1

http://www.space.com/22342-how-to-live-on-mars-colony-technology.html 2
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2015/01/23/will-live-earth/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/health/white-mars-antarctica-concordia/

http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2015-09-28/five-key-technologies-needed-to-get-people-to-
mars/6802314 1
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/spaceship-earth

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/planet-discovery/

http://www.space.com/28355-living-on-other-planets.html

http://www.space.com/25530-earthsize-exoplanet-kepler-186f-habitable-discovery.html

https://prezi.com/v7rfxgtcxbu2/can-humans-live-on-another-planet-other-than-earth/ 3
http://insider.si.edu/2014/11/interstellar-exploration-five-planets-humans-may-may-able-live-
someday/

https://owlcation.com/stem/human-space-travel

https://www.universetoday.com/42782/where-could-humans-survive-in-our-solar-system/

http://verenasplanetmars.weebly.com/why-is-mars-the-only-planet-humans-can-survive-on.html

http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/627573/Another-Earth-Closest-ever-planet-which-could-
house-intelligent-ALIENS-discovered

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/academy/lesson210_assignment4_3.htm

http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-life-on-other-planets/

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/63-our-solar-system/planets-and-dwarf-planets/comparisons-
with-earth/263-is-there-oxygen-in-the-atmospheres-of-other-planets-intermediate

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-us/63-our-solar-system/planets-and-dwarf-planets/comparisons-
with-earth/263-is-there-oxygen-in-the-atmospheres-of-other-planets-intermediate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming

http://www.space.com/23063-terraforming-planets-shell-worlds.html

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-scientifically-possible-to-terraform-a-planet

https://anne7488.wordpress.com/about/can-we-survive-on-another-planet-othe-than-earth/

https://prezi.com/kfo9b6erqwep/could-humans-live-on-another-planet/

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http://lithium.imascientist.org.au/2012/05/18/if-you-wanted-to-make-a-planet-a-place-you-could-live-
in-what-would-be-vital-what-would-we-have-to-addchange/

https://lco.global/spacebook/what-are-requirements-life-arise-and-survive/ 4
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/11/getting-ready-to-move-to-mars/407845/ 5

http://www.mars-one.com/faq/mission-to-mars/why-mars-and-not-another-planet
http://www.livescience.com/56462-how-to-travel-to-mars.html 7
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/34528622 8

https://www.universetoday.com/111462/how-can-we-live-on-mars/ 9
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9
How Can We Live on Mars?
Article Updated: 3 Oct , 2016
by Matt Williams
Why live on Earth when you can live on Mars? Well, strictly speaking, you can’t. Mars is a
completely hostile environment to human life, combining extreme cold with an unbreathable
atmosphere and intense radiation. And while it is understood that the planet once had an
atmosphere and lots of water, that was billions of years ago!
And yet, if we want to expand into the Solar System, we’ll need to learn how to live on other
planets. And Mars is prime real-estate, compared to a lot of other bodies. So despite it being a
challenge, given the right methods and technology, it is possible we could one day live on Mars.
Here’s how we’ll do it.
Reasons To Go:
Let’s face it, humanity wants (and needs) to go Mars, and for several reasons. For one, there’s
the spirit of exploration, setting foot on a new world and exploring the next great frontier – like
the Apollo astronauts did in the late 60s and early 70s.
We also need to go there if we want to create a backup location for humanity, in the event that
life on Earth becomes untenable due to things like Climate Change. We could also go there to
search for additional resources like water, precious metals, or additional croplands in case we
can no longer feed ourselves.
In that respect, Mars is the next, natural destination. There’s also a little local support, as Mars
does provide us some raw materials. The regolith, the material which covers the surface, could
be used to make concrete, and there are cave systems which could be converted into
underground habitats to protect citizens from the radiation.
Elon Musk has stated that the goal of SpaceX is to help humans get to Mars, and they’re
designing rockets, landers and equipment to support that. Musk would like to build a Mars
colony with about 1 million people. Which is a good choice, as its probably the second most
habitable place in our Solar System. Real estate should be pretty cheap, but the commute is a
bit much.
And then there’s the great vistas to think about. Mars is beautiful, after a fashion. It looks like a
nice desert planet with winds, clouds, and ancient river beds. But maybe, just maybe, the best
reason to go there is because it’s hard! There’s something to be said about setting a goal and
achieving it, especially when it requires so much hard work and sacrifice.
 4

Reasons NOT To Go:

Yeah, Mars is pretty great… if you’re not made of meat and don’t need to breathe oxygen.
Otherwise, it’s incredibly hostile. It’s not much more habitable than the cold vacuum of space.
First, there’s no air on Mars. So if you were dropped on the surface, the view would be
spectacular. Then you’d quickly pass out, and expire a couple minutes later from a lack of
oxygen.
There’s also virtually no air pressure, and temperatures are incredibly cold. And of course,
there’s the constant radiation streaming from space. You also might want to note that the soil
is toxic, so using it for planting would first require that it be put through a decontamination
process.
A post-processed mosaic of MSL Mastcam images from Sol 582 (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. Edit
by Jason Major)
Afternoon on Mars (MSL Mastcam mosaic)(NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. Edit by Jason Major)
Assuming we can deal with those issues, there’s also the major problem of having limited
access to spare parts and medical supplies. You can’t just go down to the store when you’re on
Mars if your kidney gives out or if your sonic screwdriver breaks.
There will need to be a constant stream of supplies coming from Earth until the Martian
economy is built up enough to support itself. And shipping from Earth will be very expensive,
which will mean long period between supply drops.
One more big unknown is what the low gravity will do to the human body over months and
years. At 40% of Earth normal, the long-term effects are not something we currently have any
information on. Will it shorten our lifespan or lengthen it? We just don’t know.
There’s a long list of these types of problems. If we intend to live on Mars, and stay there
permanently, we’ll be leaning pretty hard on our technology to keep us alive, never mind
making us comfortable!
Possible Solutions:
In order to survive the lack of air pressure and the cold, humans will need pressurized and
heated habitats. Martians, the terrestrial kind, will also need a spacesuit whenever they go
outside. Every hour they spend outside will add to their radiation exposure, not to mention all
the complications that exposure to radiation brings.
For the long term, we’ll need to figure out how to extract water from underground supplies,
and use that to generate breathable air and rocket fuel. And once we’ve reduced the risk of
suffocation or dying of dehydration, we’ll need to consider food sources, as we’ll be outside the
delivery area of everyone except Planet Express. Care packages could be shipped up from Earth,
but that’s going to come with a hefty price tag.
 5

