Project Helios

By: Benjamin Theesfeld, Kayani Zackary, Walker Goolsby, and Sebastion

Martinez

Mars Info

Temperatures:
Because Mars is farther from the sun and has a thin atmosphere, temperatures on its surface
can get very cold. The planet’s average temperature is about -80 degrees Fahrenheit, but
during the Martian summer, temperatures can reach as high as 70 degrees. During the winter,
they can fall as low as -225 degrees. The summer day temperature can get up to 70 degrees
Fahrenheit and summer nights can get up to -100 degrees Fahrenheit

Diameter/Geo:
Mars has a diameter of 4,212 miles, which is slightly more than half of Earth’s 7,918-mile
diameter.A large system of canyons called the Valles Marineris runs along much of the
Martian surface. The system is about 3,000 miles in length—long enough to stretch
from New York to California—and 200 miles wide. At its deepest point, the Valles
Marineris is 4.3 miles deep. By comparison, the Grand Canyon on Earth is about 277
miles long, 18 miles wide, and slightly more than a mile deep.

Time:
A day on Mars is about 24.6 hours long, very similar to a day on Earth, however, its year is 687
Earth days long.

Gravity/atmosphere:
Mars has a thin atmosphere made up of about 95 percent carbon dioxide and smaller amounts
of nitrogen, argon, and oxygen. Gravity on Mars is about one-third of gravity on Earth. That
means that a person would weigh about one-third as much on Mars as he or she does on Earth.
Moons:
Mars has two small moons named Phobos and Deimos.The moons were named for the
mythological sons of the Greek god Ares. Phobos was the god of panic, and Deimos
was the god of terror. Phobos is fourteen miles wide and Deimos is eight miles wide.
The moons are shaped like potatoes and are most likely asteroids that were captured
by the gravity of Mars.

Expeditions:
Humans have launched forty-five spacecraft to Mars as of 2018. Most of the early
missions ended in failure until the Mariner 4 probe became the first successful US
mission to reach Mars in 1964. Mariner 4 flew by the planet and sent photographs back
to Earth. In 1976, Viking 1 and Viking 2 became the first US spacecraft to land on
Mars.In 1997, the Mars Pathfinder probe landed on the Red Planet. Pathfinder carried a
small, robotic rover named Sojourner. Sojourner was able to move over the Martian
surface and return scientific data to Earth. In 2004, two rovers named Spirit and
Opportunity landed on Mars to look for evidence of liquid water.

Extra Mars Info

Fourth planet from sun
DIstance from sun:
● Minimum: 206,000,000 km
● Average: 228,000,000 km (1.52 times as far as Earth)
● Maximum 249,000,000 km
Eccentricity of orbit: 0.093 vs 0.017 (0.00 is a perfectly circular orbit)
Distance from Earth:
● Minimum: 56,000,000 km
● Maximum: 399,000,000 km
Year: 1.88 Earth years = 669.3 Mars (sols) = 686.7 Earth Days
Day: 24.6 Earth Hours
Tilt of Rotation Axis: 25.2° vs 23.5° for Earth
Size: Diameter: 6794 kilometers vs 12,756 kilometers for Earth
Surface Gravity: 0.38 (or about ⅓) Earth’s gravity
Mass: 6.4 x 1026 grams vs 59.8 x 1026 for Earth
Density: 3.9 grams/cc vs 5.5 grams/cc for Earth
Surface Temperature:
 ● Cold
● Global extremes: -125°C (-190°F) to 25°C(75°F)
● Average at Viking 1 site: high -10°C (15°F); low -90°C(-135°F)
Atmosphere:
● Thin and unbreathable
● Surface pressure: about 6 millibars, or about 1.200th of Earth’s
● Contains 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.5% argon, about 0.03% water (varies with
what season it is), and no oxygen
○ Earth has 78% Nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon, and 0.03% carbon dioxide

Settling Mars
Backstory:
Mars is a cold, desert-like planet known for its distinctive rust-red color. It is the fourth planet
from the sun and is about half the size of Earth. Mars is home to the largest mountain in the
solar system, a canyon the size of the United States, and, like the Earth, has seasons, polar ice
caps, and some liquid water. The planet has captured human imagination for years and has
been the subject of many books and movies. Scientists have also sent a number of spacecraft
to Mars. Many ancient civilizations saw the red color of Mars as a sign of blood and warfare.
The cultures of ancient Mesopotamia—the region where Iraq and Saudi Arabia are
today—named the planet Nergal, after the god of war and disease.

