Could humans survive on Mars?

Over the last few decades, the world has been going through noticeable changes in its climate and weather patterns, with humans being the main cause. Storms are getting worse, sea levels are slowly rising and extreme fluctuating temperatures destroy entire harvests or wipe out local plants and animals. Because we have done such a huge amount of damage to our own world, and with the advancements we’ve made as a species in technology, we can now realistically ask ourselves the question of whether it would be possible to survive on another planet.

(A Mars rover, the current state of exploration on the red planet, far from glass-domed colonies with human occupants)

Out of all the planets in question, the one that’s closest in size to Earth is Mars, and it’s only 227.9 million km away from the sun, in comparison to Earth which is around 150 million km. Even though the distance is much greater, if an atmosphere was present the planet would be able to hold enough heat at its equator to have a climate that would be similar to something like central Europe on Earth.

But could humans survive on Mars?

As it stands, we are nowhere near having the level of technology needed to terraform the planet, which is the method of creating an atmosphere and raising the planet’s temperature so it can maintain liquid water. There are other huge problems that we also can’t solve, such as remelting the planet’s core which cooled to a solid a long time ago, but the intense temperature and energy held within the core creates a magnetic field around the planet that protects its atmosphere from being stripped away by solar winds. Since the technology to create and maintain an atmosphere won’t exist for a long time, our only option at this stage is the colony.

(When the core of a planet is molten it creates a magnetic field that deflects solar winds, without this magnetic field, an atmosphere can just be pushed away)

How to build human colonies on Mars?

Assuming we had ships that could easily get to the planet and back to Earth again, with our current technology the flight would last about 7 months each way. This means that bringing in huge amounts of pre-fabricated modular buildings is out of the question, and instead, materials would have to be produced as locally as possible. One possible solution would be to create domed enclosures within craters, and then bury them in Martian soil to protect them from the unblocked harmful radiation coming from the sun.

(An impression of what homes could look like on Mars, but in reality, they would have to be completely covered with soil to protect people from radiation)

It’s been suggested that one of the first things to be built on a Mars colony would be a growing station to produce a certain type of plant they can use to make a strong glue. This glue would then be mixed with soil to create a mud brick type of block they could use to make a structure which would then be lined with an air-tight protective layer. This would allow them to create large buildings that would only require a lining instead of a full set of materials being brought in from Earth.

What would people eat on Mars?

Greenhouses would be perfectly capable of growing crops, and it’s likely that the Martian soil can be used so only seeds and fertilizer would be needed from Earth. Unfortunately, the occupants would only have access to a few fast-growing salad crops and the dream of self-sufficient food is a very long way off. It takes at least a quarter acre of land to produce enough food for one person, and that’s assuming the foods are being grown in an ultra-efficient hydroponics set-up in a greenhouse. 100 people would take a bare minimum of 25 acres, and creating a greenhouse of this size on a planet completely unprotected from meteors is a very high-risk idea. Currently, the only sensible option is to bring food in from Earth in freeze-dried form, as it can last for up to 25 years.

(An idea of how food would be produced on the planet, but this method requires large amounts of power for the grow lights, and is only suitable for certain types of crops)

Where would the water come from?

There is a small amount of water at the poles, but it would be very difficult to extract as most of it is frozen in the soil. Water is very heavy and bringing it on a seven-month voyage from Earth isn’t practical, so it will have to be found locally. The only rational answer is for a ship to collect it in space, but you can’t always count on an ice asteroid floating past at the right moment, so the ice will have to be collected from somewhere more reliable. The only answer for this would be another planet, or the outer rings of a planet far enough from the sun to maintain ice. The huge ice blocks would probably have to be crashed into Mars and the colonists would then take pieces to thaw out and purify.

How would a Mars colony be powered?

The ideal solution would be to use fusion energy, but we haven’t invented that yet, so any form of localized power would be the key. Due to the atmosphere on Mars being so thin, wind turbines would provide a fraction of what they do now on Earth, and solar panels would work at a reduced efficiency because of the extra distance from the sun. There are currently no known mineral or fuel deposits on Mars of any kind, so not even a coal-powered steam generator would be possible.

The short answer to the question “Could humans survive on Mars”?

No, no we couldn’t