The Case For Colonising Mars

Yesterday I made a case for colonising the moon. In short I said that the moon's proximity to earth, along with its resources made it an excellent candidate for colonisation.

However the moon isn't completely ideal, and perhaps there is some merit in trying to get to Mars straightaway. So let us take a look together, and see if we can make a case for colonising Mars first.

Planet Organic

This is the first and most obvious advantage that Mars has over the moon. It is a planet just like earth, meaning it is much bigger than the moon and has potential planet-like resources buried under ground.

Also Mars has an atmosphere, granted it's not one that humans could survive in without breathing equipment. However the atmosphere is made primarily from carbon dioxide, which would be great for any plants we introduce to the planet.

Cultivation Motivation

As just mentioned above, CO2 atmosphere would be very good for plants. Sure we could plant stuff on the moon, as I pointed out yesterday, and we would probably be able to eat what we planted. However because of a lack of moon atmosphere and solar winds spreading sticky dust all over the place, we would need to plant them in specially adapted greenhouses.

On Mars we could start planting outside, from day one. Meaning that we would potentially introducing lots of lovely new oxygen into the Martian ecology.

Fuel Burn

Whilst there is an abundance of Helium-3 on the moon, which could theoretically be used for fuel. Extracting and utilising it is not that straight forward and fairly energy expensive.

Whereas the carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Martian atmosphere, mixed with water (H20) also found on Mars, can be mixed together to create methane (NH4).

Natural Habitats

Even though the Martian atmosphere is thin, it still exists, meaning that there is still a pressure differential on the planet.

This pressure helps to keep certain things stable, such as buildings. Plus on Mars we would be able to live above ground in habitats much the way we live on Earth. This is because the Martian atmosphere, thin though it is, does provide some protection from the harmful rays of the sun.

On the moon we would all have to live in either caves, or create some super hardcore shielding to protect us from frying.

Water Abundance

As far as we're concerned, nothing can survive without water. Even plants and animals that can store water for up to months at a time, within their own structure, still need water.

Whilst there is water on the moon, it has been estimated that it is available at a ratio of around one part in ten million.

Which is an extremely tiny percentage of water, in fact it is drier than the driest dessert (Atticama) on earth by some way. Whereas it has been estimated that some regions of Mars have around 60% water content.

Long Term Planning

Of course Mars would be a long-term solution, whereas the moon would only ever be a jumping off point, and/or scientific station, or launch pad, or all of these things. However it is unlikely without hitherto undiscovered technology, that humans will ever live on the moon.

So rather than waste time trying to colonise the moon, let's use it for what it's good for and get on with the business of making Mars great again!

Resources

Whilst we may not get any Helium-3 from Mars, there is plenty of water, and of course minerals that we can exploit. In addition, Mars is that much closer to the asteroid belt, therefore the prospect of mining asteroids and bringing their booty back to Mars is a lot more viable than mining from Earth.

Day/Night

The moon's day night cycle happens over 28 days, so that's 14 (earth) days of night and 14 days where the sun is shining.

Forgetting for the moment that our natural biorhythms would be completely out of wack, the temperature difference is problematic to say the least. The daytime temperatures are around 100 Celsius (230 Fahrenheit) and minus 170 degrees at night.

Because of the lack of a discernible atmosphere on the moon, heat is not dissipated efficiently. Meaning that even though there is two weeks of boiling hot sun shining down on half of it. The heat does not spread to the night side.

Mars on the other hand does have an atmosphere, and the molecules within it help spread heat around the planet.

Plus on Mars we would have a much more favourable 28 hour day, though a Martian year (687 days) is almost twice as long (1.88) as a year on earth.

Conclusion

Weighing up the pros and cons, some of which we've covered in these past two articles, it would seem that Mars is the better option.

However we shouldn't forget the moon altogether, and whilst colonising it may prove to be futile. We should definitely have some kind of outpost on it.

Who knows? Maybe one day it will be the moon-based laser that pushes your sail-ship to Mars in just a few weeks.

Sources

Nasa is working out how to create rocket fuel on Mars - Wired

Is it better to live on the moon or on Mars? A scientific investigation - Quartz

Further Reading

Luna, The Jilted Wife: Leaving The Moon For Mars

The Case For Colonising The Moon

WHAT ABOUT YOU? ARE YOU EXCITED AT THE PROSPECT OF US COLONISING MARS? CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE SUCH A THING IN YOUR LIFETIME? WOULD YOU EVER VISIT MARS? WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO CONVINCE YOU IT WAS SAFE?

AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!

Title image Creative Commons Licence on Pixabay

Cryptogee