Reasoning:
We are going to Mars because it will help with expanding humanity. It will also answer a lot of
unanswered questions that we have. It will also help us discover a lot of new things. We can find
more resources and find new ones! We are also doing this to see what a baby born on mars
looks like.Will its body look weird? So in conclusion, colonizing Mars will help us find more
resources, expand our understanding of Mars, see how people and children will act and look on
Mars, and expand humanity. We will also be settling near the ice caps of Mars. We will go to
this place for water, new resources, and better finding of methane. We think NASA should
choose us because we have planned out everything and are very dedicated to the project of
colonizing Mars. We have plans and back ups, well designed structures, and good ideas.

Plans:
Once we have acquired the money needed to start this project we will start by launching
multiple series of new satellites that will orbit Mars that we will use for communication.Then we
will launch a series of rockets. One rocket will have a rover that will stay on mars until the other
rockets arrive. The other rockets will have rover to get around, pieces of a building that we will
use as a base of operations on mars, and the last rocket that will be sent will have our crew in it
when the arrive one mars the crew will dispatch and build the base that we will call the M.C.B or
mars colonization base. We will set it up then what we will do is we will start planting food and
monitoring temperatures and set up our radios and protect them from bad weather. We will then
run a series of tests on the atmosphere and the minerals buried in mars. We will have to be
careful of storms and be resourceful of food. Once we have lived on mars for about a year we
will send more people up to mars with a series of rockets like we did with the first set of people.
This time we will send the pieces for the new base more early than we did last time because
then the people on mars can then set up the base for the people there. We will continue doing
this until we have a population of 100 on mars, that is then we will see how long they can live.

Funding:
This expedition may roughly be over 90 billion dollars.The funding may come from people like
Jeff Bazos ( if reasoning convinced him ) and the government and NASA. We will try to
convince them by sharing information with them about Mars and giving them some resources
we find on Mars. We will also try to persuade Jeff Bezos by having his company be the first
shipping company on Mars ( If we get to that point anyway.) Jeff Bezos could send around 20
billion dollars. The government will send most of it with 40 billion dollars. NASA will send around
30 billion dollars .

Preparations:
The first necessary preparations will include; A habitat that has already been sent to
mars so when we get there we will have a place to stay. A shuttle with enough fuel to
travel to mars. To make sure the first shuttle sent has all necessities to settle.

Where settle and why:

We will settle on the polar ice caps of arms because with that we will be able to collect the ice
and melt it to make water. The problem with this is communication will be dicey but we will use a
series of satellites that we send the message to. Then the satellite will send our messages to
the NASA headquarters to communicate.We may also bring a single twin up to mars and have
the other stay on earth and monitor their behaviors and the difference of what they do and act
like in different environments.

Transportation:
For transportation we will use a rover that is built to withstand cold and heat but also radiation.
This will be needed because we will have to travel far distances to get more people from other
launches. It will be powered by solar panels but it will also be powered by the nuclear reactor
stuff we leave behind. Our suits will also be protected from radiation.The rover will also include
a trunk that has a storage pocket and a heat and cooling space for long distance trips.The rover
will have a dome shaped windshield that will protect it from flying debris. The rover will be able
to travel very far with constant solar power and the radioactive substance used to power some
of the rocket.
Water:
Mars used to be just like Earth. The water cycle was used on Mars before it became
uninhabitable. Since Mars lost all life and became uninhabitable, the water mostly got trapped
into Mars crust. Since it was all lost we had to find a way to have water on Mars. One of the best
ways to drink water is by trapping freshwater or water in a container that has a barrier that
keeps the water lukewarm and that stops the water from freezing. We can also build a system
that you can pee into to make freshwater to drink so you don't get sick and recycle water. The
purpose of water on Mars is to drink it so we dont die of thirst, and that's why we are using The

Urine Machine.

