This document discusses plans for colonizing Mars. It describes the challenges of living on Mars like extreme cold, thin atmosphere, and high radiation. Technologies needed include ways to obtain water, produce food and oxygen, build shelters, and generate power. Maintaining health in low gravity also poses issues. Long term, terraforming could transform Mars' environment through greenhouse gases to warm the planet, thickening the atmosphere with nitrogen, and introducing lifeforms to create an ecosystem similar to Earth. Robots may help terraform by seeding plants and maintaining habitats. The goal is to establish self-sustaining human settlements on Mars within decades.

1. Mars Colonization
1. EARTH AND MARS
SPACEX
2. WHY WOULD WE WANT TO LIVE ON
MARS?
3. THE CHALLENGES OF LIVING ON
MARS
4. WHAT WILL WE NEED, AND HOW
CAN WE GET ALL THESE THINGS?
 5. HEALTH & FITNESS
 6. TERRAFORMING

2. Earth And Mars
EARTH MARS
Distance from Sun 150Gm 228Gm
Atmosphere 101.3kPa
78% N2
21% O2
1% Ar
0.6kPa
95% CO2
3% N2
2% Ar
Temperature 185 – 331K
Mean: 287K (14°C)
133 – 293K
Mean: 210K (-63°C)
Length of solar day 24h 24h 40min
Length of year 365.25d 1.88y = 687d)

3. SpaceX
 Elon Musk
 2002
 $100 Billion To $10
Trillion
 In 2030 (Man Reaches
Mars)

4. Objective
 “To revolutionize space
technology, with the
ultimate goal of enabling
people to live on other
planets.”(like Mars)

5. Why would we want to live on other
worlds?
 Survive asteroid impacts.
 Population growth.
 Develop many new technologies & systems.
 Develop a global view of Earth.
 For the challenge and adventure!

6. But why Mars?
 Close to Earth (and asteroids)
 Warmth and light
 Length of day
 Has seasons like Earth
 Resources – atmosphere, water, metals
 Potential for terraforming

7. The challenges
of living on
Mars
 Cold!
 Very thin and toxic
atmosphere.
 Water frozen solid.
 High radiation.
 Low gravity.
 Long way from
home.

8. What will we
need to live on
Mars?
 Physical needs:
 Warmth Sunshine
 Water
 Air
 Food
 Clothing
 Buildings

9. Technological needs:
ELECTRICITY MATERIALS TOOLS COMPUTERS &
COMMUNICATION
VEHICLES & FUEL

10. Water
 Plenty of water, frozen.
 But: Very cold ice is harder than rock
– very hard to dig.
 Solution: Heat up the ground, cause
ice to sublimate, and capture the
steam.
 Also: Recycle

11. Health & Fitness
 Low gravity means loss of bone and muscle.
 Need lots of strength training.
 High radiation increases risk of cancer & genetic mutation.
 Build parks to play in, and to provide sunshine (artificial or real)

12. Terraforming
 Making Mars’ environment
hospitable to organisms from
Earth.

13. Warming Mars
 Create global warming using
PFCs (perfluorocarbons) – a
powerful greenhouse gas.
 • Use mirrors in space to reflect
more sunlight onto Mars.
 • Heating Mars causes frozen
CO2 to sublime, thickening
atmosphere and causing more
warming – a runaway
greenhouse.

14. Adding
Nitrogen
 To make a thick atmosphere like Earth, need lots of
nitrogen. Some on Mars, but probably not enough.
 • Can get more N2 from Venus or Titan. Venus closer,
but Titan easier.

15. Adding Life
• Biosphere develops with climate, from
polar/ alpine towards temperate/tropical.
• With warmth & liquid water, life can
grow.

16. Building a Biosphere
 Begin with some hardy radiation- and
coldresistant microbes.
 As lakes form, add aquatic plants – these
convert the atmosphere to oxygen. Water
provides protection from UV.
 . Rising oxygen levels cause an ozone (O3 )
layer to form, providing UV protection on
land.

17. Robot Gardeners!
 Robots will be much more advanced in
100 Years
 They can plant seeds in the best spots
and look after the plants and animals.