We’ll need to produce our own food too, since we can’t possible hope to ship it all in on a
regular basis. Interestingly, although toxic, Martian soil can be used to grow plants once you
supplement it and remove some of the harsher chemicals. NASA’s extensive experience in
hydroponics will help.
To thrive on Mars, the brave adventurers may want to change themselves, or possibly their
offspring. This could lead to genetic engineering to help future generations adapt to the low
gravity, higher radiation and lower air pressure. And why stop at humans? Human colonists
could also adapt their plants and animals to live there as well.
Finally, to take things to the next level, humanity could make a few planetary renovations.
Basically, we could change Mars itself through the process of terraforming. To do this, we’ll
need to release megatons of greenhouse gasses to warm the planet, unleashing the frozen
water reserves. Perhaps we’ll crash a few hundred comets into the planet to deliver water and
other chemicals too.
This might take thousands, or even millions of years. And the price tag will be, for lack of a
better word, astronomical! Still, the technology required to do all this is within our current
means, and the process could restore Mars to a place where we could live on it even without a
spacesuit.
And even though we may not have all the particulars worked out just yet, there is something to
be said about a challenge. As history has shown, there is little better than a seemingly
insurmountable challenge to bring out the best in all of us, and to make what seems like an
impossible dream a reality.
To quote the late, great John F. Kennedy, who addressed the people of the United States back
when they was embarking on a similarly difficult mission:
We choose to go to the Moon! … We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the
other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve
to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that
we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win

What do you think? Would you be part of the Mars terraforming expedition? Tell us in the
comments below.

We have written many interesting articles about Mars here at Universe Today. Here’s How Do
We Colonize Mars?, Mars Colony Will Have to Wait, Solar Power is Best for Mars Colonies, and
Elon Musk is Sending Humans to Mars in 2024.
 6

Related
How Do We Terraform Mars?
How Do We Terraform Mars?
March 15, 2016
In "Guide to Space"
How Do We Colonize Mars?
How Do We Colonize Mars?
May 31, 2015
In "Astronomy"
How Bad is the Radiation on Mars?
How Bad is the Radiation on Mars?
 7

8
Nasa reveals plan to get humans living on Mars

16 October 2015

Nasa has revealed its plans to try to get humans living on Mars in the next few decades.
The space agency has set out a three part plan, which it hopes will eventually lead to humans
living on Mars by the 2030s.
Unlike the Moon, humans have never physically set foot on Mars, we've only ever used robots
like the Curiosity Rover.
By exploring Mars with robots for the last 40 years Nasa has found out lots about our
neighbouring planet, including the recent discovery that there is flowing icy water under the
crust.
They hope that this huge mission will help us to learn even more about not just Mars, but Earth
as well.
So, how will they do it?
What is the plan?
Earth Reliant
Since 2010 Nasa has been testing out the effects of what living in space can do to the human
body, to prepare them for the journey to Mars, and also for living there.
They have done this by sending astronauts to live onboard the International Space Station for
long periods of time.
Nasa also sent a team of scientists to live in a "Mars-like" dome for a year near a volcano on
Earth, to see if the team can live happily on their own, away from everyday human-life.
Six Nasa team members will 'live life on Mars' for one year
They are also doing a number of tests on Mars spacesuits and are currently trying out
technology which could be used on the planet.
Proving Ground
 8

In the "Proving Ground" part of their plan, Nasa hope to be able to do experiments in a "deep
space" environment which will allow scientists and astronauts to return to Earth in a matter of
days.
Most of these experiments will take place in the Moon's orbit.
Some of their plans include teaming up with the European Space Agency as part of their
Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission in 2020, which aims to take a large asteroid from a near-
Earth orbit, and move it to travel around the Moon instead.
Astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft will then explore the asteroid in the 2020s, and return
to Earth with samples.
NASA will also be testing out its powerful new systems such as the Space Launch System rocket
and Solar Electric Propulsion, which would be used for sending supplies to the team, and also
for long space travel.
Nasa will build a new rover robot to join the Curiosity rover in 2020. It will have lots of new
gadgets to test out on Mars.
One of these gadgets is called MOXIE, and will be trying to make oxygen, which is an important
part of the air we breathe here on Earth, from carbon dioxide, which is in the atmosphere on
Mars,
Researchers will also be investigating ways astronauts can recycle better in space.
Earth Independent
In the "Earth Independent" phase of Nasa's plan, they hope to be able to send humans to Mars,
using all the research and new technology they discovered in the previous phases.
At the moment it takes around eight months to travel to Mars, but scientists are looking into
ways to reduce this time.
By 2030 Nasa are hoping they will be able to send people to the edges and surface of Mars, not
just to visit, but also to live there for a long period of time.
They will be looking into ways to make fuel, water, oxygen and building materials on the Red
planet.
Nasa will also be looking into improving their communications systems with Earth, to allow for
quicker exchanges of research and data
Why Mars?
Astrophysicist, Tim O'Brian talks us through the latest discovery on Mars
 9

