I’m about to go into a black hole.
We can’t see what’s down there.
Oh, my God, I hate heights. I’m scared of heights.
As Earth becomes less and less habitable
due to the climate emergency,
a group of academics known as the Astroland Agency
are testing how humans can colonize Mars by 2035.
Many believe the Red Planet can’t support life,
as it’s too cold on the surface,
there’s no atmosphere or oxygen to breathe,
and the air is too thin to support water.
According to the Astroland Agency,
the only way humans can currently survive on Mars
is by living underground in lava tubes.
The only way we could live on Mars would be in a cave,
so we are protected from the Sun’s radiation, the cold
and to have the possibility of getting water.
But could humans really cope with living like that?
I’m in a cave in Spain’s Cantabria region,
where these scientists are replicating what it’s like.
The aim of these expeditions is to
provide scientific insights to help humanity overcome
the physical and mental challenges the lucky few would face on Mars
while developing new technology in the fields of
energy self-sufficiency, telemedicine, robotics, and AI.
And because you **** up the planet, welcome to Mars!
Welcome to Extinction Update,
bringing you glum stories
from our overheating planet.
For argument’s sake,
let’s imagine we continue to do nothing
about our dying planet.
What do we do once it’s actually dead?
Well, perhaps by then there will be technology smart enough
to send a small group of millionaires
to go and live on Mars.
Hooray.
But what would that actually be like?
We went to find out.
[Life on Mars]
Stephen Hawking told us that our time on Earth is limited,
so our species needs to colonize new worlds in order to survive.
Humans have been putting landers on Mars since 1976,
but now NASA and commercial companies like SpaceX
are trying to figure out how to get people there.
But how are we going to live there once we arrive?
Mars analogs (simulating missions) have also been happening for decades,
but not without their own teething problems.
Apparently, one of the biggest risks on a Mars mission is mutiny.
In December 1973, on an 84-day stay
aboard the now defunct Skylab space station,
three astronauts grew agitated at Mission Control,
turned off all communications with Earth for a day,
and spent it enjoying the view.
In 1999, a month into a study by
the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow,
two Russian astronauts got into a fistfight,
one female participant was sexually harassed,
and another quit in protest.
A recent eight-month analog in Hawaii was aborted after four days
when a crew member suffered an electric shock
and required hospitalization.
I'm only on this mission for a day and a night,
but I’m not ruling out me punching a boffin
or running off with a space buggy.
So these are our spacesuits.
We’ve got a helmet, we’ve got quite a cool jumpsuit.
And I would wear this normally, to a party, I think.
Oh my God.
No.
I feel like a unit.
Like this is what it would be like to be a body builder.
Ooh, bloody hell.
Ooh, God.
OK.
[Squeals]
Ah, yes. OK.
I can’t see because of the helmet.
OK. OK.
The spacesuit that I’m wearing is designed to mimic the forces
the astronauts would experience while wearing a pressurized suit on Mars.
We’re told to treat it like a spacecraft.
Imagine going jogging in a diving suit with a backpack
and ski gloves on.
OK. So, this is where we’re staying.
Five minutes, yes? It is starting now.
OK, so in five minutes, we’ve got to get changed?
OK, OK.
Do we all have to be in here together?
It’s a little bit tight.
Do you copy?
-We copy. -Copy.
We copy, but we are struggling.
So what have you discovered here?
The most important thing we have discovered in this cave
are the most primitive organisms who have allowed life on Earth.
The cyanobacterias.
The cyanobacterias are the organisms which transformed our planet.
They helped form the atmosphere with oxygen, the ozone layer,
and thanks to them we are here.
Wow.
That is so cool.
How livable do you think it is on Mars?
The only way we could live on Mars would be in a cave,
so we are protected from the Sun’s radiation and the cold
and have the possibility of getting water.
If we were to move to Mars, do you think we’d mess it up?
Kind of like we have with our planet Earth.
It’s better to live on Earth and to take care of our own planet.
Take care of our landscapes, forest, nature,
because it is a unique treasure we must not lose.
So what do you do at Astroland Agency?
I’m responsible for the mindset training for Astrolanders.
To think of what mindset we need in order to be inside a spaceship
for several months or even several years,
and then colonizing a new planet,
knowing that very much for sure we will never come back to Earth.
So how likely is it for that to happen in my lifetime?
In the worst-case scenario, we’re talking about 50, 60 years.
So now I’m going to eat, which I’m happy about.
But I don’t know how it’s going to taste,
because it’s powder.
Beef stroganoff with rice.
This powdered food sucks.
This is just like a ready meal for when we arrive though.
Mars astronauts need a carefully calibrated diet
to offset deficiencies and provide the necessary protein and calories
to maintain muscle:
freeze-dried food topped up with vitamin D and K supplements.
Most Mars scenarios involve growing food hydroponically though.
I’m currently in bed.
It’s so bright
and it’s also quite cold.
I would not want to live on Mars for the foreseeable future.
Good night.
My first dream on Mars.
Good morning from Ares Station.
Space Center to Astrolander team.
Team, do you copy?
Do you copy?
We lost you there for a minute.
We miss you and everybody on the Earth, but we are fine.
Copy that. Thank you very much, you’re doing a fine job out there.
After a day and a night on a simulated Mars,
it’s time to return to planet Earth.
Life on Mars is the opposite of the David Bowie song—
it’s bleak.
Your day-to-day is pretty much figuring out how not to die.
I reckon pampered billionaires like Elon Musk would find it hard to cope,
and I don’t think Grimes would like it much either.
Fundamentally, whichever kings, queens or kleptocrats
could afford to flee a dying Earth and set up life on Mars
would spend their days wondering why
we **** up planet Earth in the first place.
This is not your fault.
But we need you to help un**** the planet.
To stop governments and big businesses
acting like psychopaths.
To consume less and teach more.
So, if we survive,
we’ll see you on the right side of history.