Are there minerals on Mars? How is NASA going to mine minerals on Mars? Colonization of Mars in fiction

Colonization of Mars

Colonization of Mars- creation of human settlements on the planet Mars.

An important step for the future of humanity. Mars is the focus of both speculation and serious research into possible colonies.

Mars is the planet to which travel from Earth requires the least energy expenditure, with the exception of Venus. Travel in the most economical semi-elliptical orbit requires about 9 months of flight time; With an increase in initial speed, the flight time quickly decreases, since the length of the trajectory also decreases.

Similarity to Earth

Differences

Ease of learning

Without protective equipment, a person will not be able to survive on the surface of Mars for even a few minutes. However, compared to the conditions on hot Mercury and Venus, the cold outer planets and the atmosphereless Moon and asteroids, the conditions on Mars are much more suitable for exploration. There are places on Earth, explored by man, in which the natural conditions are in many ways similar to those on Mars. Atmospheric pressure at an altitude of 34,668 meters - the record high point reached by a balloon with a crew on board (May) - approximately corresponds to the pressure on the surface of Mars. The extremely low temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctica are comparable to even the coldest temperatures on Mars. There are also deserts on Earth, similar in appearance to the Martian landscape.

Main difficulties

The main dangers that await astronauts during their flight to Mars and while on the planet are the following:

• high level of cosmic radiation;
• strong seasonal and daily temperature fluctuations;
• meteorite hazard;
• low atmospheric pressure.

Possible physiological problems for the crew while on Mars will be the following:

• stress;
• adaptation to Martian gravity;
• orthostatic instability after landing on the planet;
• disturbances in the functioning of sensory systems;
• sleep disorders;
• decreased performance;
• metabolic changes;
• negative effects from exposure to cosmic radiation.

Ways to terraform Mars

Main tasks

Methods

It should be noted that the last two of the above methods require thorough calculations aimed at studying such effects on the planet, its orbit, rotation speed and much more.

But the most serious problem on the path to colonizing Mars is the lack magnetic field, protecting from solar radiation. For a full-fledged life on Mars, a magnetic field is indispensable.

Radiation

Mars One

The Dutch company Mars One plans to send humans to Mars in 2023. This will be the first step towards its colonization. According to the plan, the first to go to the Red Planet will be four people who will never return to Earth. Then, every two years, four new members of the nascent colony will arrive on Mars. According to preliminary estimates, sending the first colonizers to Mars will cost $6 billion. To recoup the costs, Mars One intends to attract television, showing the entire process, the entire procedure for preparing the first and subsequent crews live. “It will be an enchanting spectacle, against the background of which “Big Brother” will seem only a pale shadow. The whole world will watch and experience this trip,” The Huffington Post quotes Nobel Prize winner in physics Gerard Hooft as saying.

Despite the fact that the company announced its plans only recently, they have been incubated since last year. “This project is almost the only way to realize humanity’s dream in space exploration. It will be an exciting experiment. Let's get started,” Hooft urges. As part of the Mars One project, it plans to launch a communications satellite to Mars in 2016, and send a rover there two years later. He will find suitable places for a colony. By 2020, everything necessary for life support will be delivered to the Red Planet, and in another three years people will catch up.

Centennial spaceship

"The Centennial Spaceship" Hundred-Year Starship) - a project to permanently send people to Mars with the aim of colonizing the planet. The project has been developed since 2010 by the Ames Research Center, one of NASA's main scientific laboratories. The main idea of ​​the project is to send people to Mars permanently. This will lead to a significant reduction in the cost of the flight, and it will be possible to take on more cargo and crew. Further flights will deliver new colonists and replenish their supplies.

Connection with the Earth

The delay of signals from Mars to Earth, due to the finite speed of light, is calculated in minutes. The light signal will travel from Mars to Earth from 3 to 22 minutes, depending on the location of Mars and Earth at the time the signal is given. However, the use of electromagnetic waves (including light) does not make it possible to maintain communication with the Earth directly (without a relay satellite) when the planets are in opposite points of their orbits relative to the Sun.

Possible locations for founding colonies

The best places for a colony gravitate towards the equator and lowlands. First of all this:

If terraformed, the first open body of water will appear in Valles Marineris.

Colony (Forecast)

Although the design of Martian colonies has not yet gone beyond sketches, due to considerations of proximity to the equator and high atmospheric pressure they are usually planned to be founded in different places in the Valles Marineris. No matter what heights space transport reaches in the future, the laws of conservation of mechanics determine the high cost of delivering cargo between Earth and Mars, and limit the periods of flights by tying them to planetary oppositions. The high cost of delivery and 26-month interflight periods determine the requirements: 1) Guaranteed three-year self-sufficiency of the colony (additional 10 months for the flight and production of the order). It can only be accomplished by accumulating structures and materials on the territory of the future colony before the initial arrival of people. 2) Production in the colony of basic construction and consumable materials from local resources. This means the need to create cement, brick, concrete products, air and water production, as well as the development of ferrous metallurgy, metalworking and greenhouses. Saving food will require vegetarianism. The likely absence of coking materials on Mars will require the direct reduction of iron oxides by electrolytic hydrogen - and, accordingly, the production of hydrogen. Dust storms can make solar energy impossible for months, which, in the absence of natural fuels and oxidizers, makes nuclear energy the only reliable one on Mars. Large-scale production of hydrogen and five times the content of deuterium in the ice of Mars compared to those on Earth will lead to the cheapness of heavy water, which, when mining uranium on Mars, will make heavy-water nuclear reactors the most efficient and cost-effective. 3) High scientific or economic productivity of the colony. The similarity of Mars to Earth determines the great value of Mars for geology, and, if there is life, for biology. The economic profitability of a colony is possible only when large rich deposits of gold, platinum group metals or precious stones are discovered.

Criticism

In addition to the main arguments criticizing the idea of ​​human colonization of space (see), there are also objections specific to Mars:

See also

Notes

Links

Filmography

• "Residence - Mars" Living on Mars) is a popular science film produced by National Geographic in 2009.

Colonization solar system
Space like habitat
Resources and energy

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

If we want to establish long-term colonies on Mars, we need to learn how to live on it autonomously.

Ambitious expeditions always aim to maintain self-sufficiency, and this intention becomes especially relevant when it comes to traveling to another planet. Active supply from Earth would be incredibly costly, so to successfully colonize the Red Planet it is critical that we explore and exploit its own resources.

Mars Resources

Mars may be dry and cold, but it has plenty of valuable resources that astronauts can mine and use for their settlements. For example, they can generate oxygen and rocket fuel by extracting raw materials from the planet's thin, carbon dioxide-filled atmosphere. And the water necessary for life is obtained from the soil under our feet.

"We know that Martian soil contains water," says Robert Zubrin, president and founder of the nonprofit Mars Society. “Even at the equator, water makes up 5 percent of its weight; in the Arctic regions it is 60 percent. And we have already developed a technology that allows us to extract water from the ground and make it suitable for consumption.”

This water, along with large amounts of carbon dioxide on Mars, will allow plants to be grown for food and to make some necessary items, such as clothing.

Oxides of iron and silicon are also quite common on Mars, so settlers will be able to make iron, steel and glass. The availability of water and CO2 will allow colonists to create some plastics.

"Human civilization on Earth was built on iron, steel and natural fibers until the 20th century," Zubrin says. "We can do the same on Mars."

Complex products, such as computer chips, will have to be imported from Earth for a long time, but most such items will be lightweight - which will significantly reduce the weight and therefore the cost of such cargo missions.

Energy for a new society

Life on Mars will require significant amounts of energy. While solar panels and radioisotope thermoelectric generators can power NASA rovers on the planet's surface, human settlements will require different strategies.

NASA is currently exploring several possible options, including more efficient fuel cells and improved batteries. Such technologies will help support the first steps of colonists on the Red Planet, but a long-term society on Mars will require more powerful energy sources. And, according to Robert Zubrin, such a source can be found underground.

Some Martian volcanoes last erupted just a few hundred million years ago, and orbiters have discovered traces of underground water that can only exist on the cold planet in the presence of an internal underground heat source.

All this suggests that under the surface of the planet you can find sources of geothermal energy, which, by the way, is the fourth most important source here on Earth, after fossil fuels, nuclear and hydroelectric energy. To gain access to it, it is necessary to drill through the planet's crust, which could also potentially provide access to liquid water. Nuclear energy can be used for this initial drilling.

On the way to self-sufficiency

In the long term, Martian colonies must find a way to support themselves financially and pay for the goods imported to the planet themselves. Settlers can mine and send gold and other valuable metals to Earth, but transporting such heavy materials is extremely expensive. It is most likely that the main export item of the Martian colonies will be intellectual property.

Living conditions on Mars will be an extremely powerful stimulator for innovation, just as it was during the conquest of various frontiers on Earth.

“Typically, you're faced with severe labor shortages and incredibly challenging environments, and so you're forced to invent new methods and technologies,” Zubrin says. “This is the reason why the culture of invention flourished in America in the 18th, 19th and even 20th centuries.”

The most promising areas for innovation on Mars will be robotics and agriculture. And if native life forms are ever found on the planet, their genomes will be incredibly valuable, both scientifically and financially.

Next stop: Mars

Landing on Mars is a major goal of NASA's spaceflight program, and the space agency isn't the only organization dreaming of setting foot on the Red Planet.

The Dutch non-profit Mars One program aims to land four humans on the planet in 2023 as the vanguard of a future permanent settlement. She estimates the initial mission will cost about $6 billion, and the association plans to organize a global media event around the mission to help pay for those costs.

Also, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, founder of the private space company SpaceX, announced last year his intention to help organize a Mars colony for 80 thousand people.

In general, the idea of ​​colonizing the Red Planet has already matured and is in the air. And sooner or later, it will definitely begin.

Colonization of other worlds- an indispensable attribute of any science fiction novel with a space theme. This is understandable, because a purely altruistic desire to understand the unknown will never justify the costs that space travel will require. Sooner or later the question arises about the practical application of the results of all research. And now the time has come when science can contrast the theories of science fiction with real projects for the colonization of another planet.

Elon Musk, his space expansion and the colonization of Mars - The Night Air

Prerequisites for the colonization of Mars

Mars is the best choice for a number of reasons:

• Relative. At current ship speeds, the flight will take less than a year.
• Conditions similar to our planet: almost the same length of day, axial tilt, due to which the seasons change, land area almost equal to the earth's. Even the soil on Mars is in many ways reminiscent of the soil on Earth, which gives hope that the Earth's flora will adapt to its conditions.
• Presence of atmosphere. Despite its rarefied nature, it still serves as some protection from solar radiation.
• Existence of water on Mars confirmed, which facilitates the life support of a potential colony.

However, there are also pitfalls. Firstly, these are the sharp temperature changes characteristic of the red planet, and in general this world is much colder than Earth. We should not forget about the difference in gravity, which, if people constantly stay there, can cause health problems, and in the future, in combination with increased level radiation - lead to various mutations. Low atmospheric pressure and the very composition of the atmosphere are also factors that complicate the process of settling Mars.

Colonizers of the red planet

Space colonization, when will the colonization of Mars begin?

Terraforming - what will it take?

Due to the above reasons, organizing a colony on Mars will require so-called terraforming, that is, bringing its conditions closer to more suitable for earthlings.

First of all, this concerns the atmosphere, with the transformation of which the climate on the planet will change in a warmer direction and reservoirs will appear. Areas adjacent to the equator are most likely to be suitable for habitation. However, what looks so optimistic in theory does not promise to be easy to implement in practice. The fact is that some projects that promise to turn Mars almost into a beach paradise in the shortest possible time are a utopia and threaten to upset the natural balance to the point of global catastrophe.

Much more realistic is the plan to gradually, over many decades, form a new atmosphere, gradually supplying frozen nitrogen to Mars, which will be mined in the solar system.

The possibility of sending cometary material, consisting mainly of water, to the surface of the planet, which would be released into the atmosphere as steam, is also being considered. Ideas are also being put forward on how to adjust the orbit and axial tilt of Mars to ensure more stable climatic conditions.

But such large-scale work is still only a theory, while the colonization project developed by the Dutch company “Mars One” is designed for the foreseeable future, and in accordance with it, the first colonists should go to the red planet in 2023.

The first people on Mars - part 1 PlanetBase

What kind of difficulties await potential colonists?

Problems can be divided into 3 groups:

1. Technical;

The first generations of colonists will especially depend heavily on the reliability of all systems and installations, because equipment malfunction in an alien world poorly adapted for life is not just a nuisance, but a serious threat to life. The existing project is based on the installation of solar panels as the main source of energy, but there must be additional sources of energy, because in winter the batteries will be practically useless, and their efficiency is not very high.

2. Biological;

Life on Mars will be possible only on a station that must provide the colonists with air, heat, and food. And these systems will have to function for many years. If it is quite possible to grow plants in the conditions of a built base, then it will be possible to diversify the diet with other products only through supplies from Earth, but they will be by no means frequent, given the distance and cost of preparing the flight. And self-sufficiency of the colony is a matter of the distant future.

In addition, many diseases and injuries that cause modern medicine learned to cope long ago, in the absence of hospitals, equipment and specialists will again become a serious problem. In addition, it is unknown what types of viruses and bacteria can be found on Mars, how seriously the lower gravity will affect the health of earthlings... There are many more questions here than answers.

3. Psychological.

Perhaps these difficulties are the most unpredictable. No amount of experimentation or testing can prepare a person for such a test. Complete isolation from the familiar world, a closed and very limited space, the same circle of people day after day for many years - breakdowns in such conditions will be inevitable. All proven approaches to crew recruitment are irrelevant here; the team will have to be formed in such a way that in the future, within its framework, the colonists will be able to start families. And this is an additional risk: when people are forced to constantly intersect with each other, issues of love, jealousy, personal dislikes and other aspects of relationships become especially acute.

