An Astronaut to Mars.

Imagine yourself being an astronaut going to land on Mars, and your rover is just about to enter into the atmosphere of the red planet. From your rover, you will be able to see the surface made up of sand and dust, but this thought is not that easy to go with.

Mars Atmosphere :

Mars is losing its atmosphere each second, and a very good reason for this is that it does not have its protective magnetic field like Earth does. The very thin atmosphere of Mars consists of mostly carbon dioxide gas which makes up 95.3% of it and the oxygen concentration is only 0.2% which is the biggest challenge of landing on Mars. The solution to getting oxygen for survival is by extracting it from C02 itself, which is quite a resilient task. The magnetic field that Mars lacks causes the planet to suffer from gigantic solar storms increasing the radiation on the planet. On average, Mars has a surface temperature of about minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 60 degrees Celsius), and it can go up to minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit during winters near the poles and 70 degrees Fahrenheit in summers near the equator. NASA and other space agencies are constantly working to make livable atmospheric conditions on Mars which will require more advanced technologies.

Fight for water :

The largest water resource on Mars is polar ice caps in which water is mixed with carbon dioxide gas and is frozen at its poles. It is hard to find water on the surface because of the dust and sand, and we need to dig deep in specific locations to extract water. Scientists suggest that water can also be extracted from minerals found on Mars. If we want to become multi-planetary then we need to find ways to get abundant water to sustain human life on Mars. The thin atmosphere on the planet also contains some water vapors to become dependent on, but no proper technologies are confirmed to be developed.

Shelter on Mars :

The challenges of life will be very different on Mars when it comes to inhabitation, we are currently challenged by dust storms and solar storms which are huge barriers to human survival. Transporting construction materials will be costly, so we need to use the resources of Mars to construct houses that will endure this harsh climate. Another method can be to live underground which will protect us from the huge temperature shifts and the radiation. We can also construct houses using 3D printing technologies, but we have yet to develop it more. To live in the Martian environment we need to take care of stability, flexibility, and easy transportation, shelters have to be lightweight. For this, we are looking forward to our brilliant scientists and engineers.

Food on Mars :

What we will eat on Mars will be differently grown from what we eat on Earth. The question is, is agriculture possible on the red planet? The answer is yes, but not on the soil. We will follow the techniques of hydroponic farming. It is the process in which we grow plants in water with the appropriate nutrients. This means the agriculture will be indoors. Advances in synthetic biology and genetic engineering could enable the development of crops and microorganisms tailored for Martian conditions. Some scientists also suggest that aeroponic farming can be a better option because it uses less water, this works by keeping plants in nutrient-rich air and mist for proper nutrients rather than in soil.

This is of course a monumental goal for humanity to become multi-planetary, the nicer it seems the harder it is to achieve, so before imagining being an astronaut on Mars, keep these problems in your mind and think of the solutions to these. We have come so far and we believe to reach for further!