NASA Studies Colonization on Mars

This research paper is written to explore NASA in depth. This paper has some important description of Mars. The paper focusing on a future Manned mission which will be held in future toward Mars. This paper also trying to explain about some obstacles that may be faced during mission toward mars, like challenges to astronauts while building spacecraft, managing supplies, and shelter in space. The paper also has little bit comparison of Earth with Mars which help you to understand about colonization in Mars. The description of Orion spacecraft is also discussed in the paper and how it will help scientists to explore Mars in future.

NASA trying to learn about mars more in coming years. NASA used spacecraft and robots to learn about Mars. The Mariner 4 was spacecraft which flew near to mars and gives close pictures of Mars to NASA. Later in 1976 Viking 1 and 2 were successful landed to collect science of Mars. Today NASA have three spacecraft which are orbiting around Mars, to get to know more about mars, the spacecraft are helping in giving daily images, climate changes, topography and about minerals on Mars. The scientist is still in search to find water with helping rocks on the surface of Mars. NASA has a lot of plans to study more about Mars for that NASA planning more robots to send on Mars. Right now there is one orbiter name MAVEN which started its orbits of Mars in September 2014. NASA also planned to launch rovers to be launched in 2020. NASA has big plans to send astronauts to Mars, but with they also trying to find a good home for human where they can stay.

Attempting manned mission on Mars is recent scientific topic. Even before Mars manned missions on Moons were attempted successfully but they were in shorter in duration. The huge distance between Mars and Earth is kind of question revolves around manned mission on Mars. The mission on Mars undoubtedly will we more difficult. Nobody has clue about what psychological and physiological problem will be standing during this research. The leadership one of the most important things needed in this mission with crew understanding with each other. Finding life on Mars is one main research is going in the scientific world. Mars is the main focus of scientists, most of the scientific studies are trying to find how human colonization possible in mars. “Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and the next planet beyond Earth. It is, on average, more than 142 million miles from the sun.”). The Mars is also named as the red planet and, it’s red color because of iron oxide in its soil. Mars climate is around -80 F which is too cold. Mars surface is rocky with canyons, volcanos, dry lake beds. The mars are around 133,404,119 approx miles away from the sun, sunlight takes 11.935660 mins to travel from the sun to mars. Mars completes its year in 687 days.

Before assuming or finding biomarkers of life on Mars it’s important that we must understand about Mars today, and why Mars is not suitable for human habitat. While reading on various sources and websites I found that climate is one of the main reason that Mars can’t afford human life. Mars temperature goes to -100 F, we can’t handle Albany’s -10 temperature How we will exist in Mars temperature. If we talk about life on another planet only two According to scientific studies after Earth-Mars is the most habitable planet in solar system. There are few major signs that prove life on MARS is possible like:- The soil of Mars contains water to extract Mars climate is suitable because it’s not that cold or hot. Mars is neighbor of earth and sunlight on Mars is enough to settle solar panels over there. The gravitational force on Mars is less than Earth, but its force is suitable for humans.

The planning to establish manned mission is started with building spaceship name Orion in Kennedy Space Center Florida. Orion spacecraft is I developing for deep space. The Orion is specially designed to travel human far as far possible in space. After Apollo mission of the 1960s, the Orion will be the second milestone to go such deep in space. According to NASA, the Orion will open the gate for humans in mars. Orion is well tested in the 2020s, in which astronauts explore an asteroid. The asteroid mission will test all recently discovered technologies The mission toward Mars is complex for which the area around Moon which known as cis-lunar space. The cis-Lunar space is rich in an environment which will help astronauts like Solar Electric Propulsion. These all tests of new technologies may also help NASA to understand sending heavy cargo to Mars in advance of the human mission. As expected that Orion mission to an asteroid may help in collecting some amazing samples of the asteroid, it may test all important tools to develop new techniques which will be used in future for a manned mission on Mars.