For years scientists have been curious about the Red planet, and whether or not humans would
be able to live there.
Recent research has proved that there is water on the planet, and that at one point Mars'
climate was perhaps similar to that on Earth.
Robot rovers are also looking for the possibility of whether there is alien life there too.
Sending humans to the planet could help speed up the research and allow us to better
understand the history of Mars.
Nasa are also curious to find out if studying Mars could help us find out more about our own
planet, and even how our solar system was born.
However Nasa could be pipped to the post in the race to Mars, as a non-profit organization
based in the Netherlands has said they will land humans on Mars by 2027.
 10

7
Sending Humans to Mars: 8 Steps to Red Planet Colonization
By Tia Ghose, Senior Writer | October 12, 2016 02:20pm ET

After the red dust settles from President Barack Obama's reiteration of his ambitious goal to
have humans reach Mars in the next two to three decades, the next question becomes: What
will it take to get there?
"We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of America's story in space: sending humans
to Mars by the 2030s and returning them safely to Earth, with the ultimate ambition to one day
remain there for an extended time," Obama wrote in an op-ed on CNN.com yesterday (Oct. 11).
NASA has laid out detailed plans for the journey to Mars. It's feasible to get there by the 2030s
— if that deadline is stretched out to the last year of the decade, said John Logsdon, a professor
emeritus of political science and international affairs at the Space Policy Institute at The George
Washington University in Washington, D.C. [5 Mars Myths and Misconceptions]
Other experts say Obama's stated timeline is not bold enough.
"We are far closer today to sending humans to Mars than we were to sending men to the moon
in 1961, and we were there eight years later," said Robert Zubrin, president of nonprofit
organization The Mars Society and the author of "The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red
Planet," (Free Press, 2011). The next president should announce an ambitious goal to get to
Mars by the end of the second term, or by 2024, Zubrin said. Otherwise, the momentum for the
mission could be lost, and space exploration could be delayed further, he added. [SpaceX to
Mars: Awe-Inspiring Video Shows Vision for Red Planet Exploration]
Either way, before astronauts start packing their spacesuits and intergalactic playlists, scientists
have to sort out a few problems.
Step 1: Build American technology to get astronauts to space
Currently, the United States relies on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to get astronauts to the
International Space Station. That is set to change, as private spaceflight companies have taken
on the challenge of building a system to launch humans and cargo spaceward: Elon Musk's
SpaceX is working on the Dragon robotic launch vehicles, while Boeing is building its CST-100,
Logsdon said. Musk has also said that SpaceX's robotic launch vehicle could head off to Mars as
soon as 2018. (A launch vehicle is a rocket-powered vehicle designed to send spacecraft or
satellites into space.)
Step 2: Build bigger spacecraft
 11

A Mars voyage requires a spacecraft that can carry multiple people, along with all the supplies
for a three-year round-trip, including potential cargo items, said Bret Drake, an engineering
specialist with Los Angeles-based Aerospace Corp., a nonprofit organization that researches
launch vehicles, satellite systems, ground control systems and space technology for the federal
government.
"To sustain a crew all the way to Mars means being able to launch rather heavy payloads,
because you have to have the fuel and supplies for the round-trip," added Logsdon. "And
there's no 7-Eleven on Mars where you can stock up to come home," he told Live Science.
One alternative is to create a giant spacecraft; another is to develop multiple smaller modules
that can be launched separately into orbit and then assembled in space, Logsdon said. (Some of
these modules could hold people while others could hold supplies, for instance).
Either way, the basic technology is there, Zubrin said. "It has to be larger than any we've built
before," he said. Even so, "there isn't new science here."
Currently, Lockheed Martin is developing a four-person spacecraft called the Orion, which will
sit atop the heavy-lift launch system, called the Space Launch System (SLS), that NASA is
developing to take people into deep space. Orion already completed one successful test flight
on Dec. 5, 2014, and is set to take a trip around the moon in 2018.
Step 3: Build bigger rockets
Launching a bigger spacecraft into deep space requires bigger rockets on any launch vehicles
used. NASA plans to conduct a second test of what will be the world's largest rocket, which will
be part of the SLS, sometime in 2021, according to NASA. SpaceX is also developing the Falcon
Heavy rocket, which is designed to launch heavier payloads, including people, into space.
Step 4: Stick the landing
After people enter Mars' orbit, they need to land on the Red Planet. With past missions,
friction, thermal effects and parachutes could provide the deceleration needed to land. But a
parachute won't have enough stopping power for such heavy crafts.
However, scientists are making progress on that front.
For instance, SpaceX has shown that high-speed crafts can decelerate using supersonic
retropropulsion, which involves firing engines while landing, Drake said. "We now have a
feasible technical solution for how to get large vehicles to the surface of Mars," Drake said.
Step 5: Figure out long-term habitation on a space station
Astronauts have logged many weeks and months on the International Space Station (ISS),
demonstrating the feasibility of long-term habitation systems, such as those that provide safe
 12

