From getting there, to setting up a base that is functional, to slowly getting the place
up to snuff for a larger colony, and more!
Join me as we explore what it would take to set up a base on Mars!
For many decades now, humanity has dreamed about on another world.
Whether it was a distant world in another galaxy, or just making colonies on all the
worlds and moons that made sense, we've gone and envisioned all kinds of futures for our
race.
And on a base level, doing so is kind of vital.
The Earth is growing more and more populated, but our resources are slowly but surely going
to wear out.
So, we need to start setting up places outside of Earth for us to inhabit.
The two best options at present are the moon and the planet Mars.
And believe it or not, both the moon and Mars have plans in place to not just put people
back on its surface, but, to potentially set up very large and functional bases for us
(that's humanity) to live on.
But doing so is no small feat.
While there have been many missions to the moon, they've only been for historical and
research purposes.
And even with it being MUCH closer to the Earth than Mars, setting up a colony there
is not going to be easy.
Yet, if you were to ask NASA, SpaceX and a whole bunch of other agencies what the main
goal is for the 2020's, you would get "We're going to get people to Mars to start building
a colony."
A noble goal, but one that is going to be fraught with problems and will not be easy
to get off the ground.
But just so we can prove this to you, let's break down everything you would need in order
to make just a basic base on Mars.
First and foremost, you don't just send people to Mars and hope that they are going to make
it, that would be catastrophic on all counts.
Which, thankfully, the appropriate space agencies aren't aiming to do.
Whether you look at NASA or Space X you'll see that there is a "setup mission" that will
happen before the first batch of colonists even arrive.
The point of this setup mission is simple, it's going to dump a wide variety of items
for the group to use when they arrive.
Think of it like airmailing a package to a vacation spot you're going to be going to.
In this case though, that "package" will likely be a small base where the group will live
for the first 9 months (more on that later), a large series of supplies, potential vehicles,
generators, and more.
You might wonder why they're going to outfit all of this stuff on a setup mission versus
just putting it on the craft that has the group themselves.
The reason is time, money, and weight.
The more stuff you have to put on a craft, the more risk you're taking that something
is going to go wrong.
Not to mention endanger the lives of the crew, as well as slow down the craft.
Even with some of the best minds working on it, a journey to Mars is going to be SLOW.
Thus, launching a setup mission to get the equipment there is a good first move because
A) it shows we really can get to the red planet with a ship (which we've never done before).
B)
it shows that landing these very large items on the surface without serious damage is NOT
impossible.
And C) should the worst happen, we're only losing inanimate objects and not human lives.
Because the moment that happens, a lot of delays are going to happen, and the colonization
of Mars will be likely delayed infinitely until people are sure that they can get to
Mars safely So all told, the setup mission is the first
and most important thing...in a long chain of important things that needs to happen on
Mars for a base to be setup.
Before we dive even more into the base on Mars scenario, be sure to like or dislike
the video so we can continue to improve so we can make the best videos possible for you
the viewer!
Also, subscribe to the channel so that you don't miss ANY of our weekly videos.
Alright, so let's assume that we are able to do the setup mission, and the first group
of settlers/researchers are able to successfully be on the planet, ok?
What would be one of their immediate challenges?
One of the obvious ones is a notion of continual power.
After all, to run a base, and especially a large colony, you need power.
Now, the setup mission will be delivering a wide variety of generators no doubt.
But that's only a partial solution.
You need a long-term one.
The notion of Solar Power has been floated around by many, and it could work.
But, it's problematic.
Mars is known for having storms that'll block out the sun for days on end.
Plus, due to distance, the solar power we'd get is only 40% of the kind we'd get on Earth.
That could still help, but it won't solve everything.
Likewise, wind and geothermal power...is a no go.
So what can we do?
Well...there is the nuclear option.
No, not a bomb, but nuclear power.
While dangerous a nuclear generator could easily power the colony for a few years while
things get worked out.
Again, it's dangerous, but with enough shielding and protection, it would get us a major step
of the way until a more permanent solution is worked out.
Alright, now let's move to another big problem, what we breath.
AKA, Oxygen.
On Mars, the atmosphere is incredibly thin, and 95% of what's left is made up of Carbon
Dioxide, which is what we exhale, and thus not something we can breathe.
Not shockingly, whatever base we make would need to be one that can be not just pressurized,
but one that can filter in a ready-made atmosphere so that we can breathe not just Oxygen, but
Nitrogen too (don't forget that our atmosphere is comprised of many different things, and
Oxygen is not in the majority).
But...even just trying to do that is a problem.
You see, when it comes to establishing a pressurized environment, the pressure really wants to
crush everything in sight.
And thus, it will look for weakpoints and exploit them.
This means that whatever base is used for the initial group (and the groups to follow)
will have to be shaped perfectly AND be able to withstand the various pressures that both
Mars and the interior atmosphere push on it.
As for the atmosphere itself, you'd need an airlock to go from the Mars pressure and transform
it into the Earth pressures, which means that this airlock CANNOT fail...not even once.
If you recall the movie The Martian with Matt Damon, his character had an airlock malfunction
that not only almost killed him, but blow out a part of the base he was in to the extent
that he lost everything organic that was in there and almost lost a lot of other things.
If that happens even ONCE on the initial base?
That could wipe out the entire crew that's in there at the time, and would again cause
many delays in the future colonization of Mars.
