Plan(et) B
Colonizing Mars has been a feat that scientists have been trying to conquer, but why? I wanted to answer the question, why are we trying to colonize Mars and how would we do so. After much time, effort and research, I’ve found out a lot about Mars, and the efforts and work scientists are putting in to get there, but first, why do we want to colonize Mars in the first place?

There are two big reasons why we want to colonize Mars, one is for the profits. Space research and exploration yield lots of money, but those aren’t the only ways we profit from exploration. As the video said, many household products are the result of space exploration tools failing or becoming used for other purposes. There are numerous now-household products that were intended for space use. A prime example of this is WD-40. WD-40 started off as an attempt to create a material or substance that could displace water. Even its name has to do with that; WD-40 stands for Water Displacement Attempt 40.[7]

The other reason as to why we want to colonize Mars is self-preservation. Global warming and climate change are on the rise and our “home” is slowly turning into the inside of an oven. It doesn’t take much thinking to realize that there are many more reasons why we want to colonize Mars. An example given in the video was that if a massive asteroid knocked into the Earth, killing everyone and everything on it, we would still have humans on Mars and the human race would continue.[7]

There’s the reason why out of the way, but how would we do so? Mars is in fact like Earth with an atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and lithosphere.[1] Knowing this information brings the first goal with colonizing Mars: Was there ever, or is there a biosphere present on Mars? For the survival of an organism, water is needed and an energy source. On Mars, the ground is filled with “superoxides” which break down organic molecules and will, therefore, make it uninhabitable for life. However, hope is not lost. Scientists theorize that there could be life in places where the sunlight can’t touch, for example underground. They also are looking for markers and biosignatures for proof of previous or existent life on Mars. Something essential for helping scientists find life is technology. By analyzing Mars’ carbon dioxide atmosphere, they know to look for carbonate minerals which could lead to clues regarding whether water had been present for a long time. Scientists can also look for the possible environment where fossils can be preserved and retrieved. The only sure thing scientists know is that the hypothetical life on Mars would have to be very different from life on Earth.[2]

The second and third goal for colonizing Mars is taking a closer look at the environment, regarding climate and geology (roles of wind, water, volcanism, tectonics, cratering and the other elements of Mars’ surface). The climate of Mars is managed by the changes of carbon dioxide ice caps, large dust movement from the atmosphere and the water vapor exchange between the surface and atmosphere. Speaking of ice, Martian terrain has a layered polar area (see above for picture)that could lead to more information on Mars’ past for the climate and when each layer was deposited. Scientists now know that there are areas on the planet with evident of magnetic fields, whose primary job is to protect life from cosmic radiation, this hints towards life on Mars. [3,4]

The final goal for colonizing Mars would be the colonizing part. The astronauts would have to find out where and how they can produce food. Production is ideal to allow them to save crucial space on their vessels for other important things. The problem with that is the spread of Earth-born bacteria and contamination. Safety also presents an obstacle as Mars has no ozone layer to protect astronauts from ultraviolet radiation. Those organic molecule decomposers, “superoxides”, affect on humans is unknown, but scientists theorize that there should be no impact on humans. Even so, robots seem to be the greatest asset for the colonization of Mars. [5,6]

There is however another solution: a translucent Styrofoam-like solid insulator that is 99% air known as aerogel(see above picture). Aerogel is very light and has been proven to be able to melt ice on Mars and functions also as a building material. The ideal starting area on Mars would need lots of water and moderate temperature. Aerogel could help create this space by creating artificial warmth where the ice already exists. Nevertheless, this feat would require loads of Aerogel and over two Martian years to create permanent liquid water. Using Aerogel as a building material also proves to be very difficult, requiring the constant shipping or production of Aerogel on Mars.[6]

My thoughts regarding how we would colonize Mars entail a more diverse approach of creating small habitable zones rather than going through the process of modifying the environment of Mars to make it habitable. Aerogel does open some new doors, yet the “superoxides” still pose to be an issue with their effect on humans being unknown. In my opinion, we are still some years away from creating Plan(et) B and should focus on first advancing our technology and perform more recon before sending humans to Mars in the first place.

In conclusion, we want to colonize Mars to profit and for self-preservation reasons, and we would do so by finding out if there is/was prior life, learning more about the climate and geological features and finally commencing human exploration. This would be achieved using robotics and other forms of technology, as well as many different building materials, like Aerogel.

Sources
1. https://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/science/ by NASA
2. https://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/science/goal1/ by NASA
3. https://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/science/goal2/ by NASA
4. https://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/science/goal3/ by NASA
5. https://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/science/goal4/ by NASA
6. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/want-to-colonize-mars-aerogel-could-help by NASA/JPL-Caltech
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulKlUP3nhxM by WASTETIME

Self Assessment

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab