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Colonising Mars and the Moon has been a dream since the 1960s, when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon. The year was 1972, when NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan stepped on the Moon; although it was not known then, he would go on to become the last man to step on the Moon for more than 50 years. The Apollo program came to an end, as each launch cost more than $190 billion in today’s money. It has been more than 50 years; yet, the Moon remains unconquered. But the million-dollar question is, will this 50-year drought come to an end anytime soon? Will colonising Mars and the Moon be a dream for long?
What is the need of colonisation?
There were about 1 billion people on the Earth in 1800, which later grew to 1.6 billion in 1900 and 2.5 billion in 1950. There are more than 8 billion people in 2024; and at this rate, this number is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. There has been an exponential increase in population. This immense population growth has caused a surge in unemployment levels, leading to poverty and deterioration in quality of life. If a portion of the population was shifted to another planet/the Moon, this problem can be dealt with.
On average, an extinction-level asteroid hits the Earth every 100 million years. The last time this happened was 66 million years ago, when the Chicxulub asteroid hit the Earth, killing the dinosaurs: and it may not be long before this happens again. If this does happen again, would it really be a wise decision to put all our eggs in one basket?
Becoming a multi-planetary species would ensure the continuation of the human race. Read our article about asteroids for more info.
Colonising other celestial bodies will grant us access to a plethora of resources, allowing us to potentially improve the quality of life on Earth and develop our technology at an unimaginable rate.
The need to colonise other celestial bodies and become a multi-planetary species is evident from the above facts.
Colonising the Moon
Going to the Moon temporarily is relatively easy, and it has been done before. The real problem lies in colonising the Moon and setting up a fully functional and occupied colony there. To colonise the Moon, there are a few advantages as well as disadvantages.
Advantages
The first advantage of colonising the Moon is that it is very close to the Earth. Although its orbital radius varies, on average, it is only about 384,400 km away from the Earth, making it a 3-4 day journey to reach the Moon. Thus, any difficulties can be addressed without much delay.
Its surface reflects a large portion of the light falling on it. This makes solar power, in fact, more efficient in electricity generation than it is on Earth.
It is believed that the Moon used to be a part of the Earth. But it got separated from the Earth due to impact with an asteroid the size of Mars. Upon researching the Moon’s soil collected from the Apollo missions, it has been found that the its soil is very similar to that of Earth’s. This makes it potentially suitable for agriculture, after the removal of toxins and other harmful substances from the soil. After achieving this feat, colonising the Moon will be much easier.
Resources
Despite several difficulties, there is one thing in particular that makes the Moon a promising candidate for a potential colony. It has extremely large amounts of Helium-3 isotope, which is a fuel source. There’s about 1 million tonnes of it there, but not much on Earth. In fact, if all of Moon’s helium-3 was extracted, it would power the entire Earth for hundreds, if not thousands of years (for reference: 25 tonnes can power the US for 1 year). Colonising the Moon would be a stepping stone towards the future extraction missions of He-3.
Disadvantages
On Earth, the atmosphere shields us from meteorite impacts, as they burn up in the mesosphere. But the Moon does not have an atmosphere. This makes the Moon prone to meteorite impacts (this is the reason why it has so many craters). Any future colonies would need to be situated underground, or be sturdy enough to withstand potential impacts. You can refer to our article about asteroids for more information.
One day and one night on the Moon last 13.5 days each, giving it an extremely harsh climate. The difference in temperature between day and night is unimaginable (more than 250°C). The extreme temperatures and climate would not be suitable for plant growth. Thus, agriculture would be practised aeroponically (growing plants in air) or hydroponically (growing plants in water).
The Moon does have water, but most of it is concentrated at the poles. Thus, astronauts of any primitive colony would need to set up camp near the poles. These factors serve as obstacles in humanity’s way to colonising the Moon.
NASA’s role
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) leads the effort for humanity’s return to the Moon, and eventually colonising the Moon. With the help of their Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, Orion spacecraft and Gateway, a space station orbiting the Moon, NASA aims to get humans back to there sometime in the 2030s. This is the Artemis program. However, this program seems to be a repeat of the Apollo program, as each launch would still cost hundreds of billions. To me, the Artemis program doesn’t seem feasible in the long term.
Colonising Mars
Apart from the Moon, Mars seems to be the only other suitable candidate for a potential colony in the near future. Planets such as Mercury and Venus are too close to the Sun, making them excruciatingly hot and impossible to withstand, whereas all outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) don’t even have land, leaving Mars as the only other option (however, there are studies that suggest that there could be life harbouring in the icy oceans of Europa [one of Jupiter’s 95 moons] and on Titan [one of Saturn’s 146 moons]).
SpaceX’s role
The American private space agency SpaceX leads the effort to colonise Mars. With the help of their Starship rocket, SpaceX founder Elon Musk plans to set up a Martian colony with 1 million people by 2050. Starship is a reusable rocket, capable of carrying up to 100 people to the Martian surface in one trip and 100 metric tonnes of cargo to Low Earth Orbit (orbit around the Earth in which the spacecraft orbits between 160 and 2000 km above the Earth’s surface). Initially, the first manned missions to Mars were planned between 2027-2029. However, due to a lot of delay and failure of several spacecrafts, this too, seems too far-fetched.