Think we're done?
Not even close.
Because there's another danger that we've touched on in past videos, and that's the
radiation of Mars.
Mars has a very thin atmosphere as noted, but, it also has no magnetosphere, which is
a major deterrent of all solar and cosmic radiation that is put onto a planet.
We have some radiation here on Earth, but the magnetosphere and atmosphere combined
filter, block, or reflect most of it so we're not overtly affected.
On Mars?
That doesn't happen.
So both the spacesuits that the astronauts need to wear AND the base that the colonists
live in will need to be able to block out any kind of radiation that is burst onto the
planet.
Or at the least keep the exposure to safe levels.
Too much radiation can cause the astronauts to get sick, get cancer, and of course, die.
Which would be very bad indeed.
Now, there are many ideas about how to go and keep the crews and colonists safe, but
it's untested because we haven't been to Mars.
Still, it could be worked out.
However, most ideas would ensure that the places we live in will be without windows,
which means you won't get to see Mars unless you go outside.
Which, as some note, is not the best idea.
True, the "dream" is to walk on Mars freely and without restrictions outside of the spacesuit,
but as you look deeper into the dust of Mars, you'll find a lot more problems.
You see, Mars dust is a lot finer than Earth dust, and it gets everywhere.
That's why many rovers on Mars have died over the years, and when our astronauts get there,
they'll find it'll seep into every crevice of their spacesuit that is possible.
That's bad because the dust is poisonous in its own right, and because it'll get everywhere
on their suits, it could mean that it could be breathed in by the astronauts, which means
they'll get sick just by inhaling the dust that's literally all over the planet.
Simple solutions to this including having chambers where the suits never truly enter
the base, and are thus isolating the dust from everyone else, including the astronauts
via special entranceways into the suits.
Are you seeing how much work it's going to take to get us to a base on Mars?
It's a lot of work.
And we're still several major factors away from making it feasible.
After all, what are going to eat and drink on Mars?
As we know, Mars does have water via its polar ice caps, and potentially even water under
the surface.
So, if positioned correctly, we could have easy access to water that we would just need
to filter and make sure it's clean before drinking.
But as for food?
Yeah...that's a problem.
Now, not unlike The Martian, it's very feasible that NASA or whoever would make a large pantry
of food via simple to make meals for the first colonists to eat.
It won't be 5-star meals every night (or even morning), but it'll keep them fed, which is
the point here.
But, not unlike the power problem, it's not a long-term solution.
You need to be able to grow plants on Mars.
But, as noted, the Martian soil is anything but safe in certain cases, plus, it lacks
the Nitrogen to grow various Earth plants.
So, we'd need to do a serious decontamination of the Martian soil, and then use our own
biological waste as a fertilizer (again, used in The Martian to great effect) to try and
grow things.
Feasible?
Yes.
Expensive and time-consuming?
Definitely.
A workaround is using Aquaponics to grow plants and fish together to allow for more of a balanced
meal.
But that too would take time and effort to make work on a Martian base.
Then, there is problem of gravity, the Martian gravity is much less than that of Earth, so,
not unlike the international Space Station, a large portion of every day on Mars will
be focused on exercising to keep the crew healthy.
Because in a microgravity environment, your bones will get brittle, your muscles will
waste away, and even your health can deteriorate.
And let's not forget that this is just the FIRST group to make it to Mars.
SpaceX has noted that the first group will last for about 9 months on the planet, and
then come back to Earth for study, testing, and health checks.
More than likely, as we build up to a major colony, there would be a rotating staff of
people that would go to Mars, do work, then be cycled back home to Earth to have a more
normal life instead of being cooped up all day (more or less) on a Martian base.
This process would continue until a true self-sustaining colony is made on Mars.
But how long will that take to happen?
That's a bit hard to determine.
Not the least of which is because Earth and Mars don't line up all the time, and so sending
people to Mars is literally a time-sensitive thing.
Plus, when it comes to the large-scale construction of a colony, there would need to be a constant
shipment of supplies both in the materials aspect, and the tools, vehicles, and of course,
basic supplies to ensure that people can even survive as they're building everything.
Elon Musk says he has an idea for "space cranes" that can help us with construction and getting
materials down to the surface.
But whether that's actually feasible is another matter entirely.
Musk also said that he feels that should things go right, we'll have a full-on human colony
by 2050.
However, that's a bit bold, and not really accounting for things that are likely to go
wrong.
So given all of this struggle and hardship to overcome, why would we even want to settle
on Mars?
Well it's just like we said at the beginning of the video, we want to, and we need to.
If we are able to make the Mars colony work, it'll be the first of many that'll help us
colonize a whole planet.
The potential in that is limitless, and should we truly get a foothold on Mars, it could
set us up to colonize places like Titan, or Pluto, or even start us up on an intergalactic
journey.
It'll be hard, REALLY hard, to setup Mars for people to live there.
But the payoff?
Yeah, that'll be worth it.
Thanks for watching everyone!
What did you think of this look at the mission to Mars and what it would take to make a base
that could truly support human life?
Do you have a greater appreciation for everything that NASA, SpaceX and more have to account
for?
Do you think that we will be able to work out all the problems so that we can truly
colonize the moon like the sci-fi stories of old said we could?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe and I'll see you next time on
the channel!