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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday August 01 2019, @09:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the never-say-never dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Humans Will Never Colonize Mars

The suggestion that humans will soon set up bustling, long-lasting colonies on Mars is something many of us take for granted. What this lofty vision fails to appreciate, however, are the monumental—if not intractable—challenges awaiting colonists who want to permanently live on Mars. Unless we radically adapt our brains and bodies to the harsh Martian environment, the Red Planet will forever remain off limits to humans.

Mars is the closest thing we have to Earth in the entire solar system, and that's not saying much.

The Red Planet is a cold, dead place, with an atmosphere about 100 times thinner than Earth's. The paltry amount of air that does exist on Mars is primarily composed of noxious carbon dioxide, which does little to protect the surface from the Sun's harmful rays. Air pressure on Mars is very low; at 600 Pascals, it's only about 0.6 percent that of Earth. You might as well be exposed to the vacuum of space, resulting in a severe form of the bends—including ruptured lungs, dangerously swollen skin and body tissue, and ultimately death. The thin atmosphere also means that heat cannot be retained at the surface. The average temperature on Mars is -81 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 degrees Celsius), with temperatures dropping as low as -195 degrees F (-126 degrees C). By contrast, the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was at Vostok Station in Antarctica, at -128 degrees F (-89 degrees C) on June 23, 1982. Once temperatures get below the -40 degrees F/C mark, people who aren't properly dressed for the occasion can expect hypothermia to set in within about five to seven minutes.


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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @11:14PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 01 2019, @11:14PM (#874345)
    Not sure that enough wealthy humans with this worldview can be found to finance the migration.
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  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday August 02 2019, @12:05AM (1 child)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Friday August 02 2019, @12:05AM (#874372) Journal

    Maybe we just need rich people to sponsor poor people for the trip.

    Or just send the desperate, and repeat history. [wikipedia.org]

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @03:13AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @03:13AM (#874456)

      Outside of weekly random executions, conditions on Earth will be always better than on a remote, frozen sandy planet without air. Rights that are natural on Earth - air, water, acceptable temperature - will not be available on Mars for free. Poor people, often with no usable skills and less than excellent health, could be only sent to Mars to die. The best social group to visit and maybe live on Mars in a small colony is scientists.