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from the curiosity-will-get-the-best-of-you dept.
Many hopefuls have signed up for a one-way ticket to the red planet. But if they aren't prepared, the trip may be a short one.
NASA has a plan to land astronauts on its surface by the 2030s. Private spaceflight companies like SpaceX have also expressed interest in starting their own colonies there, while the infamous Mars One project has already enlisted civilians for a one-way trip to our planetary neighbor in 2020.
While many may dream of living their remaining days on Mars, those days may be numbered. The Martian environment poses significant challenges to Earth life, and establishing a Mars habitat will require an extraordinary amount of engineering prowess and technological knowhow to ensure the safety of its residents.
Though we may soon have the launch vehicles needed to transport people to Mars, a lot of the technology required to keep astronauts alive on the planet just isn't ready--and it may not be for many years. For those eager to get to Mars as soon as possible, take caution: A number of tragic outcomes await if you head that way too soon.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by kaszz on Thursday May 28 2015, @10:32AM
The key is to bring equipment that can make use of the resources that are there be it sand, sunlight, perchlorate, lava tubes or frozen H2O etc. One could even reduce the weight and thus efficiency of this equipment and use them during a long time through a robotic mission to prepare for a future settlement.
As for radiation protection in space. Get rocks from a asteroid or moon and make sure it's 4 meters thick. Then launch for Mars orbit. Once there one does the surface trip during a low radiation window. Same goes for surface existence. Partially melt the dust into a solid structure on the surface or make use of existing lava tubes.
For more advances uses one might melt the dust into iron and other components through gravity separation.