Mike Alpha Romeo Sierra, do you copy?

Article written by Léa SODOYER, Fatoumata ABDOURAHMAN, Cholé DE LEPINE, Nancia PEPIN, Mathis DUBOIS and Gregory ONDZAMBE.

Sadly, Earth will one day be no longer a place where people can live if no action is taken. As Mars is an unknown and endless resources planet, it explains the tough competition between all the nations to be pioneers. Can you imagine solving poverty and pollution on Earth by discovering new alternative resources to fossil energies? Or waking up on the red planet, being part of the new martian’s civilisation of this century? This is our future, and it already has begun.

What are the reasons to go to the red planet and what discoveries can this bring to earth?

As Matt Damon in the movie Alone on Mars, will we really be able to plant our potatoes on the red planet soon? We shall start this article with the obvious question: why Mars arouses that much interest? What we know is that Mars is the closest planet to Earth in our solar system. That can explain why organisations like NASA, the China National Space Administration (Tianwen-1 mission), the United Arab Emirates Space Agency (Hope mission) and SpaceX want to discover more about the red planet. Living life forms on Earth are responsible for a large portion of the planet's methane emissions, and our planet Earth is slowly dying. That is also a reason why we should be looking for solutions on Mars. Humankind's fundamental question is whether or not life exists elsewhere in the Universe beyond Earth. According to evidence, Mars was previously flooded with water, was warmer, and had a thicker atmosphere, making it a potentially liveable planet. However, the atmosphere has changed over time: surface evidence suggests that Mars was formerly warmer and wetter.

The Mars Exploration Program is a science program which allows you to discover Mars and its different attributes. What are the resources that Mars possesses and what can they bring us? Mars is similar to Earth in many ways, having many of the same "systems" that characterise our home world. Like Earth, this planet has an atmosphere, a hydrosphere, a cryosphere and a lithosphere. In other words, Mars has systems of air, water, ice, and geology that all interact to produce the Martian environment. Mars is about 50 percent of Earth in diameter and has a significantly thinner atmosphere, with less than 1% of Earth's atmospheric capacity.

But what catches our attention is our potential future life on Mars. First of all, we shall build houses underground, mainly because of the absence of atmosphere on Mars. Indeed, without an atmosphere,? nothing can protect us from the sun's radiation. Next, we will have to look for water sources: one solution is to extract water from the ice caps at the Mars’ poles. Regarding oxygen, plants can help humans as there is a lot of carbon dioxide in the Martian air: you know how that works, plants capture C02 and they release oxygen. All we’ll have to do is collect this oxygen generated from plants and use it to breathe. Eventually, the food reserves that we have brought with us will be exhausted at some point, so we’ll have to plant to produce our future food. Who knows, maybe some of the fruits or vegetables that we know today will become new specimens due to the Martian’s air. When building the Martian’s biosphere, it is very likely that Mars will be similar to Earth in its best years.

According to scientists, there are many solutions possible to warm up the atmosphere and constitute a Martian’s biosphere: a large asteroid could be dropped on the surface of Mars which will warm up the atmosphere and bring more water and gas, or simply the planet could also be populated with different bacteria. Indeed, in laboratories, scientists have simulated the conditions on the surface of Mars and realised that many bacteria can survive and thus release oxygen. In addition, we could build biodomes, one of the simplest solutions contributing to global warming: a kind of greenhouses with beneficial conditions to develop life and make the Martian soil suitable. This global warming could also be reached through gas emissions, cars and factories directly running on Mars’ surface.

Credit: ESA

Optimistically, it could take 300 to 1000 years to change the face of the Red Planet. Other scientists say it will take 1 000 000 years. Only then, humans will finally be able to take off their spacesuits and oxygen masks to feel “at home” on the red planet.

What will be the major barriers and solutions to live on Mars?

In the solar system of the Earth, Mars is the only planet that we can describe as liveable. Weather and conditions have proven it so far and eliminated the rest of the planets from the list. Nonetheless, according to NASA’s studies and experiments, several obstacles still need to be taken care of and mastered prior to launching a human mission.

A tricky distance

The distance between Earth and the red planet is not fixed and fluctuates a lot. At its closest point, we can count about 34 million miles (55 million kms). And the opportunity to travel at the optimal time unfortunately arises each 26 months. In fact, Jeffrey Sheehy, chief engineer of the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate even adds that there is a larger 15-year cycle when that window is more favorable than others. Technology will play a major role in solving this issue. Innovation in propulsion capabilities and nuclear fission are a must to make it to Mars as quicker and safer as possible. Indeed, producing the fuel needed for the return is already a difficulty. According to Kurt Leucht, working at NASA, in 2018 the American Space Agency was working on processes to extract fuel from Martian soil: such a system is still being developed, its success could provide a solution to this problem in the future.?

Adaptation struggles for Humans?

We wonder how Buzz LightYear manages to stay H24 in his spacesuit. Indeed, the main concern here is to make sure that the human team will overcome conditions such as low gravity, close proximity, close environment situation on spaceships for a long period of time. NASA CHAPEA (Mars simulation) and ARTEMIS programmed missions will act as test-missions and provide additional information on the matter. On the other hand, NASA developed new top-notched spacesuit models, which are called the exploration extravehicular mobility unit or Xemu. They may include technology for life support functionality in the carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere and modified outer garments to ensure the survival of the astronauts during the Martian winter and summer. We cannot omit the psychological aspect of the experience as well. Being confined in a small cabin with other colleagues can be thoroughly challenging. Not to mention physiologic troubles such as muscle and bone density loss, decreasing eyesight, cardiovascular issues or genetic changes.

Risky landing

Just as it is the case with an airplane, reaching the destination’s celestial sphere absolutely does not mean you have arrived. Landing is a big part of the journey. To do it safely on Mars, NASA engineers are developing an inflatable decelerator and working on a supersonic retropulsion as well to slow the huge landing force of the spacecraft. Furthermore, previous encounters with Mars highlighted possible issues with dust storms and our heroes need to be fully equipped before going up.

Reliable energies and resources directly from the red planet

Having a day and night cycle like Earth but with periodic dust storms that can last for months, going to Mars will require the development of a new power technology since we cannot always count on the sun over there! NASA set up the nuclear fission power technology and tested it effectively on Earth. The outcome is favorable and ready to be applied on Mars. Among other difficulties, establishing a base on Mars represents a huge challenge as the distance between Earth and Mars makes the sending of materials so far extremely expensive. Therefore the only solution would be to find the required metal on site to make steel and other components. We also know that water is available on Mars, but mostly present under a solid form at the poles and in the Martian tropics, and even possibly under liquid form in the subsoil.? However, establishing a drilling system is difficult because of the large amount of equipment needed that we’ll have to transport. The solution would be to simply heat and filter the ice.

Mars to Earth, are you getting me?

Communication between the two planets might be very difficult to achieve. A laser communications system needs to be implemented. As a matter of fact, NASA affirms that sending a map of Mars to Earth might take nine years with current radio systems, but as little as nine weeks with laser communications. The company is working on it, and we are confident with the future outcome.

However, those big projects require a big budget. Fran?ois Forget, an astrophysicist estimated the global cost of such a gigantic enterprise at $100 to $200 billion. It can be a massive handicap, but we have Elon Musk implicated in this project, right?

Who are going to be the major actors?

Who has never looked at the sky and taken a moment to think about that distant and mysterious immensity? For hundreds of years now, humanity has started to explore space through telescopes, but physical space exploration began only 60 years ago. Since then, competition has been tough between countries: who will be the first to achieve human outer space flights, the first to build a space station, the first to carry out interstellar space flights? To compete in the space race, they do not hesitate to invest a huge amount of human and financial resources to master cutting edge technology, innovation, and acquire knowledge. The next step now is: Human on Mars, why, how and when??