Many scientists will probably be attracted by the opportunity to visit Mars, but the key word here is “visit.” And not stay there for the rest of your life. It is possible that among the volunteers there will be many frivolous people who do not understand what they are doing, as well as adventurers.

ExoMars project / film about space

One way ticket – Mars One is looking for volunteers

• Despite the skepticism of many scientists, the authors of the Dutch project consider it quite feasible and have already announced a recruitment of volunteers who, after 8 years of preparation, will receive a one-way ticket. Both the selection procedure itself and the upcoming training sessions will be held in reality show mode, which should become one of the main sources of funding for the project.
• In 2016, a ship with the first batch of cargo needed by future colonists should launch. In the future, several more ships will go there, which will become a base for the colonists.
• It is difficult to say how promising this particular project is, but in any case, the development and colonization of Mars by a private company is hardly possible. To organize a full-fledged colony with an established infrastructure, and not just an island of Martian Robinsons, will require long work and the combined efforts of specialists from all over the world, and then, perhaps, after a few centuries, the red planet will become a second home for humanity.

At the 67th International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, Elon Musk gave a speech that was more anticipated than any other speech from the billionaire and inventor. Musk talked about how humanity is on the threshold of its new future - free solar energy, self-driving cars and space travel await us. The first serious step on the path of the colonizers of the universe will be Mars, a planet that has been attracting people for hundreds of years. Musk's project for the colonization of Mars involves the construction of a self-sustaining station-city there - this will become possible in 50 - 100 years. Despite the boldness of such statements, projects for the colonization of Mars arose long before Musk - we have collected the most striking of them.

The idea of ​​warming up the Red Planet a little by targeting nuclear strikes on nitrate deposits is an idea that even predates the nuclear bomb. The term “terraforming” was coined by science fiction writer Jack Williamson - in one of his stories he described in detail ways to make a lifeless planet suitable for colonization. It was then that the basic principles of this futuristic science were born, on which scientists, including Elon Musk, still rely. His proposal to bomb Mars with thermonuclear charges is nothing more than primary terraforming, which will cause a greenhouse effect and warm the planet to acceptable temperatures.

1950s: Wernher von Braun Project

The first detailed vision of American spaceflight to Mars was the brainchild of Wernher von Braun, a former Nazi scientist who worked for NASA after World War II. His 1952 book, The Mars Project, became the first widely circulated plan to build a colony on Mars. Von Braun envisioned a fleet of 10 massive spaceships, assembled in space and positioned in orbit around Mars, carrying 70 people, along with food and everything they needed to survive.

1960s: Modular stations on the equator of Mars

Upon reaching Mars, a landing force of several spaceships becomes modular housing for the crew. At the same time, auxiliary premises with greenhouses and greenhouses are created on the surface of the planet, supplying the pioneers with food. For new arrivals, the authors of the project envisaged the deployment of inflatable dwellings in the form of tents, designed for 70 permanent people.

1980s: The Mars Underground and Mars Case

In the late 1970s, after successful manned flights to the Moon, many scientists became obsessed with the idea of ​​sending the first colonizers to Mars. Mars Underground was the first sign of modern plans to populate the planet. It was within the framework of this project that serious research began into the capabilities of not only technology, but also people. The space exploration project included an interesting scheme for the shuttle transportation of the first settlers - the Moon was supposed to be used as a transshipment spaceport. Scientists do not abandon such plans to this day.

1990s: Robert Zubrin and Mars Direct

All the achievements of NASA scientists in the 1980s went to waste when the first administration of George H. W. Bush cut funding for the Mars program to almost zero. Guided by personal enthusiasm, scientist Robert Zubrin began developing a new program, which was several times cheaper and abandoned the idea of ​​shuttle transportation. According to Zubrin's plan, the colonialists' ships went straight to Mars and began construction of residential blocks on the spot. A key feature of the project was the creation of small settlements of 10-20 people, who lived in their own residential modules with everything they needed - the houses had a gym and personal rooms for each settler.

2000s: Mars One

The private project Mars One involves a flight to Mars, followed by the establishment of a colony on its surface and broadcasting everything that happens on television. The largest reality show in the history of the planet is planned to launch in 2022, but due to insufficient funding, the project is still at the concept stage. In 2013, Mars One began selecting future astronauts who will learn the necessary skills and undergo long-term confined space tests in rocket and colony simulators. The astronaut team will necessarily include different genders and representatives of different nations. The aerospace company Lockheed Martin has expressed interest in providing the colonists with a spaceship, but the matter has not yet gone beyond fantasy.

The following are the goals of colonization of Mars:

• Creation of a permanent base for scientific research of Mars itself and its satellites, in the future - for the study of the asteroid belt and distant planets of the Solar System.
• Industrial extraction of valuable minerals.
• Solving the Earth's Demographic Problems.
• The main goal is to create the “Cradle of Humanity” in case of a global cataclysm on Earth.

