Living and working on Mars is no more science fiction. NASA and SpaceX are working tiredly towards the realization of the first city on Mars. Since 2011 there are robotic instruments like the preservence and curiosity rover on Mars that are send to study the surface and the conditions on Mars.
Source: New Drive/Harmonic Drive
One of the main challenges to humans living on Mars is connected with the fact that such human missions to Mars can be done only each 2 years and 2 months during the synoid years when the energy needed to reach is few times lower than normal. Due to the eccentricity of Mars's orbit, the energy needed in the low-energy periods varies on roughly a 15-year cycle with the easiest periods needing only half the energy of the peaks. Earlier it was expected that the first steps towards building a city on Mars may occur not earlier than 2050, now with the progress of technology, economy and huge advancement in the space exploration field, it is expected to sent humans to Mars 3 to 5 years from now. SpaceX is already receiving applications for human spaceflights to the Red Planet.
Twenty-five years ago that little robot, a six-wheeled rover named Sojourner, made it — becoming the first in a string of rovers built and operated by NASA to explore Mars. Four more NASA rovers, each more capable and complex than the last, have surveyed the Red Planet. The one named Curiosity marked its 10th year of cruising around on August 5. Another, named Perseverance, is busy collecting rocks that future robots are supposed to retrieve and bring back to Earth.
Protection from radiation and cultivation of food supplies:
The biggest requirement by planning for ways to shelter residents from radiation. (We’ll need some similar protective deus ex machine for people to get all the way to Mars without being irradiated, but that’s for some other group to solve.) NASA scientists reported that a possible mission to Mars may involve great radiation risk based on energetic particle radiation measured by the radiation assessment detector (RAD) on the Mars Science Laboratory while traveling from the Earth to Mars in 2011–2012. The calculated radiation dose was 0.66 sieverts round-trip. The agency's career radiation limit for astronauts is 1 sievert. In mid-September 2017, NASA reported temporarily doubled radiation levels on the surface of Mars, with an aurora 25 times brighter than any observed earlier, due to a massive unexpected solar storm.
And the residents will need to be able to produce food crops in order to sustain life. Such cultivation of greens and foods has been already successfully done on the international space station with the mission to reproduce similar techniques when colonising planets like the mission to built a city on Mars. But the goal is for the city to only requiring supplies from Earth for a limited time before it becomes sustainable.
Mars was once a watery planet, however, water now only exists in the form of ice. There is firstly the obvious way to preserve water out there and it is by using the ice resources through water mining. NASA is but working on something different that has been successfully tested on the international space station and this is the recycling of water. NASA is developing life support systems for long-duration space missions that can regenerate or recycle essential resources like food, air, and water. The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) on the International Space Station (ISS) has achieved a significant milestone by recovering 98% of the water brought onboard, a critical requirement for future deep space missions.
The Water Recovery System within ECLSS collects and processes wastewater, including water vapor from crew breath and sweat, using advanced dehumidifiers. The system also recovers water from urine through vacuum distillation in the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA). A specialized Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) has been tested on the ISS to additionally extract water from the urine brine produced by the UPA, contributing to the overall water recovery rate.
The recent demonstration of 98% water recovery on the ISS marks a significant advancement in life support technology, enabling a closed-loop system where water is continuously recycled and reused. This achievement is crucial for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, where resupply missions from Earth will not be feasible.
The water collected by the Water Recovery System on the ISS is processed by the Water Processor Assembly (WPA), which uses specialized filters and a catalytic reactor to remove contaminants. Sensors check the water's purity, and unacceptable water is reprocessed until it meets the required standards. The acceptable water is then treated with iodine to prevent microbial growth and stored for the crew's use.
Each crew member requires about a gallon of water per day for consumption, food preparation, and hygiene. The water produced by the WPA is of higher quality than that produced by many municipal water systems on Earth. The team emphasises that the water is reclaimed, filtered, and cleaned to ensure its safety and quality.
The reliability and long-term operation of the ECLSS systems are crucial for future deep space missions. The regenerative capabilities of these systems reduce the need for resupply missions, allowing more resources to be allocated to scientific payloads. This enables the crew to focus on their mission objectives without worrying about resource management.
While most water ice is buried, it is exposed at the surface across several locations on Mars. In the mid-latitudes, it is exposed by impact craters, steep scarps and gullies.[9][10][11] Additionally, water ice is also visible at the surface at the north polar ice cap.[12] Abundant water ice is also present beneath the permanent carbon dioxide ice cap at the Martian south pole. More than 5 million km3 of ice have been detected at or near the surface of Mars, enough to cover the whole planet to a depth of 35 meters
Humanoid robots going to space could become more common as technology advances. In the past, these life-like robots entered space but remained in the spacecraft. NASA wants to change that and give the robots a bigger role.
