Billions of years ago, the Red Planet Mars had blue and green colors and was very similar to Earth. Today, our goal is to go there, settle down, and over time make Mars our new home. However, this process is not as simple as it seems.
Science fiction movies present complex issues in a simplified manner, which creates the illusion that everything is easier and requires less effort. Sending humans to Mars, allowing them to settle there, and making the planet a second Earth are examples of these simplifications.
Ashlee Vance, Elon MuskThe biography book about his life contains in-depth answers about the difficulties of going to Mars. Elon Musk for years “You want to die on Mars” We know him as someone who speaks. However, he recently admitted that this promise was not very realistic. Musk’s ultimate goal is to enable humans to settle on Mars, and to achieve this goal SpaceXHe wants to use the Starship rocket developed by .
Spending 1.5 Years to Spend a Day on Mars
It takes a total of 1.5 years to spend 1 day on Mars and return back. Imagine being among the first people to go to Mars. for the journey Waiting for the moment when Earth and Mars come closest to each other you have to. Even at the closest location, the journey to Mars will take a minimum of 6 months. The two planets will be close together at the time of launch, but they will move further apart again during the journey. When you reach Mars, Earth will be almost twice as far away as when you started.
Since the distance between Mars and Earth is not constant, the return journey will take approximately 1 year. Well You will have to spend 1.5 years to be able to say you spent 1 day on Mars. There are also radiation and psychological difficulties you will be exposed to during the journey.
Need for Food and Beverage and the Problem of Launching the Rocket
Imagine there are a total of 3 people in the same spaceship. Except for devices to be used for scientific research, Sufficient food and water must be provided for 1.5 years. Until now, people could be sent to the Moon with a maximum of 10 days of food and water supplies. Since the moon was close, this period was short and the food loads were light. Even so, each manned Moon expedition cost billions of dollars. The biggest reason why it has not been possible to go to the Moon for 50 years is that the journeys are extremely expensive.
A person’s daily nutritional need is approximately 1 kilogram. Additionally, we need to consume a minimum of 2 liters of water a day. Let’s assume that 500 kilograms of food are required per person for 1.5 years. For 3 people, this figure reaches 1.5 tons. Let’s assume that we make water reusable thanks to high-tech purification systems. Despite this, we will still need the same amount of water.
Apart from the food and water load, which reaches 3 tons in total, the oxygen we consume is also vital. With a total load of nearly 5 tons, including oxygen, we provide life support for 1.5 years. But there is a problem: It is physically extremely difficult to separate such a heavy load from Earth’s gravity, send it into space, and land it on Mars. In addition, we will need a lot of fuel to protect from radiation and meet fuel needs while our rocket is moving.
To launch this rocket to Mars, you need a very powerful set of engines; because you will need to move both tons of supplies and the fuel you will use on the return trip away from the Earth’s gravitational field. Plus, anything used on the way back doubles the expenses.
The Cost Required for Three Persons Traveling to Mars is Quite High
If all the tests and trials are completed and we assume you are in the final stages of the project, a trip to Mars with two friends could cost $20 billion. However, this figure does not take into account all the costs and years of work since the beginning of the project. In this case, the total cost could exceed $100 billion.
Just like the test flight in which Elon Musk wanted to organize a Moon expedition with his Starship rocket, unmanned and long-distance tests will need to be carried out for Mars journeys, and then manned and closer-range tests will be carried out. However, even all these processes can take years to be successful. Therefore, there will be no guarantee of a return on the money and time you invest in this project.
Mars’ Escape Speed is 18,000 Km per Hour
Apollo 11 The mission sent three humans to the Moon, but one of them remained in the spacecraft orbiting the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon’s surface in a smaller vehicle and returned to Apollo 11 in lunar orbit with the same vehicle. During this period, there was one person in orbit and two people on the lunar surface.
We can use the formula we learned during the lunar expeditions to reach Mars, but there is an important difference: There was no atmosphere on the Moon, but there is an atmosphere on Mars And this is quite foreign to us. Therefore, our focus should be on being able to leave the Martian surface and reach the orbiting vehicle.
In order for a vehicle on the surface of Mars to take off and escape gravity, it must reach a speed of 5 kilometers per second, or 18,000 kilometers per hour. In the Apollo 11 mission, the speed that the module on the Moon surface had to reach was 8,300 km/h. This means we need a rover 2 times larger on Mars than Apollo 11. A larger vehicle means more load. More load means more fuel. So with every step, costs and difficulties increase.
What would it be like if the fuel to be used for takeoff was produced on Mars?
We know that there is methane and ice water on the surface of Mars.. We can obtain hydrogen from these sources and produce fuel by hydrolysis method. However, for this we need to establish a facility in the stormy and harsh conditions of Mars. We may even need to work at the mining level to hydrolyze methane and water.
In order to mine the Martian surface, they will need a wheeled vehicle for a team of 2 people to travel in, a drilling machine to drill into the surface, and a small portable facility for hydrolysis processes. However, even if we take all this equipment to Mars, the time spent on Mars will be longer. Staying on Mars for a long time will bring about new food, water and shelter problems.
The Biggest Missing Thing in Mars Dreams Told So Far
While SpaceX and Elon Musk’s Mars dreams are acceptable, the story has always been incomplete. We don’t really know how the first people who will go to Mars will settle and live there. We cannot predict the experiences that people who will settle on Mars, live there for the rest of their lives, and raise families there will have.
People who will go and settle on Mars need areas that they can call “home”, just like on Earth, in order to establish a colony. However, it is almost impossible to produce these houses from Martian soil or rocks, because these materials must be brought to Mars. Therefore, people who will go to Mars will have to bring their homes on Mars from Earth.
What Will the Houses That the First Martian People Build Be Like?
Unfortunately, we do not have any information about the houses that the first Martian people would build. The fact that Mars does not have an atmosphere suitable for life and that its weak atmosphere transmits harmful solar rays to the surface makes it very difficult for people to live on Mars. These harmful rays are so dangerous that they can kill an ordinary person from cancer within minutes. Therefore, the first human homes on Mars will have to be produced and shipped with extremely high-tech materials.
International Space Station Astronauts can serve for more than 500 days in space stations such as these and can live a very comfortable life during this time. However, on the surface of Mars, people will need more comfort and stricter security measures because they will live a lifetime.
On the other hand, the International Space Station, located within the Earth’s magnetic shield, has an advantage in terms of protection from harmful rays. But on Mars, this protection does not exist. The suits and vehicles of the astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission were designed to withstand harsh conditions for short periods of time when they left the Earth’s magnetic field. However, a clear project has not yet been developed as to what shelters to be used for life on Mars will be.
Until today, “These will be the houses where the first people who go to Mars will live” No project that we can say has been put forward. Even when such a project is produced, it will need to be subjected to countless tests over the years. Additionally, a long period of time will be required to try these houses in artificial environments that mimic the Martian surface and to test them in real use conditions.
What will people who will live on Mars eat for a lifetime?
This is an important and complex issue. The hero of the movie “The Martian”, released in 2015, lived his life by growing potatoes in the soil of Mars. But in real life, There are no agricultural projects yet sufficient for a colony on Mars. Maybe tons of canned food can be periodically sent from Earth to the first people who will live on Mars. However, there is the fact that not every rocket can reach Mars. With the slightest mistake, the people there could face starvation.
Projects like SpaceX or MarsOne may be exciting, but there is no clear plan for the basic needs of people going to Mars. So far, it is not possible to say anything definitive about whether the people there will do agriculture, what kind of food they will eat, or what kind of lifestyle they will adopt. All existing discourses are just assumptions. There is no system that has been tried, tested and approved for years.
The basic needs required to live on Mars are full of complex and difficult-to-solve problems. For example, Mars’ low temperatures can cause solar panels to freeze and fail. In addition, it may be necessary to thaw the ice in order to use water resources on Mars, but producing the necessary temperature for this is also an important problem.
Using solar panels can be considered for basic needs such as electricity and water heating. However, due to the conditions on Mars and the long distance, providing an internet connection to communicate with Earth may be another challenge. Technologies such as Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites may be a solution in this context, but this is not a complete guarantee either.
Although the idea of establishing a colony on Mars seems like a realistic goal, a very long and difficult journey is required to make it happen. To Ashlee Vance, colonizing Mars may seem like a dream, like crossing the Sahara Desert with a bottle of water. However, it is important to encourage people to work harder to realize and keep this dream alive. Because more study can make it easier to overcome all these difficulties.
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