The main limiting factor is, first of all, the extremely high cost of delivering colonists and cargo to Mars.

For the current moment and the near future, obviously, only the first goal is relevant. A number of enthusiasts of the idea of ​​​​colonizing Mars believe that with large initial costs for organizing a colony in the future, provided that a high degree of autonomy is achieved and the production of some materials and essential items (primarily oxygen, water, food) from local resources is achieved, this is the way to go research will generally be more economically efficient than sending returning expeditions or creating settlement stations for work on a rotational basis. In addition, in the future, Mars may become a convenient testing ground for conducting large-scale scientific and technical experiments that are dangerous for the earth’s biosphere.

As for mining, on the one hand, Mars may turn out to be quite rich in mineral resources, and due to the lack of free oxygen in the atmosphere, there may be rich deposits of native metals on it; on the other hand, the current cost of delivering cargo and organizing mining in an aggressive environment (unsuitable for breathing rarefied atmosphere and a large amount of dust) is so great that no amount of wealth in the deposits will ensure the return on production.

To solve demographic problems, it will be necessary, firstly, to transfer the population from Earth on a scale incomparable with the capabilities of modern technology (at least millions of people), and secondly, to ensure complete autonomy of the colony and the possibility of a more or less comfortable life on the surface of the planet, for which will require the creation of a breathable atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and the solution of problems of protection from cosmic radiation. Now all this can be considered only speculatively, as a prospect for the distant future.

Ease of learning

Similarity to Earth

Differences

• The force of gravity on Mars is approximately 2.63 times less than on Earth (0.38 g). It is still unknown whether this is enough to avoid the health problems that arise from weightlessness.
• The surface temperature of Mars is much lower than that of Earth. The maximum level is +30 °C (at noon at the equator), the minimum is −123 °C (in winter at the poles). At the same time, the temperature of the surface layer of the atmosphere is always below zero.
• Due to the fact that Mars is farther from the Sun, the amount of solar energy reaching its surface is approximately half that of Earth.
• Mars' orbit has a greater eccentricity, which increases annual variations in temperature and solar energy.
• Atmospheric pressure on Mars is too low for humans to survive without a pressure suit. Living quarters on Mars will have to be equipped with airlocks, like those installed on spaceships, which could maintain Earth's atmospheric pressure.
• The Martian atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide (95%). Therefore, despite its low density, the partial pressure of CO 2 on the surface of Mars is 52 times greater than on Earth, which may allow it to support vegetation.
• Mars has two natural satellite, Phobos and Deimos. They are much smaller and closer to the planet than the Moon is to Earth. These satellites may prove useful [ ] when testing means of asteroid colonization.
• Mars' magnetic field is about 800 times weaker than Earth's. Together with the rarefied (100-160 times compared to the Earth) atmosphere, this significantly increases the amount of ionizing radiation reaching its surface. The magnetic field of Mars is not capable of protecting living organisms from cosmic radiation, and the atmosphere (subject to its artificial restoration) from dispersion by the solar wind.
• The discovery of perchlorates in the Martian soil by the Phoenix spacecraft, which landed near the North Pole of Mars in 2008, casts doubt on the possibility of growing terrestrial plants in Martian soil without additional experiments or without artificial soil.
• The background radiation on Mars is 2.2 times higher than the background radiation on the International Space Station and is approaching the established safety limits for astronauts.
• Water, due to low pressure, boils on Mars already at a temperature of +10 °C. In other words, water from ice, almost bypassing the liquid phase, quickly turns into steam.

Fundamental achievability

The flight time from Earth to Mars (with current technologies) is 259 days in a semi-ellipse and 70 days in a parabola. In principle, delivery to Mars of the required minimum equipment and supplies for the initial period of the existence of a small colony does not go beyond the capabilities of modern space technology, taking into account promising developments, the implementation period of which is estimated at one to two decades. At the moment, protection from radiation during flight remains a fundamental unsolved problem; If this problem is solved, the flight itself (especially if it is carried out “one way”) is quite realistic, although it requires the investment of huge financial resources and the solution of a number of scientific and technical issues of various scales.

It should be noted that the “launch window” for flight between planets opens once every 26 months. Taking into account the flight time, even in the most ideal conditions (good location of the planets and the presence transport system in a state of readiness) it is clear that, unlike near-Earth stations or a lunar base, a Martian colony, in principle, will not be able to receive operational assistance from Earth or evacuate to Earth in the event of an emergency situation that cannot be dealt with on its own. Due to the above, simply to survive on Mars, a colony must have a guaranteed autonomy of at least three Earth years. Taking into account the possibility of a variety of emergency situations, equipment breakdowns, and natural disasters occurring during this period, it is clear that in order to ensure survival, the colony must have a significant reserve of equipment, production capacity in all branches of its own industry and, what is most important at first, energy generating capacity, since all production and the entire sphere of life support for the colony will be acutely dependent on the availability of electricity in sufficient quantities.