NASA Dexterous Robotics Team Leader Shaun Azimi said humanoid robots in space could handle any risky tasks. For example, while astronauts are focusing on exploration, the robots could clean solar panels or inspect malfunctioning equipment outside the spacecraft.
Breathing gases
While humans can breathe pure oxygen, usually additional gases such as nitrogen are included in the breathing mix. One possibility is to use in situ nitrogen and argon from the atmosphere of Mars, but they are hard to separate from each other. As a result, a Mars habitat may use 40% argon, 40% nitrogen, and 20% oxygen.
An idea for keeping carbon dioxide out of the breathing air is to use reusable amine-bead carbon dioxide scrubbers. While one carbon dioxide scrubber filters the astronaut's air, the other is vented to the Mars atmosphere.
Further than terraforming and modifying the environment to have breathable atmosphere, possibly through biological means, we can think of economic development of the new human planet. Exploring the economic potential of Martian resources, such as rare metals or the possibility of Martian tourism. The governance system will have to ensure the well-being of the Martian population and the sustainable development of the planet. Foster a unique Martian culture that respects the planet's heritage and the challenges of living in a harsh environment. Long-term Sustainability and Expansion, to Continue to grow the Martian population and infrastructure, aiming for self-sufficiency and a thriving economy and explore opportunities for further space exploration from Mars, potentially using the planet as a staging point for missions to the outer solar system.
Time on Mars,
from a human perspective, involves several interesting considerations due to the differences between Martian and Earth days (Grok):
1. Martian Day (Sol): A day on Mars, called a "sol," is longer than an Earth day. One sol is approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds long. This means that if you were keeping Earth time on Mars, your clock would slowly drift out of sync with the Martian day.
2. Timekeeping:
- Local Solar Time: Just like on Earth, Mars has a local solar time based on the position of the sun. However, due to the longer sol, clocks would need to be adjusted or designed to match this cycle.
- Earth Time vs. Mars Time: For practical purposes, especially for communication with Earth, Mars explorers might keep Earth time for some activities, but for daily life and sleep cycles, they would likely adapt to Martian time.
3. Circadian Rhythms: Humans have circadian rhythms tuned to a 24-hour cycle. Adjusting to a 24.6-hour day could be challenging:
-Sleep Cycles: Astronauts might need to shift their sleep patterns gradually or use artificial light to help reset their body clocks.
- Work Schedules:Work shifts might need to be adjusted to fit the Martian day, which could lead to a slightly different rhythm of work and rest.
4. Seasons: Mars has seasons like Earth but they are about twice as long because a Martian year is about 1.88 Earth years. This affects how time is perceived over longer periods:
- Seasonal Changes: The perception of time might be influenced by the slow transition through Martian seasons, which could feel more drawn out compared to Earth.
5. Cultural and Psychological Aspects:
- Isolation:The isolation and unique environment might make time feel different psychologically. The lack of typical Earthly time markers (like sunrise and sunset at familiar intervals) could alter one's perception of time.
- Cultural Timekeeping: Future Martian colonies might develop their own timekeeping conventions, possibly blending Earth traditions with new Martian ones.
6. Communication with Earth:
-Time Lag:There's also the aspect of communication delays due to the distance between Mars and Earth, which can range from about 4 to 24 minutes one way. This affects real-time interactions and could influence how time-sensitive tasks are managed.
In summary, time on Mars would be perceived differently due to its longer day, the need to adapt human biological rhythms, and the unique environmental and social conditions of living on another planet. This adaptation would likely lead to new conventions and possibly a distinct Martian culture around timekeeping.
There is not established governmental and legal structure yet when it comes to colonising Mars. Elon Musk has suggested a system with no political parties and direct voting by the one concise laws that everyone can understand. There are proposals to initiate Mars Governance and Token Migration, as well as change the revenue distribution model of Mars Protocol. Proposed is to delegate a certain amount of tokens (e.g., 50 million $MARS) to a validator of last resort.
The first city on Mars will probably be named Terminus as suggested by Elon Musk. There are countless of missions one can devote to further exploring and researching the Red Planet. I am personally exploring the ideas of - 1/Asteroid mining can be made profitable if spacecraft were deployed from a station in an orbit of Mars, 2/ Artificially simulated Gravity is the magic behind making space feel like home, 3/ First University on Mars.
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