- Hey, Know-It-Alls.
Remember my riddle from last episode,
what is somewhere we've already been and is not here.
Shout it out on the count of three,
one, two, three.
Space.
(bell rings)
Yes, you got it.
We're going back to space.
We've already been to the moon
and this time we're going all the way to Mars.
So put on your space suit
and get ready for liftoff, Know-It-Alls.
We're heading to the final frontier.
- [Announcer] And liftoff.
As the countdown to Mars continues,
the perseverance of humanity seeking clues
and climb through the puzzle about life on Mars.
If you've been following me a while, you already know
that I'm a proud space nerd.
But ever since I watched the Netflix series Away,
I've been super obsessed with the red planet in particular.
This show is fantastic.
You really need to see it for yourself.
Not only is the acting amazing,
but the cinematography and the CGI are incredible.
I felt like I was a stowaway
on the Artemis mission to Mars.
Not to mention the heart-wrenching storyline.
Jayus isn't known for being a cry baby,
but seriously, I cried like 10 times.
(bell buzzes)
So consider yourself warned.
You're gonna need a box of tissues
for this Sci-Fi tear-jerker.
Here's the basic premise.
Hilary Swank plays an astronaut, who is the commander
of an international crew on a treacherous mission to Mars.
And even though it's an incredible opportunity,
it's not without sacrifices
because being at the top of her space game,
means leaving behind her husband and teenage daughter.
- That's earth, the moon, and Mars.
(piano music)
And the string is me making my way back to you.
So just remember the further away I get,
I'm actually getting closer to being back to you.
- [Bella] Before I start crying again,
let's get this mission underway.
(piano music)
Isn't it weird to think about how if the roles were reversed
and humans were invading another planet,
we would be the aliens?
(instrumental music)
- Right.
Weird.
- [Bella] Luckily, as far as scientists know,
there isn't currently life on Mars.
At least not anything large enough to be a threat
roaming around on the surface.
So there's no risk of rubbing the locals wrong
during our space exploration.
But there probably was life on Mars billions of years ago
when the planet was more habitable.
Last year, researchers from Purdue University
analyzed data from NASA and the Curiosity Rover
to determine that about three to 4 billion years ago,
the climate on Mars was warm enough
to have pouring rainstorms and flowing water,
which would have created an environment
that could support simple life, according to First Post.
Fast forward, a few billion years,
and the red planet of today is cold, dry, dusty.
In the early days of the solar system,
both Mars and the earth had temperature climates
and liquid water covering large swaths of their surfaces.
So how come present day Mars is red and dead
while earth is blue and alive?
Answering that important question
was the mission of NASA MAVEN Orbiter
when it launched in 2013.
And as Forbes reported, it has since discovered
that approximately 4 billion years ago,
the core of Mars became inactive.
Thus its magnetic field disappeared
and the solar wind stripped the atmosphere away.
So you must be wondering,
why on earth are we trying to revive this barren wasteland
if it didn't work out the first time?
- Why are we doing this?
- [Bella] Well, it turns out even though earth
and Mars don't look alike on the surface,
they actually have quite a bit in common.
So much so that NASA has a webpage
dedicated to their similarities,
hilariously entitled Sibling Rivalry.
Side note, I just wanna state for the record,
how much I enjoy NASA trying to stoke
the interplanetary drama.
So let's break down the comparison.
First of all, earth is the third rock from the sun,
and Mars is the fourth.
Both planets have roughly the same surface area.
The atmosphere on Mars is much thinner than earth's.
And the two atmospheric chemistries are very different
in terms of being able to support natural life.
But they're more alike than different
relative to other planets in the solar system.
The fraternal twin planets
also share a tilt in the rotational axis
that results in seasonal weather changes.
When it comes to human colonization
of a space frontier, water is key.
And Mara has some exciting things
going on in the water department.
Much like earth, Mars has two permanent polar ice caps
that primarily consists of water ice
with a dry ice cover that varies by season.
In 2013, the Curiosity Rover determined that martian water
exists in icy dirt, thin clouds and underground lakes.
On some martian hillsides,
there's evidence of liquid salty water in the ground.
The only problem is liquid water
doesn't exist on the surface.
According to space.com,
the extremely low atmospheric pressure on Mars
which is less than 100th of Earth's atmospheric pressure
and the low temperatures,
cause pure water to evaporate from ice to gas so quickly
that it skips the liquid phase.
- (in foreign language)
- [Bella] But the discovery of water on Mars
is great news regardless of its form or location.
- This is perfect.
- [Bella] Not so fast,
no need to pack up your space suitcase yet.
There are still some serious challenges
to terraforming our planetary neighbor.
- [Announcer] Word alert. (bell rings)
- All right, Know-It-All's,
you know what that means.
I just got a word alert.