The Orion also in the test for checking his endurance in high-speed return from space. The heat shield also will one main thing under testing, the astronaut will see does this shield can handle near 4000 degrees F. So basically Orion test human exploration needs like advance spacewalking suits, navigation with gravity, and protection from radiation and extreme temperatures. The others will be under test like does Orion’s computer can handle radiation environment near Van Allen Belt. Orion’s 11 parachutes will under tests too, As compare to Earth, Mars has winds like Earth. Mars gravitational force is almost half from earth. For example “A rock dropped on Mars would fall more slowly than a rock falls on Earth. A person who weighs 100 pounds on Earth would only weigh about 37 pounds on Mars because of the reduced gravity.” Mars atmosphere is thinner from earth because mars contain more 95 percent of carbon dioxide and less 1 percent oxygen.

Long-term missions need to have a controlled ecological life-support system (CELSS) to replenish oxygen, fix carbon dioxide, purify water via transpiration, recover water for storage and distribution, and produce foods and edible biomass for a vegetarian diet. Also, a regenerative process will regenerate waste products to make renewable resources for people’s habitat (Mitchell 1994). From CELSS, people can control pressure, temperature, humidity, and ventilation. They can manage wastes such as metabolic, solid, liquid, and gaseous, as well as detect and suppress fires. This system is very important in order to provide basic and continuous life-support requirements which use plants as a central source of recycling components (SS N.d.) There are some obstacles NASA facing while the manned mission to mars the first they still working on spacecraft that will safely get crew to Mars. Moreover, scientists have expectations to make a capsule which will be safe and good for long journeys in space.

Another then capsule scientists to make a rocket that will be pushed in such a way towards space that will be helpful in shortening the journey. But one main obstacle for NASA is USA government which interfering in researchers like during Barack Obama presidency NASA was told to work on Mars, but on another hand, Donald Trump told NASA to work more on Moon for colonization in Moon. Maybe this confusion making NASA work more hard. And these confusions splits attention of scientists between two objectives, and which affecting the Mars mission of 2030 if this will continue maybe date will be extended. Right now NASA main purpose to search and found best route map toward NASA which will be safe and short to get humans to MARS. Moreover, NASA had some budgets problem too because of too many researches going on same which also a barrier for 2030 Mars plan. Moving toward more challenges that may stand between manned missions, the important issue among them is launching such big mass of the spacecraft into space. The journey to Mars is long and hard, it is obvious that astronauts need food and various other important supplies for daily use like water, fuel onboard along with them toward Mars.

The weight of supplies are the kind issue which will bad and it will affect the efficiency of launch. According to physics, it is difficult it is difficult for spacecraft to take off and get rid of the gravitational force of earth while traveling to space. “We know that astronauts traveling to Mars would not be able to stay for a couple days or weeks like the Apollo space mission. Rather, the Martian astronauts will need to remain in space at least one to three years during the mission” (statement by NASA in 2012). The statement by NASA directly indicating that to spend that much time which is more than a year in space is difficult, and to make that easy for astronauts the shelter need to be made in space that may safe for them, and those shelters protect scientists from rays from the sun. If we spend more than nine months in space, we have to build a shelter which can protect the astronauts from being exposed to radiation risk from the Sun. Adding all these stuff together good cement shelter, supplies of food and water, the extra fuel needed in space is equal tons of weight which may a risk for rocket at launching pad. “to make this happen NASA said they have to make sixty launches for their supplies to be on Mars. It takes a long time and costs a lot of money” ( by NASA).

On the other hand, technologies also have limitations for long-duration missions that people are trying to resolve. First, growing plants on Mars in the greenhouse for photosynthesis to generate oxygen and water does not cost too much, but the greatest cost is lighting and air conditioning for the whole system to work. We need to solve the problem of how to get extra energy to utilize for this activity (NASA N.d.c). Second, the solar cells have their own limitation in the hybrid system. Mars will drift away from the Sun on its orbit every year. There will not be enough sunlight coming down on Mars in the future, and the efficiency to produce energy will reduce (JPLCIT N.d.). Another facet is the solar arrays will be covered by dust over time. Then we need to periodically maintain them and clean off the dust (James and others 1998). SpaceX PALNS FOR MARS SpaceX plans to launch the first cargo Mission to Mars in 2022. The SpaceX has a dream to send humans to space. And that may become true in 2024 of nothing goes bad for the agency. The SpaceX is a first private company to reach the ISS in 2012 with Falcon 9. SpaceX had made an important and such strong name in the astronomical field with Falcon 9, carrying Dragon Capsule, cargos load, forming ISS. 

Cite this page