water, process waste, and filter air in space. Similar systems could be used for a stay on Mars,
experts say.
The difference, however, is that the ISS is in low Earth orbit, just a few hours' trip to the home
planet. If anything breaks, Earth can still come to the rescue. That won't be possible on Mars,
which is at least a six- to nine-month journey, even when the planets are at their closest point
to each other.
"One key advancement for the life-support system is increasing the reliability of the systems,"
Drake said. "For Mars missions, there are no quick-abort modes back to Earth, nor ground-up
resupply if systems fail. So the life-support systems need to be reliable, and maintainable by the
crew, for long periods of time — many years," Drake said.
Step 5: Avoid deadly cosmic radiation
Astronauts going on a Mars mission will need protection from two forms of radiation: solar
proton events (or solar flares) and galactic cosmic radiation.
The first "can be mitigated by proper vehicle design, along with a dedicated storm shelter, such
as a water wall made from the life-support system water supply," Drake said. (This would
involve literally lining the walls with the water used for drinking and showering.)
Shielding people from galactic cosmic radiation is trickier. In free space, cosmic radiation levels
are extremely high. However, the Mars Science Laboratory, which landed on the Martian
surface aboard the rover Curiosity, has measured cosmic radiation levels and showed that
radiation exposure at the surface of the red planet is similar to levels seen aboard the ISS,
Drake said. Because the ISS is located in low Earth orbit, it is below the two doughnut-shaped
radiation belts called Earth's Van Allen belts, which block from Earth many of the charged
particles spewed from the sun, as well as from cosmic rays, Logsdon said.
One strategy may be to make the trip through free space very quickly, minimizing the exposure
to the area with the highest radiation, Drake said.
"It's safer to be on the surface of Mars than free space," Drake said.
Step 7: Get to the moon
Before making the three-year round-trip to Mars, many of these long-term space systems will
be tested in cislunar orbit, according to NASA's timeline of the journey to Mars. Sometime
between 2018 and 2030, NASA plans to send crewed missions on spacewalks in the region of
space near the moon. Some of these missions could last a year, in preparation for the epic
voyage to Mars.
The plans also include a trip to redirect and sample material from an asteroid.
 13

This will provide an opportunity to test out all of the elements of the Mars mission, while not
being too far from Earth in case something goes wrong, Logsdon said.
Step 8: Build housing on Mars
Once people have taken the effort to get to Mars, they won't just turn around. The outbound
voyage would take six to nine months, but explorers can't return until Mars and Earth are in
good alignment relative to the sun, which could take 14 months, Logsdon said. (The return trip
will be much shorter if the Earth and Mars are on the same side of the sun, rather than on
opposite sides.)
In a way, Mars pioneers would be similar to "the explorers of the 16th century that went on
ships across the ocean and were gone from their home country for a long time," Logsdon said.
Given that, it makes sense to make some kind of permanent structure, Logsdon said.
"You need, on the Martian surface, some sort of habitat," Logdson said. "You're not going to
live inside a spacesuit all the time. Though it seems far-fetched, the movie "The Martian"
showed a relatively realistic depiction of a potential Mars living setup, he added.
Original article on Live Science.
 14

6
Mars One

Mars One
Why Mars, and not another planet?

After the Earth, Mars is the most habitable planet in our solar system due to several reasons:

Its soil contains water to extract

It isn’t too cold or too hot
There is enough sunlight to use solar panels
Gravity on Mars is 38% that of our Earth's, which is believed by many to be sufficient for the
human body to adapt to
It has an atmosphere (albeit a thin one) that offers protection from cosmic and the Sun's
radiation
The day/night rhythm is very similar to ours here on Earth: a Mars day is 24 hours, 39
minutes and 35 seconds

The only other two celestial bodies in orbits near the Earth are our Moon and Venus. There are
far fewer vital resources on the Moon, and a Moon day takes a month. It also does not have an
atmosphere to form a barrier against radiation. Venus is a veritable purgatory. The average
temperature is over 400 degrees, the barometric pressure is that of 900 meters underwater on
Earth, and the cherry on top comes in the form of occasional bouts of acid rain. It also has
nights that last for 120 days. Humans cannot live on Mars without the help of technology, but
compared to Venus it's paradise!

Incredible Technology: How to Live on Mars

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | August 12, 2013 03:37pm ET

 15

Incredible Technology: How to Live on Mars

Artist's depiction of Mars One astronauts and their colony on the Red Planet.

Credit: Mars One/Bryan Versteeg

Editor's Note: In this weekly series, SPACE.com explores how technology drives space exploration and
discovery.

If humanity hopes to establish a lasting presence on Mars, it will have to learn to live off the land.

Ambitious exploration efforts have always aimed for self-sufficiency, but the need is especially acute
when the new terrain being traversed is another planet. Extensive resupply from Earth would be
prohibitively expensive, experts say, so exploiting Red Planet resources is crucial to making pioneering
manned missions affordable in the short term and Mars settlement sustainable over the long haul.

"We want to move and explore in a very similar manner that we've done in the past, so that we can live
off the land to make all these missions very cost-effective and more efficient," Prasun Desai, acting
director of the Strategic Integration and Analysis Office in NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate,
said last Tuesday (Aug. 6). [The Boldest Mars Missions in History]

The goal is to enable the exploration of Mars "in a much more aggressive manner, so that we can really
get a sense of, Are we alone in the universe?" added Desai, who was speaking at a celebration at NASA
Headquarters in Washington, D.C. marking the first year on the Red Planet for the agency's Curiosity
rover.

Martian resources

Since the 1960s, humans have invaded our neighboring planet Mars with swarms of spacecraft. Only
about half of the attempts have been successful. See how many robot missions to Mars have launched
in this SPACE.com infographic. [<a href="http://www.space.com/16575-mars-exploration-robot-red-
planet-missions-infographic.html">See the Full Occupy Mars Infographic</a>]

Since the 1960s, humans have invaded our neighboring planet Mars with swarms of spacecraft. Only
about half of the attempts have been successful. See how many robot missions to Mars have launched
in this SPACE.com infographic. [See the Full Occupy Mars Infographic]

Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

The Red Planet may be cold and dry, but it harbors a wealth of resources that pioneering astronauts
could extract and exploit, said Robert Zubrin, president and founder of the Mars Society. This non-profit
organization advocates manned Mars exploration and is hosting its 16th annual conference on the topic
Aug. 15-18 in Boulder, Colo.

