Colonizing Mars
Mars is a renowned planet among public and private space organizations and likely to be the first planet to be colonized among others. It is the fourth planet from the Sun and neighbour to our very own Earth. For decades it has been observed and studied by satellites, explored and researched in-depth remotely by rovers deducing that humanity with the help of proper technology can survive and thrive there.
Why Mars?
Besides Mars, Venus is another neighboring planet having physical properties like size, gravity and density just like Earth; just like a twin, so why did we choose Mars? First of all Mars is near to Earth compared to Venus, then comes the second factor which is atmosphere, Venus is covered by dense clouds of Sulphuric acid and below those clouds the greenhouse effect is catastrophic which makes it inhabitable. For other planets in our universe other than these two, distance is the main factor limiting us at present.
Motive behind colonizing Mars is because it is quite similar to Earth. Here are some features of Mars which gave us an idea of colonization:
The rotational period of Mars is a bit similar to Earth, 1 Martian day is equal to 2 Earth days.
Mars have seasons like Earth and data from lander sent to Mars suggest that martian soil contained minerals that can support plant growth further evidence that liquid water once existed on the red planet and it have dry ice present on its poles.
Research suggests that Mars once was more habitable than today.
Difficulties that would be faced by us in colonizing Mars would be lack of atmospheric insulation from bombardment of other celestial bodies, high exposure to radiation, insufficient pressure to keep water in liquid form, we also need more efficient ways to produce oxygen and food.
How will we colonize Mars?
First of all to reach Mars we would need an efficient way which includes carrying more mass, using less fuel and less time consuming. We would need to use the concept of ion thrusters or fusion rockets instead of conventional chemical rockets, this would help us to reduce travel time of nine months to 1-2 weeks. We might also need to build a refueling station somewhere between two planets so spacecrafts can refuel for upcoming journeys, it can also be used for other interplanetary travel. Landing on a martian surface can be complicated, in spite of less gravity the atmosphere of Mars is so thin that aero braking cannot be performed so spacecraft must land by its own thruster or with the help of extremely strong carbon nanotubes we can build a space elevator.
Living on Mars would be different from Earth as we cannot just start building houses or labs, we are likely to live underground in inflatable pressurized buildings as radiation levels on its surface are 2 times higher than in ISS(International Space Stations). Climate on Mars can change suddenly, it has the largest dust storms in the entire solar system which can cause damage to vehicles and can clog the electronics. Mainly we would need oxygen which can be produced for atmospheric carbon dioxide with the help of machines like NASA’s ‘MOXIE’, we can also use liquid oxygen produced by it as fuel for spacecraft. Requirement of water can be overcome by recycling it just like ISS. For food there is no soil on Mars to grow food so we need to use hydroponics - grow crops without soil in mineral solution. In the beginning it will not be sufficient. We will have shipped it from Earth. Communication can have delays in receiving on Earth, it can take upto 15 minutes to receive a message on earth from Mars with the latest tech at present. To explore martian surface rovers with pressurized cabins with proper insulation for radiations are required. They should be light as well as robust to withstand harsh martian atmosphere and if you want to go outside you must wear a spacesuit to return alive. At night temperature can drop excessively below freezing point upto −143 °C while in day it reaches only 35 °C.
Like Lunar dust, martian soil is toxic and is harmful for us it can damage our lungs, so to prevent it from entering habitat every building must have a chamber which would decontaminate the suit as well as clean it and collect all dust particles. Not only suits but all electronics and vehicles are needed to be cleaned to maintain their efficiency.
It is best to move to mars after terraforming it which is done increasing temperature and converting dry ice on its poles into gas which gives mars atmosphere though it will be of carbon dioxide but it will increase pressure so water can exist in liquid form. Water can be extracted from deep beneath dry ice and vapour of water can make the atmosphere thick and eventually it will begin to rain. This process of re-engineering of the planet can take upto thousands of years as it is very slow but at the end it will be habitable and during this duration we may develop an advanced transportation system. After establishing a proper colony on mars humanity will continue its exploration in search of another planet and a never ending curiosity.
Mars is a hope for a second chance for Humanity.
wah dk bhaii...keep going👍
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