5 Reasons Going To Mars is a TERRIBLE Idea | Answers With Joe
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Published 2017-11-06
With both SpaceX and NASA ramping up plans to go to Mars, maybe it's time to consider the other side of the discussion - that traveling to Mars might be a terrible idea.
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LINKS LINKS LINKS
www.engadget.com/amp/2017/10/27/getting-to-and-liv…
Astronaut Cardiovascular disease study
www.nature.com/articles/srep29901
www.theverge.com/2017/10/28/16549898/scott-kelly-p…
discovermagazine.com/2010/oct/20-life-under-the-bu…
www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/9/30/13099898/…
news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/mars-journey-n…
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Issue number one: Radiation.
Outside our protective magnetic sphere, space is a shooting gallery of solar radiation and cosmic rays that would wreak havoc on our bodies to a level that right now we can only speculate.
And then there’s the 18 months you would spend on Mars, which doesn’t have a magnetosphere and a very thin atmosphere.
Humans have never been exposed to this type of radiation for this long. It’s a problem we’ve never dealt with before, and it’s going to be a huge challenge to overcome.
Number two: Extremely low air pressure.
The Martian atmosphere has only 1% of the air pressure of Earth.
Walking outside on Mars is not that much different from walking on the moon, from a life support systems perspective.
The thin atmosphere is also a nightmare for landing on Mars.
That’s why smaller rovers like Spirit and Opportunity used bizarre air bag systems to land and Curiosity, which was much heavier, had to use a combination of parachutes, thrusters, and a cable system to get there safely.
So SpaceX’s vertical propulsive landing option is probably best for Mars, but this is something that’s never been done up to this point, so it’s hard to know what challenges there are in attempting this with the thinner atmosphere and lower gravity.
Number 3: Perchlorates in the soil
In the Biosphere 2 project, they grew their own food and struggled to have enough for everyone to eat. When they emerged at the end, many were malnourished and emaciated.
In 2008, the Mars Phoenix lander found significant quantities of perchlorate in the Martian soil.
Perchlorates are salt compounds that are often used in rocket propellants and they’re extremely harmful for humans.
They interrupt the thyroid gland and prevent the body from absorbing iodine, which leads to aplastic anemia.
That’s when your bone marrow can’t make new red blood cells. Red blood cells are what carry oxygen through the body. Minor problem.
Or, if aplastic anemia isn’t your thing, you might get agranulocytosis, which prevents your body from making white blood cells.
Chris McKay at the Ames Research Center said that if your backyard had this much perchlorate in the soil, it would be considered a superfund site.
Basically Mars is a giant toxic waste dump.
Number 4: The gravity problem
Mars is smaller than Earth, with gravity only 38% of that you’re used to here. An average 150 pound person on Earth would weigh only 57 pounds on Mars.
We do have some idea of what to expect from long-term zero gravity thanks to astronauts like Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, who just this year completed a year-long space mission.
Although the record was set in 1995 by Valery Polyakov, who flew on the Mir space station for 437 days.
And last but not least, number 5: The Contamination Problem
We’ve talked in videos about the Fermi Paradox and the Drake Equation in the search for intelligent life in the universe.
Because if life could form twice in one solar system, the potential for life in other solar systems, and intelligent life, becomes very significant.
So one of the biggest problems when it comes to traveling to Mars is that we’re not just bringing ourselves… We’re bringing our microbes.
The second we land on Mars, we have contaminated it.
All Comments (21)
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Two things about Bioshpere. 1 - The duffel bag was filled with all sorts of goodies from the outside world. 2 - Joe didn't mention that the place also became infested with cockroaches.
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let's go to Sun! We will land at night to avoid getting burned.
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Venus. Another superfund site. Pros: Gravity. Cons: Yes.
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Easy solution: Send Flat Earthers first, as test subjects.
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Short version: we learned a TON from this experiment, which is what experiments are for.
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Send old people like me. I'm 69 and still healthy and no stranger to hardship. If I live one month on Mars I'll die amazed!
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He failed to mention that Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids, in fact it's cold as hell.
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the Biosphere project actually was a success in finding out what could go wrong despite the extra things that were brought in and the separation mentality or division of the people that would occur after spending so much time together in this environment
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People are getting cabin fever with just a couple of months of quarantine, and BioSphere was far larger than most homes.
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You and I may not want to be on that first trip to Mars, but the beautiful thing about living on a planet with 7 billion people is that you’ll always find someone crazy enough.
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As it turns out, Biosphere Two's oxygen depletion problem was caused by the concrete not being able to cure correctly. An oversight like that on Mars would be DEADLY!
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I live in Tucson, and I’m glad to hear someone actually talk about the failures of Biosphere 2.
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Mars makes Death Valley look like a tropical paradise.
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I went to Holland for a week with my friends..we came back hating each other..never mind Mars.
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I appreciate how cynical he looks while he filmed himself sitting there in silence for the bit with Counter Argument Joe
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THANK YOU for the reality that most people don’t realize
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It will be a great reality show to watch, but with no second season.
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The biosphere project wasn't a failure at all, it showed us how hard it is to set something like that up.
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It was a great experiment though humans need to learn the surprises and their own limitations...experiments help with gaining that knowledge.
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Anyone ever think about the extreme boredom one would experience once things are set up on mars assuming we overcome the initial hurtles like getting a preliminary sustainable base set up? You won't have internet or outdoor recreation and like he said we will only see the same small group of people for the rest of our lives. You will have at that point met all the people you will ever meet in your life assuming it's a one way mission.