For example, astronauts could generate oxygen and rocket fuel (for potential trips home to Earth) by
pulling feedstock out of the Red Planet's thin, carbon dioxide-dominated atmosphere, Zubrin said. And
they could get all the water they need from the dirt under their boots.
 16

"We now know that Martian soil has water in it," Zubrin told SPACE.com. "Even at the equator, it's 5
percent water by weight; in the Arctic regions, it's 60 percent water by weight. And we've developed
technology that can bake water out of that soil and make it available."

This water, along with Mars' plentiful carbon dioxide, would make it feasible to grow crops for food and
other plants to make products such as clothing, at least in some regions, he added.

"Sunlight at the Martian equator is about equal to that of Norway," Zubrin said. "And there's also
nitrogen and all the other elements needed to make fertilizers and so forth."

Iron oxide and silicon oxide are also common in Martian soil, so human pioneers would be able to make
iron, steel and glass, he said. And the availability of water and carbon dioxide would allow them to make
plastics as well. [Future Visions of Human Spaceflight]

"This civilization [here on Earth] was built on iron, steel and natural fibers until the 20th century," Zubrin
said. "We can do all of that."

Complicated products such as computer chips would likely have to be imported from Earth for a long
time to come, he added. But most such items would be lightweight, greatly reducing the mass — and
therefore cost — of necessary resupply missions.

Mars Myths & Misconceptions: Quiz

No planet is more steeped in myth and misconception than Mars. This quiz will reveal how much you
really know about some of the goofiest claims about the red planet.

Living on Mars will require a considerable amount of power, of course. While solar panels and
radioisotope thermoelectric generators (which convert the heat of radioactive decay into electricity)
have powered robotic NASA rovers on the Red Planet, new strategies will be required for manned
missions, Desai said.

"We're going to need a lot more power for when humans are on the surface with a lot larger vehicles, to
be able to operate those types of systems," he said.

NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate is researching a number of possibilities, including more
efficient fuel cells and better batteries to improve energy storage, Desai added.

While such technologies could help support the first pioneering steps on the Red Planet, a long-lasting
human society on the Red Planet may require a more potent power source. And Zubrin thinks it can be
found underground.

Some Martian volcanoes last erupted just a few hundred million years ago, he said, and Mars-orbiting
spacecraft have found evidence for a subsurface water table, which could only exist on the frigid planet
in the presence of internally generated heat.

"There is hot stuff underground," Zubrin said, noting that geothermal energy is the number four power
source here on Earth, after combustion, nuclear and hydroelectric. "We should be able to locate places
where we can drill down and access geothermal heat, which might also give us liquid water as well,
which would be convenient."

Initial drilling to tap into this heat would be done using nuclear power, he added.
 17

Becoming self-sufficient

A manned Mars outpost will likely be supported financially at first by governments, foundations or
extremely wealthy individuals here on Earth, Zubrin said. But if it hopes to last over the long term, it
must eventually come up with a way to support itself and pay for its imports.

Red Planet settlers may be able to send some gold and other precious metals back to a picked-over
Earth, Zubrin said, but such heavy materials are extremely expensive to launch. He thinks it's more likely
that a Mars colony's main export will be intellectual property.

The frontier environment on Mars will serve as an incubator of innovation, just as it did in the United
States, Zubrin added.

"You have, typically, a severe labor shortage and an extremely challenging environment, and so you're
forced to innovate," he said. "This is where you get this culture of invention in 18th and 19th, even into
20th century America."

"The Martian frontier is going to amplify this to a much greater degree," he added.

Areas ripe for potential Red Planet innovation include robotics and agriculture, Zubrin said. And if
indigenous life on Mars is ever discovered, its genome could be incredibly valuable, both scientifically
and financially.

Going to Mars

Putting boots on Mars is the main goal of NASA's human spaceflight program, and the space agency isn't
the only organization with Red Planet dreams.

The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One aims to land four people on the Red Planet in 2023 as the
vanguard of a permanent settlement there. Mars One estimates this initial mission will cost about $6
billion, and the organization plans to foot most of the bill by staging a global media event around it.

And billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the founder of private spaceflight firm SpaceX, said late last
year that he wants to help establish a Mars colony of up to 80,000 people. Indeed, Musk has said he
started SpaceX primarily to help humanity become a multiplanet species.

Zubrin is confident that somebody will eventually break through, and our species will establish an
outpost on Mars.

"The idea is out there," he said. "Sooner or later, it's going to happen."

Mike Wall

Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer

3
Transcript of can humans live on another planet other than earth

photo credit Nasa / Goddard Space Flight Center / Reto Stöckli

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Would you be able to live on any other planet?

Venus

Although Venus is of similar size, gravity, and composition to earth and named earths 'twin' it is far from
similar. Venus's terrain is covered in huge volcanoes that measure up to 240 kilometres wide. These
volcanoes have enormous lava flows carved into the earth. Venus's atmosphere's consists of mainly
carbon dioxide and has clouds of sulphuric acid. Scientists have found only traces of water in the air. Let
alone the horrible atmosphere venus has an extremely hot climate with temperatures of 870ºC. Any
water on venus would just boil away, as well as any human. NASA has sent rovers to Venus to examine
the planet but they only survived a matter of hours before burning. So due the extreme heat and
unbreathable atmosphere humans couldn't live on Venus.

