So you wanna go to Mars?
May 27, 2019 11:26:52 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on May 27, 2019 11:26:52 GMT -5
Wanna Go To Mars?
Thinking about going to Mars and exploring? Seems glamorous at first, doesn’t it? The adventure! The thrill of being on another planet! The fame and the glory! But when we consider exactly what’s involved, then the picture isn’that rosy.
The infernal Trip
First there is the necessity of being crammed for six months, with maybe five other people, in very close quarters into what resembles a big fancy can. Remember, this isn't a ship that has all the luxuries that the Star Trek Enterprise offers its passengers, nor the ones that the Homestead Company ship offered those in the film Passengers, or the Prometheus offered those on-board. You will not be placed under suspended animation and magically wake up six months later. You will not have the spaciousness depicted in those ships with private quarters, bathing facilities and a machine that produces food of any kind at will.
No siree Bob,
You will be crammed like a sardine into a small cubicle with extremely little privacy. Neither is there any guarantee that the ship won't get hit by a meteor or a barrage of micro-meteors. Unlike the ship in Passengers, our ship to Mars will not have a force-field protecting it.
Neither is there an absolute guarantee that the engines will fire on schedule or fire at all. You will be literally gambling with your life.
Infernal Destination
Then there is the destination itself. True, Mars is described as Earth-like. But that term can be very misleading. Sure, Mars is Earth like because it is a rocky planet instead of a gas giant like Jupiter and Saturn or an ice giant like Uranus and Neptune. Unlike these others, it has a surface we can walk on and that is definitely a plus. It also has water that we can use. But beyond that, there isn’t much more we can compare it to Earth.
Deadly Radiation
For example, the surface is constantly being bombarded by a death-dealing solar and cosmic radiation. That deadly exposure is caused by two things.
1. Mars lacks a protective magnetic field which serves as a shield against such radiation.
2. The Martian atmosphere is too thin to serve as a shield.
What this means is that if explorers living on the surface are at a higher risk of being clobbered by an incoming rock or fried to death. Which means that the time that we can actually spend unshielded on the surface is very limited.
In fact, not only will the surface radiation kill us, but it will kill any microorganism including those necessary to make the soil fertile. In short, the radiation sterilizes the surface making it lifeless and incapable of sustaining plant life. So you will need to do your farming underground like a mole or inside a surface habitat thickly protected against that death-dealing radiation by shielding material such as lead, rock or water.
. There is very little difference between being on the surface of Mars and being in the vacuum of space. The average surface pressure is a meager 0.087 psi; or eighty-seven hundredth of a pound per square inch as compared to the Earth’s fourteen and sixty-nine hundredth of a pound per square inch. Even if you could tolerate it you still would suffocate since it is composed of 96 percent Carbon dioxide. So you would still need to carry your own oxygen.
So get ready to be indoors most of the time, or become primarily an underground dweller. Yep! Going to another planet to become a cave dweller, or being stuck in some cramped habitat isn’t much of an incentive, is it? It seems like crap after spending six months to get there doesn't it? But that’s exactly what they are planning to do.
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... rface.html
Starting to wonder why we want to go there in the first place?
But it doesn't stop there:
Infernal Martian Gravity
Mars has only 38% the gravity that Earth does because it is only 11% as massive. So if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, then you will only weigh 38 pounds on Mars. Which I guess is great if you want to jump around. However, there is a very serious drawback. Low gravity causes a weakening of bones and muscles due to lack of gravitational stress that keeps them healthy. If not careful, osteoporosis and muscular atrophy will gradually kick in. So you will need to be be always struggling in your cave to prevent that from happening via exercise and diet.
Temperature Extremes
Think that Chicago temperatures of 32 below zero are cold? Nighttime temperatures on Mars can plummet to 80 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Best make sure your solar panels are working during the day to provide you with heat at night if you don't wanna become a human icicle.
So the destination itself isn't particularly an event that offers an improvement over what has been endured during the previous six-month voyage. It will present you with the challenge to live on a planet that is trying to kill you. So getting there is just the beginning of a desperate struggle to survive.
After taking all that into consideration, I personally concluded that the effort, the money, and the risks involved weith our present technology, are not worth it. Better to concentrate on the moon, which will also try to kill you, but which is nearer, costs less, and has a potential for financial pay-back.