Living conditions

Without protective equipment, a person will not be able to live on the surface of Mars for even a few minutes. However, compared to the conditions on hot Mercury and Venus, the cold outer planets and the atmosphereless Moon and asteroids, the conditions on Mars are much more suitable for exploration. There are places on Earth, explored by man, in which the natural conditions are in many ways similar to those on Mars. The atmospheric pressure of the Earth at an altitude of 34,668 meters - the record high point reached by a balloon with a crew on board (May 4) - is approximately twice the maximum pressure on the surface of Mars.

The results of recent research show that there are significant and directly accessible deposits of water ice on Mars, the soil is, in principle, suitable for growing plants, and the atmosphere is present in sufficient quantities. large quantities carbon dioxide. All this together allows us to count (if there is a sufficient amount of energy) on the possibility of producing plant food, as well as extracting water and oxygen from local resources, which significantly reduces the need for closed-loop life support technologies that would be necessary on the Moon, asteroids or in remote locations. from the Earth space station.

Main difficulties

The main dangers that await astronauts during their flight to Mars and stay on the planet are the following:

Possible physiological problems for the crew while on Mars will be the following:

Ways to terraform Mars

Main tasks

Methods

• The controlled collapse of a comet, one large or many small icy asteroids from the Main Belt or one of Jupiter’s satellites onto the surface of Mars, in order to heat the atmosphere and replenish it with water and gases.
• Injection into orbit of a Mars satellite of a massive body, an asteroid from the Main Belt (for example, Ceres) in order to activate the planetary “dynamo” effect and strengthen Mars’ own magnetic field.
• Changing the magnetic field by laying a ring of a conductor or superconductor around the planet connected to a powerful energy source. NASA Science Director Jim Green believes that the natural magnetic field of Mars cannot be restored, at least not now or even in the very distant future. But it is possible to create an artificial field. True, not on Mars itself, but next to it. Speaking with the report “The Future environment Mars for Research and Science” at the Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop event, Green proposed creating a magnetic shield. This shield, Mars L1, according to the authors of the project, will close Mars from the solar wind, and the planet will begin to restore its atmosphere. It is planned to place the shield between Mars and the Sun, where it would be in a stable orbit. It is planned to create the field using a huge dipole or two equal and oppositely charged magnets.
• Explosion of several nuclear bombs on the polar caps. The disadvantage of the method is radioactive contamination of the released water.
• Placing artificial satellites in Mars orbit capable of collecting and focusing sunlight onto the surface of the planet to heat it up.
• Colonization of the surface by archaebacteria (see archaea) and other extremophiles, including genetically modified ones, to release the necessary quantities of greenhouse gases or obtain the necessary substances in large volumes from those already present on the planet. In April, the German Aviation and Space Center reported that laboratory conditions Simulation of the atmosphere of Mars (Mars Simulation Laboratory) some types of lichens and cyanobacteria after 34 days of stay adapted and showed the possibility of photosynthesis.

Methods of influence associated with the launch into orbit or fall of an asteroid require thorough calculations aimed at studying such effects on the planet, its orbit, rotation speed and much more.

A serious problem on the path to the colonization of Mars is the lack of a magnetic field that protects from solar radiation. For a full-fledged life on Mars, a magnetic field is indispensable.

It should be noted that almost all of the above actions to terraform Mars at the moment are nothing more than “thought experiments”, since most of them do not rely on any existing in reality and at least minimally proven technologies, and in terms of approximate energy costs they many times exceed possibilities of modern humanity. For example, to create pressure sufficient to at least grow the most unpretentious plants in open ground, without sealing, it is necessary to increase the existing mass of the Martian atmosphere by 5-10 times, that is, deliver to Mars or evaporate from its surface a mass of the order of 10 17 - 10 18 kg. It is easy to calculate that, for example, to evaporate such an amount of water, approximately 2.25 10 12 TJ will be required, which is more than 4500 times higher than all modern annual energy consumption on Earth (see).

Radiation

Manned flight to Mars

Creating a spacecraft to fly to Mars is a difficult task. One of the main problems is protecting astronauts from solar radiation particle flows. Several ways to solve this problem are proposed, for example, the creation of special protective materials for the body or even the development of a magnetic shield similar in its mechanism of action to a planetary shield.

Mars One

"Mars One" is a private fundraising project led by Bas Lansdorp, involving a flight to Mars, followed by the establishment of a colony on its surface and the broadcast of everything that happens on television.

Inspiration Mars

The Inspiration Mars Foundation is an American non-profit organization (foundation), founded by Dennis Tito, planning to send a manned expedition to fly around Mars in January 2018.

Centennial spaceship

“Hundred-Year Starship” (eng. Hundred-Year Starship) is a project whose overall goal is to prepare for an expedition to one of the neighboring planetary systems within a century. One of the elements of preparation is the implementation of a project to permanently send people to Mars with the aim of colonizing the planet. The project has been developed since 2010 by the Ames Research Center, one of NASA's main scientific laboratories. The main idea of ​​the project is to send people to Mars so that they establish a colony there and continue to live in this colony without returning to Earth. Failure to return will lead to a significant reduction in the cost of the flight, and it will be possible to take on more cargo and crew. Further flights will deliver new colonists and replenish their supplies. The possibility of a return flight will appear only when the colony on its own can organize on-site production of a sufficient number of items and materials necessary for this from local resources (primarily, we are talking about fuel and supplies of oxygen, water and food).

Connection with the Earth

To communicate with potential colonies, radio communication can be used, which has a delay of 3-4 minutes in each direction during the maximum approach of the planets (which repeats every 780 days) and about 20 minutes at the maximum removal of the planets; see Configuration (astronomy). The delay of signals from Mars to Earth and vice versa is due to the speed of light. However, the use of electromagnetic waves (including light) does not make it possible to maintain communication with the Earth directly (without a relay satellite) when the planets are in opposite points of their orbits relative to the Sun.

Possible locations for founding colonies

The best places for a colony gravitate towards the equator and lowlands. First of all this:

• Hellas depression - has a depth of 8 km, and at its bottom the pressure is the highest on the planet, due to which this area has the lowest level of background from cosmic rays on Mars [ ] .
• Valles Marineris is not as deep as the Hellas Basin, but it has the highest minimum temperatures on the planet, which expands the choice of structural materials [ ] .

If terraformed, the first open body of water will appear in Valles Marineris.

Colony (Forecast)

Although the design of Martian colonies has not yet gone beyond sketches, due to the proximity to the equator and high atmospheric pressure, they are usually planned to be founded in different places in the Valles Marineris. No matter what heights space transport reaches in the future, the laws of conservation of mechanics determine the high cost of delivering cargo between Earth and Mars, and limit the periods of flights, tying them to planetary oppositions.

High delivery costs and 26-month interflight periods determine the requirements:

• Guaranteed three-year self-sufficiency of the colony (additional 10 months for flight and order processing). This is only possible if structures and materials are accumulated on the territory of the future colony before the initial arrival of people.
• Production of basic construction and consumable materials in the colony from local resources.

This means the need to create cement, brick, concrete products, air and water production, as well as the deployment of ferrous metallurgy, metalworking and greenhouses. Saving food will require vegetarianism [ ] . The likely absence of coking materials on Mars will require the direct reduction of iron oxides by electrolytic hydrogen - and, accordingly, the production of hydrogen. Martian dust storms can make solar energy unusable for months, which, in the absence of natural fuels and oxidizers, makes nuclear energy the only reliable option at the moment. Large-scale production of hydrogen and five times the content of deuterium in the ice of Mars compared to those on Earth will lead to the cheapness of heavy water, which, when mining uranium on Mars, will make heavy-water nuclear reactors the most efficient and cost-effective.

• High scientific or economic productivity of the colony. The similarity of Mars to Earth determines the great value of Mars for geology, and, if there is life, for biology. The economic profitability of a colony is possible only when large rich deposits of gold, platinum group metals or precious stones are discovered.
• The first expedition must still explore convenient caves suitable for sealing and pumping air for the mass settlement of cities by builders. The habitation of Mars will begin from under its surface.
• Another likely effect of the creation of grotto colonies on Mars may be the consolidation of earthlings, the rise of global awareness on Earth; planetary synchronization.
• The physical image of a person reborn as a settler is a body “dried” from triple weight loss, a lighter skeleton and muscle mass. Changes in gait and movement patterns. There is also a danger of recruiting overweight. There is a possibility of changing your diet towards reducing food consumption.
• The colonists' diet may shift to lactic acid, products from cows from local hydroponic conveyor pastures set up in the mines.

