Why can’t humans live on mars?

Humans have always been fascinated by the idea of habitation on another planet.

Other than the fear of how the Earth might be in a few years, scientists want to figure out if human civilization can live in another place.

This has some basic requirements, which are essential for our survival. 

Which planet?

For a very long time, Mars, which is one of our closest neighbors in the solar system, seems to be a viable option.

Scientists from multiple places have raised the question and given answers on how Mars is one of the closest we have come to finding a planet where humans can sustain and live.

Yet, this hopeful idea comes with many consequences and problems.

Let’s have a deeper look at this possibility and solutions for the problems that might come up.

Can we live on Mars?

For a long time now people have been constantly pulled by this Red Planet. NASA facilitates this process by planning missions.

Some famous ones are sending humans to the red planet by 2020 and SpaceX wants to get there even sooner, with ideas to have humanity on the planet by 2024.

Other than scientists, even the world of art, movies, and pop culture is always drawn to this planet.

How often do we come across a Hollywood movie like The Martian or any other whose main focus is to reach our friendly planet neighbor and reside there?

Yet the real question remains, how will we survive long-term on the planet?

An important feature of a habitable planet is to have an atmosphere that would protect us from the harmful rays from the sun along with providing important elements that help us survive.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere of Mars is mostly carbon dioxide.

Along with this, the surface of the planet is too cold to sustain human life.

We as a species are in constant need of warmth, from making fire for heat, cooking to other important factors. Another complication is the gravity on the planet.

The planet’s gravity is a mere 38% of Earth’s.

Lastly, the atmosphere on Mars is equivalent to about 1% of the Earth’s atmosphere at sea level.

This makes survival very difficult on the surface of the planet. 

Landing Ideas

Another crucial problem is to travel to Mars.

Even though it is the closest planet to our Earth, it would still take us 260 days to reach the planet.

Let us say, we safely make the small journey to the planet.

Once we get there, the challenge becomes landing on the planet’s surface.

What type of landing system will get our astronauts and colonists safely to the surface?

Many different ideas and equipment have been put forward by scientists to help humans to be shifted safely from their current home to the other.

A focus is made on a cargo shipping kind of plan, to shift large masses of people at one time so that the trips are reduced.

Even with such intricate and well thought and debated ideas, these are barely feasible for a world with around 8 billion people.

The population seems to be growing faster than before, along with mortality being reduced significantly by the advance of technology.

Once we make it to Mars, what comes next?

NASA wants to introduce habitats that will likely have a few things in common — they have to be self-sustaining, sealed against the thin atmosphere, and capable of supporting life for extended periods without support from Earth.

These will support our life.

Yet, this futuristic comes with multiple drawbacks.

Just on top of our heads, what material do we use? What resources do we take?

How do we ensure that it maintains its longevity according to human life?

Living on Mars seems next to impossible shortly. Y

et with the exponential growth of technology, we might just be living comfortable lives on the Red Planet one day.