Terraforming means transforming a planet
from a hostile environment to one where humans
and other life forms can survive free
of protection or mediation.
Right now, this is a hypothetical process
that will consist of engineering projects
to rehabilitate the planet's climate, atmospheric surface
and installing necessary ecosystems.
Sounds cool, right?
Except it's not an easy process.
As I was saying, there's some significant obstacles
to creating a human friendly Mars.
- We'll deal with one problem at a time.
- [Bella] For starters, gravity on Mars
is only 38% that of earth's.
The lower gravity would have huge implications
for astronaut bone health.
Bones in space atrophy at a rate about 1% a month
with a total loss reaching between 40 and 60%.
Thus space induced osteoporosis would be more devastating
than it's earthly equivalent.
As Wired notes, 99% of our body's calcium
is stored in the skeleton.
And as it wastes away, that calcium finds its way
into the bloodstream causing yet more problems
from constipation to renal stones to psychotic depression.
- Well, that's depressing.
- [Bella] Plus Mars no longer has
a magnetic field like earth does.
That combined with its thin atmosphere
means dangerously high levels of radiation
make it to the surface
which would pose additional health risk to human colonists.
The DNA damage from solar radiation leads
to a much greater likelihood
of developing cancer and other diseases.
According to a NASA report on radiation protection,
without a heavy shielding of about 15 centimeters of steel
one meter of rock or three meters of water,
humans on Mars would have to live underground
pretty much all the time to stay healthy.
- We're 20 feet underground.
- [Bella] Who would wanna take a super lonely
nine month trip to Mars and then have to live underground
for basically three months straight
before you can turn around
and do the nine month trek all over again.
I think space travel
is one of the coolest things in the whole universe.
But after living through a shelter in place order
during the pandemic, the prospect of 21 months
of near constant lockdown really takes some of the thrill
out of the Mars space odyssey.
And I'm not the only one who thinks so.
The American Psychological Association
reports that lengthy confinements, closed quarters,
social isolation, minimal ability to rescue colleagues,
the monotony of repetitive tasks,
and people being away for almost two years or more
are all psychological stressors that would be amplified
on a mission of this magnitude.
- Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy.
- [Bella] That's kind of a lot to deal with.
And we haven't even gotten to the laundry list
of other hurdles to Mars colonization.
For instance, there's barely any air on Mars.
So in addition to shielding humans from radiation,
habitats would have to be pressurized with oxygen.
According to Slate, the longest an astronaut
could survive outside such habitat
without a pressurized oxygenated space suit
is a mere 15 seconds before losing consciousness.
To stay for long periods of time,
food would need to be grown on Mars which is difficult
without naturally occurring oxygen in the atmosphere.
Martian tourists would need a way
to purify water for drinking.
At the varying distances between these two planets,
communication transmissions could have a delay
of three to 20 minutes, a painfully long time
in the event of an emergency.
Mars is home to the largest dust storms in the solar system
reaching speeds of over 100 miles per hour.
They can last for months
and cover the planet in a red dust cloud.
Since Mars is located closer to the asteroid belt,
it has a greater chance of being pelted with space rocks.
(dramatic music)
- Oh wait, there's more.
- [Bella] Don't let it's red color fool you.
Mars may look like a hot desertscape
but it's actually colder than we're used to.
According to space.com, the average temperature on Mars
is -80 degrees Fahrenheit.
During winter near the North and South poles,
temperatures can get down to -190 degrees.
Sure, a summer day on Mars might get up to 70 degrees
near the equator, but at night,
the temperature can plummet to -100 degrees.
So don't forget to pack a warm coat
and long johns in your space suitcase.
That's a hot tip for all you soon to be martian tourists
because despite the struggle of traveling
to and attempting to Terraform that next furthest planet
from the sun, there are astronauts and civilians
eager to get there as soon as possible.
Right now, NASA is slated to send the first woman
and next man to the moon by 2024
as part of the Artemis program
with the goal of addressing the challenges
of living in space and eventually putting humans on Mars.
This is the opportunity to troubleshoot
and perfect new tools, technologies, and practices
closer to home before committing
to the years long journey to Mars.
And that's it for today's episode.
I used to have big dreams of gazing at earth
from 34 million miles away.
But after learning about all these things
that could go wrong, I think I'm gonna stay at home
while they work out the kinks and stick to making content
about space instead of going there myself.
(upbeat music)
Hit me up on TikTok and Instagram @onlyjayus
or Twitter @notjayus.
And let me know if you'd sneak onto a spaceship to Mars
in spite of all the risks or if you'd rather
let the pros work out the kinks first.
Don't forget to smash that thumbs up.
And let me know down in the comments
which planet in the solar system
you would like to visit most.
We also have subscription links to the Know It All podcast
down in the description below.
(upbeat music)