The article talks about the possible colonization of Mars, its goals, dangers, technical aspects, and why it is a one-way ticket.
Beginning of the space age
From the very beginning of space exploration, people dreamed of settlements on other planets. Someone may object - why do we need extraterrestrial colonies, if not everything is perfect on ours? But the meaning of such reasoning is erroneous, because science does not pursue momentary benefits, and the research aspect is the most important in this matter.
The first such planet in line is Mars. Its colonization since the early 60s of the last century was considered along with the Moon. The conditions on it, compared to other planets, are the most suitable, these are gravity (albeit not earthly, but similar), and an acceptable difference in day and night temperatures, and most importantly, polar glaciers. But more about them later.
Also an important factor is the distance. Along with Venus, it is closest to Earth, but unlike its "sister", it does not rain sulfuric acid or boil lakes of liquid tin.
Minimum distance is 54.6 million kilometers, maximum distance is 401 million kilometers. This is due to the difference in orbits, and every two years a planet such asMars. Colonization from this factor only becomes easier.
At first glance, it would seem, what is the difficulty? Build ships, load everything you need and send with the first settlers. Alas, this is possible only in science fiction books from the middle of the last century, where in the future everyone has their own interstellar yacht in their summer cottage…
Mars. Colonization or terraforming?
There is an increasing debate about how the red planet could be made habitable. There are a lot of theories and proposals, and all of them have the right to success, but so far none of them has been tested in practice. Why? Because, despite the space station and regular flights to it, humanity has made very little progress in flights in vacuum space.
So terraforming projects without human intervention are impossible, and just the first settlers can lay the foundation for them. Their meaning revolves around the atmosphere of Mars. It consists mainly of carbon dioxide, and is too rarefied for liquid water or normal clouds to exist on the surface. And there are proposals to populate it with bacteria that will produce even more carbon dioxide, as a result of which the planet's gaseous envelope will become denser, the temperature will rise and the polar caps will begin to melt, followed by warm rains.
Colonization of Mars. Selection of candidates
In 2011, the launch of the Mars One project was announced. Its meaning was that a wide selection of all comers would be held.leave the Earth, not just the already active astronauts, to found a settlement on Mars. A little later, indeed, any person could offer his candidacy via the Internet, and if he successfully passed the test, he was enrolled in the ranks of applicants, received a speci alty and waited for an opportunity.
This is a private project, and its management planned to transfer all the complex technical work to contractors, and to receive its benefits by making a reality show out of the preparation of the colonialists.
Wishing, by the way, there were a lot, and they were not even afraid of the fact that this is a one-way flight to Mars. Since in which case it will be impossible to pick up the settlers.
The selection is now complete, but more are planned in the near future. In general, a lot of people criticize Mars One, and not without reason. Since very little has been done over the 5 years of its existence, and the dates of various events and plans are constantly being postponed. The criteria for selecting participants are also questionable.
Difficulties and dangers
The first difficulty is the actual flight to Mars. Colonization is complicated by the fact that even with the maximum proximity of the red planet to us, with current technologies, the flight will take about 7 months. And all this time, the astronauts need to eat something, and there will be a lot of equipment on board anyway. Another danger is cosmic radiation. To protect against it, you need to develop special means.
Also an urgent issue is food on Mars. Absolutely closed life support systemsnot yet, and the colonists will have to rely on themselves and hydroponic greenhouses. And plus, for all this, housing is needed, at least some residential modules that also need to be delivered, lowered, assembled without damage … After all, if something happens, the astronauts will have to wait at least 7 months for a ship with a package.
Communication
Despite the fact that the speed of radio emission is comparable to the speed of light, at the moments of maximum distance from the earth, the "ping" will be about 22 two Earth minutes.
Gravity
Also another factor in the danger of such a thing as a project to fly to Mars is its low gravity compared to the earth, and it is not clear how this will affect children born in such conditions. And the settlers themselves too.
