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From hostile deserts to lonely islands and the highest mountains, wherever there is space to expand into humans do so. So, surprisingly, we are already preparing to set foot on Mars, And to make the first permanent colony out of Earth - maybe discover another planet and turn it into another blue house.
But wait,
Before we can achieve the things of the future, we must first complete the second phase of colonization. Creating a semi-permanent outpost to prepare the earth for a large human presence. But it would be very unfortunate to do so. Even for an expansionist generation like ours, Mars is extreme. At first glance, Mars looks familiar - polar ice caps, large valleys, liquid water beneath its surface. Ideal place for us to go. Unfortunately, Mars is actually a cold, radioactive desert where the air is toxic and impossible to breathe. Mars is terrible.
You almost don't want to go there. Hard-working scientists on Mars will have to live a very stressful life, full of incredibly challenging things that have never been encountered before. But a lot of people are willing to work and we have the technology to make it work.
For this article we will assume that there have already been missions to Mars to find a good place for outposts, storage resources and equipment, and that there is already a lunar base on Moon Serves as a hub for missions. The first major challenge for our outpost is the fact that Mars lacks a lot of energy. Due to its distance from the sun, solar energy is only 40% efficient as compared to Earth. But even this faint sunshine often has to be covered for days by intense sand storms. Solar energy alone will not be suffice. Alternatives, such as wind power, and geothermal energy, are also incurable because there is hardly an atmosphere and the interior of Mars is much, much colder.
Initially, nuclear technology may be the only option. Because Mars does not contain easily radioactive elements, nuclear fuel needs to come from Earth along with the reactor. If we set it up, it can power our small outpost in the first few years. Unfortunately, if we can't breathe, all that energy won't be very useful. Mars's atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth's, and contains mostly CO2. Therefore, houses need to be pressured and filled with an artificial environment made up of nitrogen and oxygen. Corner and flat walls are weak points, so the housing will have round and smooth shapes to suppress large pressure differences between the interior and the exterior. The plane needs to be exposed to extreme temperatures at all times. Without a vast magnetic field or a dense atmosphere, half of all radiation from space reaches the Mars surface. The person on the surface will be exposed to radiation 50 times as much as they would on the Earth. For three years on the surface of Mars, NASA has exceeded the radiation dose imposed on astronauts for its entire career. This significantly increases the risk of cancer.
To avoid this, we can protect our habitats with a thick layer of frozen CO2, which can be grown directly from the environment. Covering dry snow with a meter of dirt will further increase the level of safety. Inside, most residences will have windowless tunnels. From the outside, they will look like burial mounds. All of this will still not stop all radiation, but will significantly reduce it to be able to survive for a long time.However, it will not protect anyone who ventures out. Therefore, remote control robots will be used for normal work on the surface, while our staff stays inside.
Staying inside is a good idea for another reason: the dust of Mars. It is much better than dust on the earth that , so it can find its way into the gears or electronics of our machines. Since it is also very dry, it has an electrostatic charge. It can stick to everything, like a spacesuit. It would be impossible to avoid carrying a lot of Martian dust into the lungs of our residence and our staff. To make matters worse, Mars' soil is full of very toxic perchlorate salts. Continuous exposure can be fatal. This problem can still be overcome. For example, space suits can be made in such a way that they never actually enter the base, but remain attached to the exterior of the base.
Well, great.
Now that we have safely isolated humans in terms of energy and air, and saved them from cancer, we just have to feed them. Water is easy to come by if there is a settlement near mars' own thick layers of ice near the poles. Growing food is a different kind of challenge. The soil of Mars is furry And there is a lack of important nitrogen compounds that plants need to grow. Before we can do anything, we have to get rid of the soil. After that, the soil can be fed using recycled bio-waste. All of this will take a lot of time, and it's very energetic. Therefore, we can use aquaponics to combine fish and plants - making astronauts' food more varied and tasty at the same time. It will be a psychic psychological boost for our working staff. All of this does not solve a fundamental problem, though: Mars has only 38% of the Earth's surface gravity, which can lead to muscle wasting, bone loss, and heart disease.
Although this can be solved by setting up artificial gravity in the future, our staff will now have to live with less gravity and work harder to reduce this decline. Staff may have to move around every few years after being trapped indoors in cramped areas without windows. With the same people, with the same routine day in and day out, with very little contact with the outside world, scientists may get depressed and psychological screening must be needed. Like Antarctic scientists or submarine crews, they will undergo rigorous psychological screening to ensure that they are mentally flexible enough to handle this lifestyle for many years.
Building the first real infrastructure on Mars would be a highly challenging task that only a group of very committed and capable people can do. Fortunately, we have enough on earth. And there you have it! A small Mars base that will survive for at least a few decades - as long as it has a constant supply of resources, parts, nuclear fuel, and crew from Earth. Unfortunately, Mars and Earth are separated by millions of kilometers and orbital periods that leave only a small travel window that occurs every two years.
If there is an emergency in the colony, the people on earth will not be able to help them until the next travel path opens. Helpers can reach a planet full of corpses. Setting up Mars will be the most difficult challenge we have ever faced. It would be a pity to set up the infrastructure we need. But we are stubborn, and we like extreme challenges. Anything is possible if we insist on Phase II of the colonies.
It's hard to go to Mars, but it's worth it. And if we are lucky, we may be able to see this after a long time and delight those who faced these challenges for the benefit of us.