There are three major actors that are currently implementing means to go to the red planet: the Chinese plan, competing with the USA and their famous NASA, and finally, the eccentric Elon Musk and his space company SpaceX. They all plan different ways to reach Mars as soon as possible.

Great World of China

At the moment, China’s Zhurong robot, which landed on Mars on May 14th 2021 through the Tianwen-1 mission, is exploring the planet and trying to find the best place to build a martian base. Also, the Chinese Space Agency hopes to overtake the USA by bringing back home samples from the red planet by 2030. Once this first step is accomplished, it will be time for ta?konautes to go all the way to Mars and start the building of the base. But their ultimate ambition is to implement large scale Earth-to-Mars cargo missions: the Chinese Space Agency has programmed their first crewed mission for 2033, and then almost every two years following. We must note that, in addition to conducting several successful space missions, China has started the construction of its own space station which will have significant influence since the only space station in place (the USA’s ISS) will be decommissioned in 2031.?

Credit: NASA / Concept for a Mars base, with ice home, pressurised rover, and Mars suits, 2016

NASA: through the moon and beyond!

On the other side of the planet, the US superpower is not intimidated by their competitors. As said previously, they own the only space station existing, and have been the first to successfully land a rover on Mars. They currently have two robots (Curiosity and Perseverance), one lander (InSight), and one helicopter (Ingenuity) to explore the surface of the planet. Their Perseverance’s rover is their largest and most advanced one: it has written its first steps (or grooves) on the red planet on February 18th 2021 through the mission “Mars 2020”. The objective is to seek signs of ancient life and collect samples to be returned to Earth in the 2030s, and then support the human mission. “We will build an Artemis Base Camp on the surface and the Gateway in lunar orbit. These elements will allow our robots and astronauts to explore more and conduct more science than ever before.” Credit: NASA. Indeed, by establishing a long-term presence on the Moon, they will gather information and discoveries found on and around the orbit to send the first astronauts to Mars. The Moon will be their leverage to the ultimate goal: sending humans on Mars by the mid-2030s.

Elon Musk or Hell-on-Mars

Elon musk : stroke of genius or touch of madness ? Elon Musk explains with disconcerting simplicity the challenge of tomorrow for our planet: to switch from fossil fuels to sustainable energy as quickly as possible, without which a large part of the world's population could experience an environmental disaster. And if we start now, he estimates that it will take 10 to 20 years to achieve this. That's why the first Starship Mars missions will begin in 2026, will be uninhabited, and will serve to assess the Martian environment in several regions in order to identify future landing sites and install the infrastructure that will support the first humans on Mars. Its atmosphere is mainly composed of CO2 which means that we can grow plants on Mars simply by compressing the atmosphere. His space company SpaceX has already launched more than 100 rockets in the last decade. Several of them have ended up exploding or crashing.

Recently in a tweet, Elon Musk declares his goal to land humans on Mars will take place in 2029.? Moreover, he claims to have a sweet dream, that of being able to "die on Mars", but "not on impact". According to his estimates, however, the first manned mission is more likely to take place in 2026 but recognises that this space travel will not be without risk. "You might die, it will be uncomfortable and you probably won't get good food," it will be a difficult and dangerous journey where you might not be able to come back alive and honestly, a bunch of people will probably die at first. It's not for everyone, only for volunteers."

Credit: Twitter 03-17-2022

“ Why wouldn’t you try to make the future better if you’re going to be part of it ? ” - Youtube video (Start at 10.48 min)

Is life on Mars a dream or a certain possibility? Let us? not omit that before living on Mars there are still many uncertainties to overcome. Elon musk has huge plans regarding Mars but before setting them in motion it is essential to measure the different risks involved.

If you want to know more, read this interesting article from Sibu Kumar Tripathi, New Delhi on January 31, 2022: Hatch closed! Four humans begin 45-day trip to Mars.

You can also check this article written by Joshua Rapp Learn on September 8, 2021: Why haven’t humans reached Mars?