Colonizing Mars

[keeganjm-blog]

Long term goals

Terraforming is a several century long process of converting a planet to a different habitat, such as from a thin atmosphere almost completely carbon dioxide to a thicker atmosphere with oxygen and nitrogen.  Through multiple methods, Mars’ atmosphere could theoretically be converted to breathable air.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars

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Medium Term Goals

Paraterraforming is a medium term goal on Mars where we could construct large dome habitats with breathable, pressurized atmospheres.  These domes could theoretically be city sized with shielding from harmful radiation and small meteors.

http://terraforming.wikia.com/wiki/Paraterraforming

[keeganjm-blog]

Short term goals

In the short term, we as a species are looking to establish a self-sustaining colony on Mars.  Many obstacles and opportunities stand in our way to hinder and help us.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mars#Possible_locations_for_settlements

[keeganjm-blog]

How We’re Gonna Get There

SpaceX is currently developing a large rocket that will take hundreds of colonists at a time to the Red Planet.  This rocket will be larger and pack more thrust than the largest rocket built to date, the Saturn V rocket which took the Apollo missions to the Moon.  Watch this video for a full overview of SpaceX’s plan.

And read a full story here: http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/09/spacexs-big-fking-rocket-the-full-story.html

[keeganjm-blog]

Skepticism of supersonic retropropulsion

NASA has stated that, while it is helping SpaceX develop supersonic retropropulsion techniques to land a large craft safely on Mars, the first Mars Mission will not carry any NASA equipment because they do not want to invest billions of dollars only to have it possibly disintegrate on impact.  This lack of confidence indicates the government’s unwillingness to take risks and why the private sector is responsible for most of the innovation in colonizing Mars.

http://www.space.com/35024-nasa-spacex-red-dragon-mars-mission.html

[keeganjm-blog]

Landing a large craft on Mars

There are many problems associated with landing giant rockets on Mars.  On Earth, the thick atmosphere combined with parachutes and rocket thrusters gets the job done, but Mars has a very thin atmosphere and parachutes have minimal effect.  SpaceX, whose stated goal is to colonize the Red Planet, is leading the way in developing supersonic retropropulsion to ensure a safe landing for future colonists.

https://qz.com/656025/how-spacex-is-really-bringing-us-closer-to-mars-no-really/

[keeganjm-blog]

This source presents other options for colonies which have potential.

While Mars colonization has much potential, we must look at all the plausible options; however, for a self-sustaining colony, any options other than Mars cannot be self-sustaining because of the problem of obtaining water.  If our goal was to create a different type of colony, then a moon base or free space colony could be possible.

[keeganjm-blog]

The Moon

While some people support colonizing the Moon before Mars, it does not make sense to delay the colonization of Mars for a “proof of concept” colony on the Moon.  Yes, the Moon is closer and we can send many more missions to the Moon in the same time that it would take to send a single mission to Mars, but if our goal is to establish a self-sustaining colony, then these many more missions are irrelevant since a moon base could never be self-sufficient.  

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/221/1

[keeganjm-blog]

Venus: Not exactly Earth’s twin

The surface temperature of Venus can reach “870 degrees Fahrenheit, more than hot enough to melt lead.”  If this doesn’t deter you, the surface pressure is “90 times that of Earth” and acid rain is a common occurrence due to sulfuric acid clouds in the atmosphere.  Other than mass and gravity similarities, Venus is nothing like Earth, which removes it from the list of possible planets to colonize.

Source: http://www.space.com/44-venus-second-planet-from-the-sun-brightest-planet-in-solar-system.html

[keeganjm-blog]

Why Mars and not Venus or the Moon?

Whenever scientists talk about colonizing the stars, many say it’ll start with humans establishing a self-sustaining colony on Mars, but why Mars?  The moon is much closer and Venus is often called the twin of Earth.  However, both alternative choices have serious downsides explained in this source: http://www.mars-one.com/faq/mission-to-mars/why-mars-and-not-another-planet