The document discusses the challenges and possibilities of living on Mars. It outlines the differences between Earth and Mars, including Mars having less gravity, a thinner atmosphere, and colder temperatures. It then discusses why humans may want to colonize Mars, including for survival or adventure. The document details the challenges of living on Mars like the cold, thin atmosphere, lack of water and radiation. It also provides suggestions for how colonists could address these challenges, such as using greenhouses to grow food and extracting water from the ground. The document concludes by discussing potential future plans and technologies that could help terraform Mars to support Earth life, such as using robots and adding nitrogen to thicken the atmosphere.

1. Living on Mars
Shaun Moss
shaunmoss@yahoo.com.au
Mars Society Australia
www.marssociety.org.au

2. Living on Mars
1. Earth and Mars
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

3. Earth and Mars
Radius: 12746km 6805km
Gravity: 1g 0.38g
Luna
Deimos
Phobos

4. Earth Mars
Distance from Sun 150Gm (1AU) 228Gm (1.5AU)
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 1 sol = 24h 40m
Length of year 365.25d 668.6 sols (1.88y = 687d)
Axial tilt 23.4° 25.2°
Earth and Mars
Mars receives only 43% of the sunshine that Earth does, but
has no magnetosphere or ozone layer to block radiation.

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!
Why not?

6. But why Mars?
Mars is by far our best choice
for colonisation:
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 atmo.
Water frozen solid.
High radiation.
Low gravity.
Long way from home.
No shops!

8. What will we need to
live on Mars?
Physical needs:
Water
Air
Food
Warmth
Sunshine
Clothing
Buildings
Technological needs:
Electricity
Materials
Tools
Computers &
communications
Vehicles & fuel
Robots

9. 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.

10. Air
Earth: 20% O2, 80% N2
Can make air like this
on Mars!
N2 from Mars’ atmo
O2 from:
CO2
H2O
Fe2O3, SiO2, etc.
Recycle using plants
(photosynthesis)

11. Food
Mars’ dirt is not suited for
life (yet).
Food grown in sealed
greenhouses.
Hydroponics – growing
plants without dirt.
Aquaponics – fish farming
combined with
hydroponics.
Chickens & eggs

12. Making fertile dirt
Process Mars dirt to
make it less toxic
Add some nutrients
Recycle food scraps &
manure (human, chook)
Use earthworms
(they’re also good food
for fish and chooks)

13. Clothing, etc.
Hemp – ultra-useful plant
Cloth
Canvas for shoes, bags, etc.
Rope
Lubricants, paint, plastics
Hemp oil – nutritional supplement,
skin cream
Later: cotton, synthetics
Eventually: wool & leather

14. Buildings
Low grav & thin air means less
material.
Biggest problem – radiation.
Surface structures – pile dirt
on the roof.
Underground – protection from
radiation, and easier to keep
warm (but need big machines
to dig).
Domes – Glass or plastic,
maybe inflatable.

15. Materials
Iron & steel
Need for many things:
buildings, tools, kitchen items,
furniture, vehicles, robots, etc.
Mars is covered in iron! (rust)
Make steel using carbon from
atmo.
Many other metals available
on Mars.
Can also make bricks,
concrete, glass and plastics
from local resources.

16. Electricity
Nuclear: problematic on
Earth, even worse on Mars.
Also, would have to find
uranium.
Solar: possible, but less
sunlight on Mars.
Wind! Lots of wind on Mars;
the air is thin, but high-
speed.

17. Vehicles & Fuel
What sort of vehicles?
Pressurized rovers
ATVs (quad bikes)
Gliders, planes,
balloons
Rockets, spaceships
Walking rovers
Good fuel: methane (CH4) & oxygen (O2) – easy
to make from Mars atmo and water.

18. Robots
Will play a big part in
colonising Mars.
Digging, mining,
construction, exploration,
transportation.
Electronics from Earth.
Bodies could be imported
from Earth, or made on Mars
from steel and other metals.
Software – Earth or Mars.

19. What will we need to
bring from Earth?
Life support equipment
Electronics, computers &
communications gear
Robots, machinery, motors,
tools
Solar panels, windmills
Seeds, animals
Cooking equipment
Games, books, musical
instruments

20. Health & Fitness
Low gravity means loss of
bone and muscle.
Need lots of strength training.
High radiation increases risk
of cancer & genetic mutation.
Stay inside during solar flares.
Air, food & water probably
better than Earth!
Build parks to play in, and to
provide sunshine (artificial or
real)

21. Sport on Mars!
Rock-climbing,
abseiling
Hang-gliding
Rover racing
Gliding,
ballooning
Flying with wings!
Snow sports

22. Terraforming
Making Mars’ environment hospitable to
organisms from Earth.

23. 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
atmo and causing more
warming – a runaway
greenhouse.

24. 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.
Venus:
96.5% CO2
3.5% N2
Titan:
98.4% N2
1.6% CH4

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

26. Building a Biosphere
1. Begin with some hardy radiation- and cold-
resistant microbes.
2. As lakes form, add aquatic plants – these
convert the atmo to oxygen. Water provides
protection from UV.
3. Aquatic animals.
4. Rising oxygen levels cause an ozone (O3)
layer to form, providing UV protection on land.
5. Plants on land, then animals.
6. Eventually humans can walk around on Mars
without a spacesuit.

27. 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.

28. Who’s making plans?
Mars Society – analog studies, research,
promoting manned Mars missions
(www.marssociety.org.au)
Mars Homestead – designing a future Mars
settlement. (www.marshome.org)
4 Frontiers – company planning to build Mars
settlement. (www.4frontierscorp.com)
Red Colony – open source plan for colonising
and terraforming Mars. (www.redcolony.com)

29. Do you want to go to Mars?
You will need:
Skills, education, and/or experience.
Some scientific knowledge.
Good health & fitness.
Good people skills.
A range of interests.
Good things to study:
Engineering, science, technology,
medicine
IT, electronics, mathematics, robotics
Metalworking trades, mechanics
Music, writing, film-making

30. Questions?
Email questions to: shaunmoss@yahoo.com.au