Mars

The cold, thin atmosphere of Mars currently means that the planet can't sustain liquid water. This
causes a problem for humans if we were to try and inhabit the planet. The fact that there is no water
means that Mars has the same land mass as Earth, but is just less than half the size. Mars is also very
cold due its distance from the sun. The average temperature of Mars is -60ºC although temperatures
can reach to 20ºC at midday near the equator. Although the temperature could be bearable, Mars has
an atmosphere made up of mostly of carbon dioxide so basically we cant live on mars because we
wouldn't be able to breathe.

Jupiter

Jupiter is unhabitable for humans for a few reasons; the atmosphere is unbreathable, it has very strong
winds, and cold temperatures. Jupiter's atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium, like the sun.
Winds on Jupiter reach up to 640 kilometres per hour making it unbearable to the human body.
Scientists have discovered a possibility of life on jupiter but it for it to survive it would have to be airborn
to find the right conditions. Thus creating another reason why humans couldn't live on Jupiter. Although
Jupiter itself wouldn't be able to host human life, scientists believe that one of moon's, Europa, possibly
could. Or prehaps it has its own life? Scientists now believe Europa may have or be able to sustain life.
This is due to its vast water coverage and traces of oxygen have been found in its atmosphere. This is
now probably the most likely place, other than Earth, to have life or be able to sustain it.

Saturn

Saturns' winds make the planet inhabitable to humans. The winds can reach 1,800 kilometres per hour.
The atmosphere is made up mostly of molecular hydrogen (around 96%) and helium (3%). A big factor to
why saturn can't host human life is because there is no ground. In fact, if possible to test, Saturn would
float in a bathtub! The air contains methane and ammonia which is poisonous so you couldn't breathe.
So like most planets Saturn is not a good choice to live on because the air would kill you. As well as there
being virtually no ground.

Mercury has a scorching hot climate that reaches 840º C. Mercury has basically no atmosphere so it
doesn't hold the heat from the day until the night. This causes the temperatures to drop to -170ºC
below zero. This would mean that either humans will burn to death during the day or freeze to death at
night. The magnetic field on mercury causes firey tornadoes that rip through the planet churning hot
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plasma wind. Due to the lack of atmosphere, dramatic temperature changes and no water or oxygen,
mercury wouldn't be able to sustain human life.

Mercury

Humans wouldn't be able to live on any other planet besides earth. We wouldn't survive unless we were
some how isolated from the natural environment. Humans have spent millions of years adapting to life
on earth so it would most likely take that anount of time to be able to survive on another planet. To live,
human beings need breathable air, water, shelter and food. Not one planet can offer all the necessities
for human life to thrive. It would be possible to inhabit another planet but live outside of its natural
environment. Perhaps in a dome or some kind of inclosure, but no other planet could sustain human life
in its natural form today.

Humans thrive on Earth for many reasons. We can breathe the air, there is water to help us live, plenty
of natural food sources and our bodies can handle the climate. Humans and other living things on earth
have adapted to thrive on Earth for millions of years. Our bodies wouldn't physically be able to live on
another planet over a long period of time. We wouldn't even last long enough to start adapting to the
environment.

Uranus

Uranus could not host human life because of it's temperature, extreme seasons and it's ammonia and
methane ices. Uranus has a bizzare tilt due to a collision with a planet sized body just after its creation.
This gives the planet extreme seasons lasting nearly 20 years. This would make it impossible for humans
to live on Uranus because we wouldn't get enough sun during winter. Also Uranus is covered 80% by ice
which is made with a mix of water, methane and ammonia. This is not good for humans considering
ammonia and methane is poisonous to us. The blue/green colour of Uranus is due to methane in its
atmosphere making it impossible for humans to breath naturally.

Neptune

Neptune has a mostly hydrogen-helium atmosphere and it's blue colour is thought to be because it
absorbs red light with methane. Like Uranus it has a fluid mix containing ammonia, water and methane.
This is not good for humans because that liquid would poison us. Neptune is also home to our solar
systems fastest winds which reach up to 2,400 kilometres per hour. Also the freezing cold climate of
Neptune due to its distance from the sun, means temperature drop to around -218ºC. Humans wouldn't
be able to live on Neptune for many reasons as I said above but also because it would be extremely risky
to get there. This is the case for most planets. It would take years to get to neptune and to launch a
rocket destined for Neptune you would have to calculate and launch it to where it would be after those
years of travelling. So there is quite a chance of missing and ending up floating around in space. This
would be the same for all the planets I mentioned earlier, the only difference would be that in some
cases it wouldn't take years.

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What Are The Requirements For Life To Arise And Survive?
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Many astrobiologists believe that if we find living organisms on other planets in our solar system and
elsewhere in the universe, they will be recognizable to us as life. They believe that the properties of
carbon that allowed it to become the basis for all life on Earth are unique to that atom. The variety of
types of chemical bonds that can be formed by carbon make it able to be the basis of complex chains of
different molecules. No other atom seems to be able to do this in a similar way. Even silicon, which has
the same number of valence electrons as carbon, cannot form the variety of molecules that carbon can.
However, this does not mean that all life would necessarily be based on DNA and cells, as it is on Earth.

Water is another very likely requirement for life to arise. Any life which is based on molecules almost
certainly requires some kind of liquid solvent to be able to move them around. Although chemical
reactions can take place in gases and solids these are much less ideal than liquid. Gas phase reactions
happen only with molecules that are volatile enough to be present in large quantities in a gas. Reactions
can take place in solids, but occur very slowly. Both of these limitations make it much more likely for life
to develop in liquid, as indeed it seems to have on Earth.

Water has many unique physical and chemical properties that make it well suited to support the
complex chemistry required for life. Expanding when it freezes keeps oceans and lakes on Earth from
freezing solid. Water can dissolve many substances easily and it also has a high heat capacity, which
means it takes a lot of energy to cause water to change temperature. This property of water gives Earth
its relatively moderate climate.

Water is also the second most common molecule in the universe (after H2). Other liquids exist naturally
in the universe, but not in the sort of abundance water does. Most of these liquids don’t have many of
the other key properties of water that make it so suitable as the basis for life.

Habitable Zone

Many astrobiologists believe that in order for life to arise and survive, it must be found on a planet or
moon within the habitable zone of a star. The habitable zone refers to the region around the star in
which liquid water can form and remain liquid. The size of the star is important as well. Stars that are
much larger than the Sun have such short lifetimes, that it is unlikely that there would be enough time
for any kind of life, particularly complex life, to develop.

The diagram below from Wikipedia compares the habitable zone of the Sun and a much smaller star,
Gliese 581. The larger and more luminous a star, the farther away its planets must orbit to be in the
habitable zone.

Planets in the habitable zone of small stars may still not be habitable because these planets are so close
to their star, they are tidally locked. This means that the gravitational attraction that keeps them in orbit
around the star has caused the planet to always have one face of the planet facing the towards star and
the other facing away. This would most likely cause the side facing the star to be too hot for liquid water
to exist, and the other side would be too cold.

Our Sun seems to be just the right size to allow life to develop. It is small enough to have a long lifetime,
but large enough that a planet can exist in the habitable zone and maintain rapid rotation as it orbits.
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Recent discoveries about some of Jupiter’s moons have caused some scientists to consider expanding
the definition of the habitable zone. The strong gravitational pull caused by large planets and tidal
interactions between orbiting moons may produce enough energy to heat the cores of these moons.
Under certain circumstances, this energy might be enough to keep at least parts of a moon warm
enough to support liquid water, even if the moon was too far away from the star to be in the habitable
zone created by the star.

The Milky Way also has its own habitable zone. The center of the Milky Way is much more dense with
stars than the outer regions. Nearby supernova explosions are much more frequent, and the radiation
would sterilize any planets with life in that region. Stars very close to center of the galaxy would receive
intense x-ray radiation from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, and life would be
very unlikely to be able to develop in such an environment.

Stars further towards the edge of the Milky Way galaxy tend to be Population II stars. These very old
stars have very few heavy elements, and so these stars would be less likely to have planets, and less
likely to have the complex chemistry required for life.

In addition, we are fortunate that our star continues to remain in the habitable zone as it has done for
billions of year. Many stars in the galaxy orbit with more eccentric orbits, so although they may cross the
habitable zone from time to time, they probably do not remain long enough for life to arise and survive
long term.

Solar System Clean-Up

[Jupiter]

Another key ingredient to the formation of life seems to be having a large planet - like Jupiter - in a
planetary system. Because Jupiter is so much more massive than all the other planets, it attracts many
asteroids, comets and other objects that travel within the Solar System. This is important because
otherwise, some of these objects would end up crashing into Earth, and many did in the very early
formation of the Solar system. Jupiter’s gravity, along with Earth’s atmosphere combine to protect the
Earth from many impacts that would certainly have sterilized Earth many times.

Plate Tectonics

Unlike on Venus and Mars, the crust of the Earth is constantly being recycled. This keeps the carbon
dioxide levels in the atmosphere from getting too high or too low. If the levels become too high, (as they
did on Venus) they act as a greenhouse gas and the planet becomes too hot. Liquid water evaporates
and the surface of the planet dries up. If the levels become too low, the planet cools and an ice age
begins. This has happened several times in Earth’s history, but each time, because of the motion of the
plates and the continued recycling of the carbon in rocks, carbon was released into the atmosphere
eventually raising the levels of carbon dioxide and allowing the planet to warm again. Without this
carbon cycle, planets don’t seem to be able to maintain a climate balance appropriate to sustain life.

Getting Ready to Move to Mars

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Scientists are hard at work preparing to create humanity’s second home.

Alvaro Dominguez

Alana Semuels November 2015 Issue Technology

One day, when earth is destroyed by war or rising seas or a wayward asteroid, humanity will be
extinguished—and along with it reality television, baseball stadiums, and thousands of recipes for
guacamole, with and without peas.

Unless, that is, we’ve established a colony somewhere in space.

“History has shown that extinction events happen on Earth,” Pat Troutman, a senior technologist at
NASA’s Langley Research Center, told me. “We need to establish a second independent biosphere for
the future of humanity.”

That idea may sound far-fetched, but scientists are working hard to make it a reality. What would it
take, and how might we use the resources beyond Earth’s atmosphere? I recently talked with aerospace
engineers, entrepreneurs, and researchers to find out what our future in space will look like, in the near
term and in centuries to come.

1. Fast Flights

Private aerospace companies are developing reusable spacecraft, which will dramatically cut the cost of
launches, because we won’t need to build a new vessel each time we want to leave Earth’s atmosphere.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for example, is on the brink of launching a reusable spaceship. Such vessels may
soon make commercial spaceflight possible: Companies such as Virgin Galactic and Xcor are already
accepting reservations for suborbital flights.