Air:

Oxygen:
You can get oxygen from the planet’s carbon dioxide atmosphere. The colony will use space
suits to breathe and move around without losing much oxygen. We will also supply our
structures with oxygen and seal it in so no oxygen can get out and none of Mars atmosphere
can get in. The way we will supply our structures with oxygen is by a machine that takes carbon
dioxide from mars and takes the little particles of oxygen and makes more of them so we can
have more air to breathe inside of our suits.

Pressure:
The colony will have up to four pressure chambers that will lead into and outside of the colony.
Every pressure chamber will have its own area/ corner of the dome. Every pressure chamber
will have at least two emergency generators Incase of severe damage to a power generator.
There will be up to three transport vehicles outside every pressure chamber. If something were
to happen to one of the pressure chambers, it, and the area it’s located in, will be under

quarantine.

Temperature:

We will mainly use structures and spacesuits to deal with the extreme cold. The temperature in
the spacesuit can be manually changed and it will also change depending on the weather
outside so we can deal with night and day. Even if night is way colder than day the spacesuits
will be able to handle it. We will install heaters inside of our spacesuits. We can also use the
buildings we make to deal with the extreme cold. Since we are settling near ice caps we will
have to install a really well made heater that can keep us warm always. The lowest the
temperature can get to on Mars at night is -146 degrees Fahrenheit, and when it hits morning or
day time the temperature can go up to 80 degrees Fahrenheit with an average of -81 degrees
Fahrenheit. The lowest the temperature can get on Earth at night is -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit,
and when it hits morning or day time the temperature can go up to 136 degrees Fahrenheit.

Time Delay:
We will use high tech satellites and check up on them every sol to make sure that they are
working correctly so we can keep good connection with Earth with not much delay. If we lose
communication with Earth, our backup plan is another source that uses less power but we will
have to send picture images as in the Martian until we gain communication again. We will also
use the birthday system but instead of 365 days, it will be every 343 sols until you're one year
older. We will do this because 1 year on Earth is 687 sols.
Communications with Earth:
We will communicate through a series of satellites connecting to NASA. In the HQ of the
colonies we will have a satellite dish that transports messages to NASA. We can send voice
messages through the satellites and, eventually, live messages with NASA.

Structures:
The design for our structures will be based on structures they used in the Martian; it will have a
presureusatuan chamber that is at the entrance. On the inside it will have multiple dome shaped
rooms that have heaters. One room we will use for growing food that will act as a greenhouse.
The other rooms will include beds,communication for storm watch,a bathroom, and a
storage/cooking room. Other rooms may include computer rooms and a room that is super
protected in strong metal and has emergency supplies and a bunker for protection. The only
flaws we might have here are how much materials are needed. But we already have a set plan
in ‘Plans’ to get the materials here and we have sponsors to fund the materials. These will be
used to make our lives on Mars liveable and good.
BluePrints / Images:
Resources:
We will collect resources from the planet and comments/ asteroids that land on the
planet's surface. Some resources that may come from an asteroid may include some
metals such as iron and nickel.We will also collect resources by exploring caves to see
what other unknown materials

Fuel for on way home:

The way that we will use the fuel on the way home is by using liquid oxygen and methane from
the ice caps on Mars. By using a giant vacuum like machine we can make fuel from methane
and liquid oxygen.

One goes and one stays: We have a theory that if one twin goes to
Mars and the other twin stays on Earth, the one on Mars will get sick.

Sources:
➔ 1. https://www.nasa.gov
➔ 2. https://www.google.com
➔ 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars
➔ 4. https://www.mars-one.com/
➔ 5. https://www.space.com/47-mars-the-red-planet-fourth-planet-from-the-sun.html
➔ 6. https://school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/Mars-Exploration-Rover/544802
➔ 7. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/mars-1
➔ 8. https://blogs.esa.int/mex/2012/08/05/time-delay-between-mars-and-earth/
➔ 9. https://mars.nasa.gov/
➔ 10.https://theconversation.com/how-to-grow-crops-on-mars-if-we-are-to-live-on-the-red-planet-
99943
➔ 11. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/search/?q=Mars

Never going to give you up. Never going to let you down, and hurt you.