Every day, we look up at the stars. We wonder what is out there. We wonder how life would be on another planet. Many of us are content with leaving this mystery unsolved. But the most dedicated ones out of all of us try to take us there. The first step was already taken. We got humans to the moon. Now we need to go one step further. We need to take humans to Mars. It won’t be an easy task. However, I hope to explain the process, from launch to survival. There will be 3 major parts: Launch, landing and survival. Launch and landing are pretty straightforward; They are when the rocket leaves Earth, and lands on Mars. Survival is the first few months or even years where humans are trying to get a feel for the planet. Each part is as important as the others, but they vary in length. Let’s jump into the first part.
Launch:
The launch is very important to the colonization of Mars. If we don’t have a successful launch, then there goes millions of dollars and years of time. Luckily, we’ve done a few launches before. I’m going to break this into 3 parts: Before launch, launch, and after launch. “Before launch” is the minutes or hours leading up to launch. “In launch” is getting into space, and “after launch” is in space, getting to Mars.
Before launch:
This is the part where we have the most experience. Every rocket is loaded onto a launchpad. Every launch pad has the pad itself and the launch mount. The launch mount is used to keep the rocket upright, but also delivers power, cooling liquids, and other essential components to the launch. The Rotating Service Structure is removed 18 hours before launch. The RSS helps protect the rocket and provides easy access for the workers. 9 hours before launch is when the external tank is filled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. When these two react, lots of energy is produced. The filling process takes hours. T-7 seconds is when the main engines are all started. T-0 seconds is when they all ignite, shooting the rocket into the air. Now, we move to launch.
Launch:
To understand the launch, we have to understand how a rocket works. The engines push out exhaust very fast. With enough exhaust, the rocket gains momentum. The exhaust is caused by chemical reactions inside the engine. There are 2 stages of engines. This is so certain engines can be dropped after being fully drained. This takes off extra weight, but the engines still help the rocket gain speed at liftoff. Stage 1 is usually the biggest part of the rocket because it needs a lot of energy to make the rocket start moving.
After the first stage is dropped, the second stage of engines ignite. These engines don’t have to carry as much, so there usually isn’t as much fuel in them. This fuels the next part, which is after launch.
After Launch:
This is the part where the rocket is in space, getting to Mars. How can it steer? Small control rockets point the main rocket engine where it needs to go. The Ares X-I rocket had a bell-shaped nozzle at the end of the rocket, which would provide stability on the pitch and yaw. The roll is a bit harder to control, but it is still possible. The same rocket had 2 thruster modules with 6 thrusters each for the roll control system. Sensors on the rocket would detect changes in the rocket’s position or flight path, then send the data to the avionics command center, a bunch of computers and other electronics which will then send commands to the thrusters to correct the path.
How can the roll be affected during and after the launch? Roll torque, which is when an object tends to rotate around its axis, can be generated by the way the fuel is being pushed out of the nozzle. During the launch, wind could affect the rotation of the rocket as well.
A huge problem in space is radiation. Without an atmosphere, radiation can affect astronauts very severely. The shielding on a rocket isn’t enough to protect astronauts. More shielding adds to the mass, which means more fuel, which means higher costs. Many space exploration organizations are currently researching how to minimize the amount of radiation that goes inside the spacecraft. Our best bet is probably making faster spacecraft. However, how fast the spacecraft goes doesn’t matter if it doesn’t land properly.
Landing:
The landing is very important if we want to succeed. Everything could go wrong or right here. We don’t have that much information on this part, but still enough. According to NASA, there are a few steps to landing the spacecraft. The first step to landing is to activate a heat shield. This will protect the spacecraft and the things inside from getting too hot when it enters the atmosphere. Friction will slow the rocket down a lot, but it would still be going way too fast to land safely. The second step is to deploy a parachute. This will slow it down even more, but still not slow enough. The third step is to activate a jetpack to slow down the descent. This will slow the rocket down enough for us to safely land on the surface of Mars. It may seem easy, but every part of the landing process has to be done at the right time, or else the results could be devastating.
Survival:
Here, we have no recent examples. However, people have been researching how we could potentially live on Mars. First, we would need permanent housing. Permanent housing can persuade people to come live on Mars and also will help shelter the equipment from the dust storms that are so common on the Red Planet. Some of the equipment we need include the equipment needed for experiments, drills, and lots of other machinery. I’ll explain the significance of each item in the next few paragraphs.
The experimenting equipment is the most important part. We need to understand Mars to live there. Doing experiments on the soil, air, and other parts of the planet can help us find out how to make life on Mars as efficient and easy as possible. The rovers on Mars currently have equipment for experiments, but humans are different from robots. AI do what they are told to do, while humans sometimes deviate from the path. One outcome could lead to another experiment under different conditions. Some of the experiments done by the rovers have led to huge discoveries, such as finding iron oxide and silicon oxide in the soil, as well as coming to the conclusion that there are places with a lot of geothermal heat.
We can find places to drill down to get geothermal heat, which can be used for many things. Geothermal heat can be used for power, but can also be used to heat water or ice. We know that there is ice on Mars, so geothermal heat can provide a convenient way to have drinking water ready. It is also very cold on Mars, because of a combination of having a thin atmosphere and being far from the sun. However, the other discovery made by the rovers is also very important.
The fact that iron oxide and silicon oxide are present in Martian soil means that the astronauts who land on Mars can, with some equipment, make iron, steel, and glass. Imagine you were a NASA scientist, and you had to make a perfect launch and landing happen every few months. It wouldn’t be a desirable position to be in. However, with some soil and some equipment, the astronauts don’t need frequent shipments with new equipment, because they can build it on their own.
Living on Mars won’t be easy. There are many challenges that the astronauts will face, one of which is the problem of energy. Fortunately, NASA is researching many possibilities, including more efficient batteries. Another problem is the problem of having to spend years with the same people. Small fights could easily become violent as there is nobody else to talk to. If the sun is in between Mars and the Earth, then it could take a very long time for anything to be sent or received If there was a major failure, the team on Earth wouldn’t be able to do anything because they wouldn’t know about it until a long time after it happened.
Getting to and living on Mars won’t be easy at all. There are so many things that could go wrong, so many problems that the astronauts would have to face, and so many things that they can’t control. Because of this, we must rethink everything. Is going to Mars worth the cost? Many lives could be lost, but many lives could be saved. Nobody knows until you try.
Sources:
Dunbar, B. (n.d.). Space Shuttle: Before the Countdown. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/missions/shuttle_process.html#:~:text=About%2018%20hours%20before%20launch%2C%20the%20Rotating%20Service,is%20filled%20with%20liquid%20hydrogen%20and%20liquid%20oxygen.
Dunbar, B. (n.d.). Steering the Ares Rockets on a Straight Path. Retrieved January 5, 2021, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/09-099.html
Greshko, M. (2019, January 04). Rockets and rocket launches, explained. Retrieved December 14, 2020, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/reference/rockets-and-rocket-launches-explained/#close
Mars in a Minute: How Do You Land on Mars? — NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. (n.d.). Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/20046/mars-in-a-minute-how-do-you-land-on-mars/#:~:text=With%20a%20large%20lander%2C%20use%20retro%20rockets%20and,work%3A%20there%E2%80%99s%20nothing%20easy%20about%20landing%20on%20Mars%21
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Will we be ready to put a human footprint on Mars in 15 years? (2018, January 11). Retrieved January 7, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/jan/11/will-we-be-ready-to-put-a-human-footprint-on-mars-in-15-years