Such flights will be quick—Xcor’s will last about half an hour, Bryan Campen, a spokesman for Xcor, told
me. Passengers can expect to be in zero gravity within five minutes of takeoff. After floating for another
five or so minutes, they will descend back to Earth, experiencing 30 seconds of teeth-gnashing 4G
reentry—about the same as on an intense roller-coaster ride—before gliding to the ground. These
flights will take off and land in the same spot, but within a few decades, spaceflight could become the
fastest way to travel internationally—making it possible to get from New York City to Tokyo in 90
minutes, Campen said.

2. Crowded Skies

As the cost of launching rockets comes down, more people will be able to participate in aerospace
ventures. Already, universities and research groups can send up CubeSats—satellites about the size of a
bread box—for as little as $100,000, a fraction of the tens of millions of dollars a satellite launch usually
costs.

As more organizations send satellites into space, however, collisions become more likely. In 1967, 10
years after Sputnik’s launch, about 2,500 objects (satellites, used rockets, and debris) were orbiting
Earth; now there are more than 20,000, according to Colonel John Giles, the commander of the Joint
Space Operations Center, which identifies and tracks objects in space. A two-centimeter piece of debris
can cause as much damage to a satellite in space as a speeding Jeep would on Earth, Giles told me. The
U.S. military is developing a “space fence”—a radarlike system expected to be operational by 2018—to
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warn of impending collisions and beginning to plan for a time when adversaries might try to take out
satellites that are crucial for GPS and communications.

3. Men on the Moon

Though no American has set foot on the moon since 1972, China recently landed a rover there and plans
to eventually set up a permanent lunar base. In many ways, the moon is a good place for a colony—it
has water, and its soil could be mined for minerals and oxygen. The moon would also make a good
jumping-off point for exploring the rest of the solar system. Its gravity is about one-seventh that of
Earth, so launching spacecraft there would require much less energy.

Chris Impey, an astronomy professor at the University of Arizona and the author of Beyond: Our Future
in Space, thinks we may one day build a “space elevator” on the surface of the moon in order to make
lunar launches even easier. The idea sounds like something out of a Roald Dahl book: A giant tapered
cable made of superstrong material would reach 35,000 miles into space. Solar-powered elevator cars
would climb up the cable, delivering spacecraft into the moon’s orbit. “Serious engineers have been
investigating this for half a century,” Impey said. “We could almost build it right now.”

4. Missions to Mars …

Many scientists think Mars, which has large underground glaciers, could be our best bet for a permanent
colony on another planet. But the obstacles to living there are daunting. Humans can’t breathe the air,
and the planet’s frequent dust storms would make farming difficult. Solar radiation is another problem,
and sending messages to Earth (via radio waves traveling at the speed of light) can take more than 20
minutes, depending on where the planets are in their orbits.

Still, scientists, architects, and engineers are brainstorming ways to overcome those obstacles. ZA
Architects, a Ukrainian firm, has drawn up plans for structures made out of Martian soil; robots could be
sent ahead to build them. Other researchers propose inhabiting Mars’s lava tubes—underground
caverns likely formed by volcanoes—since the tunnels also provide protection from solar radiation and
dust storms and would keep the temperature relatively constant. And NASA is testing an inflatable
habitat that could be deployed on the surface of Mars.

If a group of humans were to live on Mars for centuries with little or no contact with Earth, they would
likely evolve, eventually becoming a different species, Impey told me. Because Mars has less gravity,
scientists believe humans would slowly grow taller and their cardiovascular systems would become
weaker. They’d also have less body hair (because they’d have to stay indoors or wear space suits, they
wouldn’t need the protection from the elements), and their controlled diet might result in smaller teeth.
But that’s assuming, of course, that humans can reproduce in Mars’s gravity—an untested proposition.

5. ... And Beyond

In or near the moon’s orbit, there exist a few spots, called Lagrange points, where an object is pulled
neither to the moon nor to Earth. A space station orbiting one of these points could stay in place for a
long time without floating away.
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Eventually, Pat Troutman told me, one of those areas could serve as a harbor for ships going out farther
into the universe, a sort of Rotterdam of the solar system. Resupplying and refueling would be costly
from Earth, but, aided by robots, astronauts could pull a large boulder from an asteroid, tow it to a
stable area, and mine it for water and oxygen, which could be turned into rocket propellant, Troutman
said.

The dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, may have big reserves of water, making it
a potential base for more refueling, Troutman told me. And if Mars turns out to be uninhabitable, the
Jovian system—Jupiter and its moons—might be a good alternative, he said. It, too, has water, and is
largely protected from the sun’s radiation.

The universe contains an almost incomprehensible number of stars—our galaxy alone has hundreds of
billions, and there exist hundreds of billions of galaxies—and an even greater number of planets.
Current technology isn’t very good at determining which of those planets might be habitable—or
already inhabited, Sara Seager, a professor of planetary science and physics at MIT, told me. But our
view of the galaxy could become a little clearer in 2018 with the launch of the $9 billion James Webb
Space Telescope. It will sit 1 million miles from Earth, where it will search for gases that look out of place
in the atmospheres of other planets, signaling vapors that might be produced by other life-forms.

Sending a probe is likely the only way to know for sure whether extraterrestrial species exist. But even
traveling at one-tenth the speed of light, which some physicists believe might be possible, getting to the
nearest star—25 trillion miles away—would take about 43 years. (Getting to the moon at that speed, by
comparison, would take about 13 seconds.)

Some physicists theorize that humans could one day get to far-off stars faster by warping space-time—
essentially pushing a spacecraft forward by rapidly expanding the empty space behind it. The theory is
unproved, and the process would require massive amounts of energy. Still, many scientists remain
optimistic about the possibility of a manned mission beyond our solar system. “I have no doubt it’s going
to happen,” Troutman said. “Just maybe not in my lifetime.”