. So, the atmosphere of the red planet is 95% carbon dioxide. The air that people breathe on Earth is about 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen, and these proportions are critical. A few percent less oxygen - and we begin to suffocate, a few percent more - and the lungs may suffer.
Even if we manage to "fix" the atmosphere of Mars, the planet will begin to cool as soon as the carbon dioxide content decreases. Oxygen and nitrogen (or other inert gases) do not produce a greenhouse effect. The earth, among other factors, is kept warm by a large amount of water vapor. For example, if we warm Mars enough and the ice melts, a lot of water will enter the atmosphere. It will start raining and snowing.
A serious obstacle in the development of Mars may be the fact that there is no magnetic field - so familiar on Earth. And without it, the colonists are threatened mental disorders. In addition, the magnetic field protects against solar radiation.
However, humanity does not give up on the idea of terraforming Mars. What only options are not offered! Engineer Elon Musk, head of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, proposed a radical method - to throw the Red Planet nuclear bombs to raise the temperature. According to the inventor, the colonists on Mars will have to live in transparent houses until the atmosphere of the planet becomes suitable for human habitation.
Watch a futuristic video of Mars turning into Earth. Impressive.
vimeo- Currently, NASA's plans for Mars are massive and ambitious. The organization landed its Curiosity rover in the crater in 2012 and made major discoveries, including possible traces of water on the planet. The US will send a new InSight module to the planet in 2018.
- In 1973, the USSR lost 4 vehicles in an unsuccessful attempt to soft-land a probe on the red planet. In 1988, the flight of the Phobos series vehicles ended in failure, and in 2011, the Phobos-Grunt mission ended in Earth orbit.
- The Proton-M rocket was launched as part of the ExoMars joint Russian-European program. The launch is supposed to be a "zero-in" ahead of the rover's launch, scheduled for 2018. And in 2023, it is planned to make the first manned flight to Mars.
- NASA intends to repeat the episode from the movie "The Martian", when the hero grew potatoes on the red planet. In Peru, an experiment is starting to grow several dozen varieties of wild and domestic potatoes in conditions as close as possible to Martian conditions in the Peruvian Atacama Desert.
Many volunteers have already expressed their willingness to fly to Mars, regardless of the dose of radiation that will be received. But if they were not sufficiently prepared, the expedition would be over long before they could return. We present a very pessimistic, but objective view of the future of the Martian colony.
Too early
We are on our way to Mars. NASA plans to land the first astronauts on its surface in the 2030s. Private space companies such as SpaceX have also expressed interest in establishing their own colonies on the planet, while the Mars One project has already selected civilians for a one-way flight in 2024.
While people dream of spending the rest of their lives on Mars, they do not even think that their days there can be numbered quickly enough. Martian environment difficult for terrestrial life forms to survive, and creating a habitat on Mars would require an extraordinary amount of engineering expertise and technological innovation to keep the inhabitants of the colony safe.
And while it is possible that we will soon have shuttles to transport people to Mars, the equipment to support the life of astronauts on Mars is not yet ready - and its creation could take years. We warn all those who suffer to get to the planet as soon as possible: if you organize a flight too early, you will have to suffer a lot of sacrifices.
you will crash
Okay, you did fly, spent many months in space flight and finally reached the orbit of the Red Planet. Now it remains only to land, and it will be very difficult.
It's all about the atmosphere of Mars. The air around the planet is about 100 times less dense than in the Earth's atmosphere. A spacecraft returning to our planet relies on a parachute and atmospheric drag to slow it down. The heavier an object, the more resistance it needs to avoid hitting the surface. But with such a rarefied atmosphere as on Mars, a soft landing of a heavy ship is hardly possible, because it will gain too much speed as it descends.
NASA Associate Mission Planning Manager Bret Drake says that the descent to the planet through the atmosphere is the main problem. With current landing methods, only a ton can be lowered, which is not enough for a colony. According to Drake, NASA will need to deliver 20-30 tons at a time for the safe transportation of astronauts and everything necessary for their planetary habitat. In this regard, the space agency is working on unique designs, in particular, on an inflatable "Low Density Supersonic Moderator" (LSDS). Looking like a conical flying saucer, the disc-shaped LSDS and an inflatable air cushion added to it increase the lander's surface, allowing it to slow down in a rarefied atmosphere. The moderator has so far been tested on Earth, including in Hawaii in 2014-2015. Whether the development will help to lower the ship to Mars is still unclear.
Freeze to death
Welcome to Mars! You still got to him completely and consciously. Now it's time to get acquainted with the weather conditions of the new house. The average temperature on Mars is -63℃, but it all depends on the season, time of day and place, so the temperature difference is from +35℃ at the equator to -153℃ at the poles, which means astronauts will have to survive in unbearable cold.
NASA has a long history of protecting astronauts from temperature fluctuations, thanks to years of expeditions to the International Space Station. Passing on the sunny side, the ISS can withstand heating of more than 200 degrees, and in the shadow of the Earth it cools down to -200℃. The suits and the station use thermal management systems and processes such as sublimation to both reflect heat and protect against cold. However, these systems are designed to operate in a vacuum. On Mars, completely new methods will be needed. Although the planet's atmosphere is rarefied, it still contains gases that cause convection of heat, similar to how the wind cools the human body on Earth. In this regard, the astronauts will feel the rapid temperature changes much more acutely.
Drake argues that "a solution will be needed that will provide better insulation from the cold environment and a different way to remove heat at high temperatures." According to him, a spacesuit in a vacuum is like a thermos, and a spacesuit on Mars is more like a coffee cup on the table: coffee cools down much faster compared to coffee in a thermos.
