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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.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 02 2019, @12:04AM (2 children)
Look to history, for your bustling colonies.
Columbus arrived, with his fellow diseased Europeans. Plagues swept the land, decimating the native populations, and worse, repeatedly. Euros arrived, in trickles, to find strange lands, in which they didn't really know how to survive. A dozen Euros here, three dozen there, established little villages, and recruited (through barter, and/or enslavement) the assistance of surviving natives. For generations, people barely eked out an existence in places like Havana, Puerto Rico, etc. And, all the while, dreams of gold, free land, and opportunity drew more and more Euros to the new world.
Space is going to be harsher in some ways, less harsh in other ways. But, the same thing will happen. For generations, people are just barely going to survive - and sometimes, not survive at all. But, eventually, given experience, technological solutions, and crazy dreams of treasure, those little outposts and bases will grow into something more enduring.
So, it takes 20 generations to establish a city on Mars? So what? That's less than a blink in time, geologically speaking.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday August 02 2019, @02:50AM
Another take of this look: there was a short time when the country of origin benefited from the colonies. After which, they all declared independence.
Consequence: if you think Mars colonization as a solution for Earth's problems (overpopulation or economy woes), think again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @03:04AM
Hopefully they'll run into some natives to barter with / learn from reeeeal f'n quick.