Criticism

In addition to the main arguments criticizing the idea of ​​human colonization of space (see Colonization of Space), there are also objections specific to Mars:

• Colonization of Mars is not in an efficient way solving any problems facing humanity that can be considered as the goals of this colonization. Nothing so valuable has yet been discovered on Mars that would justify the risk to people and the costs of organizing production and transportation, and for colonization on Earth there are still vast uninhabited territories, the conditions on which are much more favorable than on Mars, and the development of which will cost much more. cheaper, including Siberia, vast expanses of equatorial deserts, and even the entire continent - Antarctica. As for the exploration of Mars itself, it is more economical to conduct it using robots.
• One of the main arguments against the colonization of Mars is its extremely small resource of key elements necessary for life (primarily hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon). However, in the light of recent studies that have discovered on Mars, in particular, huge reserves of water ice, at least for hydrogen and oxygen, the question is removed.
• Conditions on the surface of Mars require the development of innovative life support systems for life on it. But since conditions sufficiently close to those on Mars do not occur on the earth’s surface, it is not possible to test them experimentally. This, in some respects, calls into question the practical value of most of them.
• Also, the long-term influence of Martian gravity on people has not been studied (all experiments were carried out either in an environment with Earth's gravity or in zero gravity). The degree of influence of gravity on human health when it changes from weightlessness to 1g has not been studied. In Earth orbit, it is planned to conduct an experiment (“Mars Gravity Biosatellite”) on mice in order to study the influence of the Martian (0.38 g) gravity force on life cycle mammals.
• The second cosmic speed of Mars - 5 km/s - is quite high, although it is half that of Earth, which, with the current level of space technology, makes it impossible to achieve a break-even level for the colony through the export of materials. However, the atmospheric density, shape (radius of the mountain is about 270 km) and height (21.2 km from the base) of Mount Olympus allow the use of various kinds of electromagnetic mass accelerators (electromagnetic catapult or maglev, or Gauss cannon, etc.) to launch cargo into space. Atmospheric pressure at the top of Olympus is only 2% of the pressure characteristic of the average level of the Martian surface. Considering that the pressure on the surface of Mars is less than 0.01 atmospheres, the rarefaction of the environment at the top of Olympus is almost no different from the vacuum of space.
• The psychological factor is also of concern. The duration of the flight to Mars and the subsequent life of people in a confined space on it can become serious obstacles to the development of the planet.
• Some are concerned about the possible “pollution” of the planet by terrestrial life forms. The question of the existence (currently or in the past) of life on Mars has not yet been resolved.
• There is still no technology for producing technical silicon without the use of charcoal, as well as a technology for producing semiconductor silicon without technical silicon. This means it will be extremely difficult to produce solar cells on Mars. There is no other technology for producing technical silicon, since the technology using charcoal is the cheapest in terms of the cheapness of this material and energy costs. On Mars, one can use metallothermic reduction of silicon from its dioxide with magnesium to magnesium silicide, followed by decomposition of the silicide with hydrochloric or acetic acid to produce gaseous monosilane SiH4, which can be purified from impurities in various ways, and then decomposed into hydrogen and pure silicon.
• Recent studies in mice have shown that prolonged exposure to weightlessness (space) causes liver degenerative changes as well as symptoms diabetes mellitus. Humans experienced similar symptoms after returning from orbit, but the reasons for this phenomenon were unknown.

In art

• Soviet song “Apple trees will bloom on Mars” (music by V. Muradeli, lyrics by E. Dolmatovsky).
• Living on Mars is a popular science film produced by National Geographic in 2009.
• The song of the group Otto Dix - Utopia also has a mention (“... And apple trees will bloom on Mars, as on Earth...”)
• The song by Noize MC is “It’s Cool on Mars.”
• In the 1990 science fiction film Total Recall, the plot takes place on Mars.
• The song by David Bowie - “Life on Mars”, as well as Ziggy Stardust (eng. Ziggy Stardust listen)) is a fictional character created by David Bowie and a central figure in his glam rock concept album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars".
• Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles.
• Isaac Asimov - Lucky Starr Series. Book 1 - "David Starr, Space Ranger."
• The film “Red Planet” tells about the beginning of the terroforming of Mars in order to save earthlings.
• The OVA Armitage III takes place on colonized Mars.
• The tabletop role-playing games “Mars Colony” and “Mars: New Air” are dedicated to the process of colonization and (in the second case) terraforming of Mars.
• The terraforming and colonization of Mars forms the main backdrop to the events of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy.
• A series of books by Edgar Burroughs about the fantastic world of Mars.
• In the British television series Doctor Who in the episode The Waters of Mars, the first colony in the Gusev crater “Bowie Base One” was developed on the surface of Mars.
• Harry Harrison's science fiction story “Training Flight” tells the story of the first manned expedition to Mars. Particular attention is paid to the psychological state of a person living in a closed, uncomfortable environment.
• Writer Andy Weir's novel "The Martian" tells the story of a year and a half struggle for the life of an astronaut left alone on Mars. A film adaptation of this work was released in 2015.
• “John Carter” (eng. John Carter) is a fantastic action adventure film directed by Andrew Stanton, based on the book “A Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
• “The Martian” - film directed by