You will die of hunger
Life on the surface of Mars will be like surviving in remote Antarctic research outposts. All the food and supplies needed for these stations come from other continents, and resupply missions are infrequent. Mars is "slightly" further from civilization than Antarctica, and resupply missions would take months or even years. If the colony is to survive on the Red Planet, the inhabitants will have to develop a system of self-renewal when it comes to food. And this means that the skills of interplanetary agriculture will be needed.
The Mars One project plans to grow crops indoors under artificial lighting. According to their website, an 80m2 "garden" will be set up in the dwelling, irrigated with water supposed to be found in the soil of Mars and supported by carbon dioxide produced by a crew of four. However, studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have shown that all these numbers do not add up to an equation.
“When growing the crops needed to feed four people continuously, the carbon dioxide they produce will not be enough to sustain the crop,” explains the space engineer and author of the project. Sidney Do . Crops will die very quickly, within 12-18 days. Expansion of the team will not save the situation, because otherwise there will not be enough food: "The crop that can be grown only on CO 2 from the crew will be enough for half of this crew." In fact, this is the so-called Catch-22, that is, an extreme form of mutually exclusive positions from which there is no way out.
How to find a solution anyway? A harvest is possible, but it means that the astronauts will have to starve. Or a way will be found to generate more carbon dioxide, for example by cleaning CO 2 . The technology by which gas could be absorbed from the Martian atmosphere is still in its infancy. But if it can be used, then the settlers will have problems with the supply of now oxygen.
You will suffocate (or explode)
Plants will be needed not only to feed the hungry astronauts - first of all, they will renew the oxygen supply in the Martian house, which is much more economical than sending heavy oxygen tanks from Earth.
Studies have shown that plants can grow in Martian soil, however crops have never been grown in Mars' gravity environment, so further testing is needed to see if the vegetation can survive at all. But if everything works, the plants will produce a lot of oxygen. And that's not necessarily good.
Sidney Doe's research has shown that an excess of oxygen in a confined space can lead to an increased risk of oxygen poisoning for the crew and, even worse, to spontaneous explosions. Thus, O 2 must be removed from the environment. To do this, astronauts will need a specialized way to separate oxygen from the gas stream. There are a number of methods for doing this on Earth (cryogenic distillation and pressure swing adsorption), but none of these technologies have been tested in the Martian environment. Those technologies that work on Earth require a lot of effort on the part of the crew and are too cumbersome. “In terms of their practical use in space, the first step is to reduce their size, reduce cost, and improve reliability,” explains Do.
A couple of years ago, NASA proposed the creation of an “ecopoiesis” on Mars, a functioning ecosystem capable of supporting life. The idea is to send selected terrestrial organisms, such as cyanobacteria to Mars, that can feed on the planet's rocky soil and produce oxygen. NASA said in a statement that "ultimately, biodomes on Mars, equipped with ecopoiesis to produce oxygen through systems of bacteria or algae, will provide astronauts with everything they need." However, the space agency does not specify how much carbon dioxide living organisms will require and whether they can survive in the air produced by the crew.
What remains is the MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In situ resource utilization Experiment) device, which can negate the oxygen dependence of plants. Developed by scientists at the University of Massachusetts, the machine is powered by carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere, which it breaks down into oxygen and carbon monoxide. A smaller version of MOXIE will go to Mars along with the next foray to the planet, scheduled for 2020. If MOXIE works, it could become a renewable source of oxygen without the need to grow plants.
You may not get
All of these possible scenarios will only become a real problem if you actually get to Mars. But the sad truth is that you may not survive the journey. Suppose there were no problems with the ship and you did not accidentally encounter space debris in flight. We are left face to face with an invisible cosmic killer that is not so easy to spot: radiation. Beyond low Earth orbit, space is filled with cosmic rays - high-energy particles. Cosmic radiation easily penetrates the walls of the ship and it is quite possible that during a long journey it will have a detrimental effect on human health.
A study in mice showed that long-term exposure to cosmic rays can lead to abnormal brain changes: the mice lost many important synapses between neurons, became less curious and more distracted. Not the brightest prospect for future Martian inhabitants.
What is even more depressing is the ability of radiation to increase the risk of cancer. NASA monitors each astronaut's chance of developing cancer from radiation over the course of their careers. If the risk rises to 3%, the astronaut is sent to Earth. On the space station astronauts are partially protected by the earth's magnetic field, but on a long journey there will be no such protection. In addition, some of the crew may be more susceptible to the beams than others.
“Due to the fact that women generally live longer, according to NASA, they have a higher chance of developing cancer during their lifetime than men, with the same amount of radiation,” explains Dorit Donoviel , Deputy Director National Institute biomedical research, “Calculations have shown that, apparently, women should not fly to Mars, since the total exposure during the flight will increase the tolerable 3% risk.”
Either Mars or you
All this may seem like a big bummer, but we are only listing how many obstacles we need to overcome before we go to Mars. NASA acknowledged its unpreparedness by organizing the Obstacles to Mars competition in 2015. Participants sent developments related to solving problems with housing, water, food, breathable air, communications, social interaction and medicine.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden there is no doubt that the agency is capable of reaching Mars, unlike private companies like SpaceX and the Mars One missions. The possibility of survival on Mars is shown in the 2015 film The Martian, based on the novel Andy Weira published a year earlier. For those who missed it, astronaut Mark Watney struggles to survive on Mars alone after being mistakenly killed by his crew. Watney begins to grow potatoes, tries to collect water and generally somehow survive.
The story itself confirms NASA's position: even with the most careful preparation, a mission cannot be fully planned. The author of the novel argues that in the first place you need to be prepared for failure, and although his book does not consider the best scenario for the development of events, he is still confident that one day we will get to the Red Planet.