OK, say we have spent the money, gathered the
equipment, launched a shuttle, and just arrived at Mars. Can we actually
colonize and live there? I have done a little research on why Earth is so much
more habitable compared to Mars, and what problems we may face while living on
Mars. Earth is in the habitable zone, which is the zone where life can be
replicated and sustained. Mars hovers just outside of that zone. That is the
first problem we encounter. Since Mars is just beyond that zone and further
away from the Sun than Earth, it is going to be colder there. A summer day on
Mars is just at or around -60 degrees Celsius, even near the equator Mars can
get just around 0 degrees Celsius. Also, Mars' atmosphere is 95% carbon
dioxide, .13% oxygen, and the rest is nitrogen, argon, and so on. The
atmosphere on Mars is not breathable for humans, and the task at hand would be
to make it breathable. For one, the atmosphere of Mars is in fact too thin to
hold oxygen; it just escapes through the atmosphere out into space. Astronauts
would have to come up with a creative way to capture the oxygen in holding
areas throughout the colony. Another problem we would encounter is storms. The
average thunderstorm on Earth can ravage the lands for less than a half hour.
The longest storm ever recorded on Earth was, Hurricane Ciriaco that lasted for
28 days. The highest winds ever recorded on Earth were, 231 miles per hour.
This occurs on the regular basis on Mars, winds of several hundreds of miles
per hour, storms that last months on end, dust storms that throw up particles
that can destroy our equipment, freezing cold temperatures, and dense fog. This
is a very hostile place to live. Atmospheres play a large part in sustaining life
on a planet. Earth's atmosphere plays many roles in our protection against
objects from outer space. Usually when something enters in Earth's atmosphere,
it breaks up and does not even hit the ground. On Mars that is not the case at
all. Since Mars' atmosphere is thinner than Earth's, objects don't break up as
easily and comes crashing down with deadly force into Mars' surface. This can
pose a great threat to survival on the red planet. This does not occur
frequently but the most recent object that posed a threat to Mars was November
of 2007, where an asteroid seemed to be on course toward Mars, which was a very
good chance of hitting the planet by a ratio of 1 and 25. That was ruled out in
January of 2008 by a ratio of a 1 and 10,000 chance. The last time anything was discovered that
could pose a threat to Earth was 2005. That is not due to arrive until 2020,
and the chances then are still small. I also believe that since Mars is closer
to the asteroid belt it has a greater chance of getting struck by an object.
Let's just say two asteroids smash into each other in the asteroid belt. Out of
all of the items hurtling towards the inner planets, Mars would have a higher
probability of getting hit compared to Earth. In summary, if two objects were
on course, one to Mars and one to Earth, of the same size, density, material,
speed, and velocity, were to strike both planets, Mars would take a bigger hit
I believe. Only because the one hitting mars isn't getting broken up as much
due to friction in the atmosphere compared to the one hitting Earth. There are
a lot more factors that probably set in, that is just my opinion. Finally, I
found something interesting about Mars' magnetic field. Mars used to have a
magnetic field just like Earth, but millions of years of bombardment by meteors
and asteroids, caused the field to weaken to just remnants of a magnetic field.
Mars has bands of remaining magnetic field that does little to no good at
protecting the planet. The Sun's radiation, over millions of years, hit the surface
of Mars continuously. Without Mars having a magnetic field it was left as baron
as we see it today. When we try to colonize there we would be subject to
radiation from the Sun, until we come up with a way to block it out. Living on
Mars can cause problems for human health. Since Mars has 38% less gravity than
that of the Earth, which we are not used to, this can cause bone deterioration,
certain muscles will be used less, and we will have less need for blood
circulation. All of this causes a wide variety of bone, heart, and muscle
illnesses. These factors makes returning to Earth close to or near impossible
for astronauts with long extended trips to Mars. Facilities that simulate the
Earth’s gravity have to be very abundant on Mars when we colonize. Moving to
Mars, now that I know this information, is going to be a very difficult task. I
am still unsure if I am for or against traveling and colonizing there.
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Bibliography
Works Cited
Coffey, Jerry. Mars Magnetic Field. 10th June 2008.
22nd October 2012.
Moen, Marianne. Can we live on Mars? Ed. Tormog
Guldvog. 2003. 22nd October 2012.
Parker, Randall. Future Pundit. 16th Febuary 2003.
22nd October 2012.
Wikipedia. The Climate of Mars. 19th October 2012.
22nd October 2012.
http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/000968.html
This link breaks down what would happen to humans in
an area of lower gravity than we are used to. It explains what happens to our
bones, muscles, and veins and it also talks about creating buildings that
simulate the Earth's gravity. This site also has extra information that I
didn't have any use for that you can look at.
http://www.universetoday.com/14949/mars-magnetic-field/
This link talks about how Mars had a magnetic field
millions of years ago. Then it explains how the remnants of the magnetic field
don't protect the planet at all.
http://www.spacecentre.no/English/The_Universe/Mars/Can_we_live_on_Mars+/
This source explains how it is hard to adapt and
live on Mars. It talks about the climate and temperature, then explains that
Mars is poorly suited for human habitability.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Mars
This site gives more information on the climate of
Mars and gives information on the Atmosphere makeup as well.
I would use all of the sources in an actual research
paper because each site has given credibility to each source they have used. In
addition, each reference I have used as a source of information, has its own
references as well. That seems to me to be very credible, which is why I would
use them in a research paper.
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