Advantages
Martian gravity is only about 38% as compared to Earth’s, making it easier for astronauts to adjust to. 1 day on Mars (called 1 Martian ‘sol’) lasts about 24 hours and 37 minutes, making it very similar to Earth’s.
Mars is believed to be an Earth-like planet in the past. It is believed that it had a lot of flora and vegetation and water flowed on its surface like it does on Earth. It has a lot of water. In fact, if all of Mars’ water ice present at the poles was melted, it would cover the entire planet with water! Though most of the water is concentrated at the poles, there is water ice everywhere on the red planet, in the form of ‘subsurface ice’. Thus, any primitive Martian colony would not be restricted to the poles.
There is not much difference in temperatures during the day and night. Thus, astronauts can easily adjust to it.
It is located very close to the asteroid belt – the belt of dust and rocks situated between Jupiter and Mars. Asteroids can be mined for the extraction of metals and minerals to build stable structures to live in. You can refer to our article about asteroid mining for more information.
Disadvantages
Mars is very far from the Earth, making it an 8-9 month trip to reach there. Emergencies may not be addressed in time, leaving the fate of the colonists up to themselves.
During these 8-9 months, astronauts start losing bone density and muscle mass, as they simply don’t have to use their muscles due to the lack of gravity. They will have to exercise for 3-4 hours daily to maintain muscle mass and avoid reduction in bone density.
In addition to this is the psychological effect of being trapped in a closed vessel, being around the same people and doing the same things daily while floating around in the emptiness of space, with no one for millions of miles around you.
Earth’s magnetic field protects it from solar radiation. However, Mars lacks an active magnetic field. Thus, astronauts would be exposed to up to 50 times as much radiation as they do on Earth, increasing the risk of cancer, creating a genetic anomaly and posing a potential threat to descendants.
Due to its distance from the Sun, solar power is not as effective on Mars as it is on Earth. Furthermore, there are large sand storms, which cover the planet’s surface for weeks, if not years, making solar power unreliable. Astronauts will have to rely on other sources of energy, such as nuclear energy.
Nuclear energy does not require solar power to function, and it is capable of producing large quantities of electrical energy, which could power the Mars base. Due to sand storms, plants will not be able to grow properly. Even if we could provide plants with an artificial source of light, Martian soil contains several toxins and harmful substances that oppose plant growth. Astronauts will have to stick with aeroponics and hydroponics for growing crops to keep themselves fed.
Mars’ atmosphere is negligible (only about 1%) compared to that of Earth, providing less resistance during entry into the Martian atmosphere. Due to this reason, spacecrafts landing on Mars can’t rely solely on their parachutes for a safe and secure landing. Spacecrafts will need to make use of their engines to land, which is what SpaceX plans to do to Starship. However, this increases the amount of fuel required for the mission, increasing the overall mass of the rocket and, in turn increasing costs, making missions more expensive and time-consuming.
The better choice: Evidently, Mars is much more suitable to live on, compared to the Moon.
How they can co-exist
A Moon base could be a stepping stone towards the creation of a Martian colony. To save fuel, spacecrafts could take off with just enough fuel to reach Moon. They would then land on the Moon to refuel there. Refuelling on the Moon and then going to Mars is a lot easier, as gravity on the Moon is just 1/6th of Earth’s, reducing the acceleration due to gravity, in turn reducing the amount of fuel required to reach Mars.
Inflatable houses can be used on both Moon and Mars, in order to reduce spacecraft mass. We already see examples of this being used in real life, such as the BEAM module on the International Space Station (ISS). Houses can be 3D printed by using in-situ resources (resources present on the planet/Moon itself) for the astronauts to live in. A few years ago, a space company called AI Spacefactory introduced the concept of 3D-printed houses by building houses called ‘Marsha’ in the shape of an egg. You can refer to our article about 3D printing for more information.
The Long Term Vision
While going to Mars using spacecrafts is an option available to us at present, it is not a solution in the long run. Terraformation is a technique which can be used to convert Mars into an Earth-like planet. Terraformation consists of 2 words; terra, meaning land, and formation. It basically means forming an Earth. Mars’ atmosphere is very thin in comparison to the Earth. If nuclear warheads were dropped on Mars’ polar ice caps, the water ice would vapourise, thickening its atmosphere. The greenhouse effect, – which is a big problem on Earth – can be used to our advantage.
Cyanobacteria (bacteria which give out oxygen) can be brought to Mars to increase oxygen levels. In fact, cyanobacteria are the reason for our existence. Gradually, we would need to increase the vegetation cover by bringing plants to perform photosynthesis. Unfortunately, we do not have the technology to restore its magnetic field yet.
You can’t terraform a planet overnight. It is a gradual process extending over hundreds of years. Starting the process as early as possible will maximise our chances of survival, in case of an extinction-level event.
Moon vs Mars colonization: While colonising Moon and Mars are equally important, colonising Mars is a more secure option in the long run. If a large asteroid hits the Earth, it would break away pieces of the Earth’s surface, which would be plummeted into space at a large speed. If one of these hits the Moon, with no atmosphere to protect, it would cause catastrophic damage on the Moon as well. Colonising Mars ensures that whatever happens on Earth probably won’t cause any harm there.
Click here to get more information about colonising Mars.
Conclusion
Colonising other planets and becoming an interplanetary species is crucial for the survival of our species. It is the bitter truth that we cannot live on Earth permanently. In the words of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, “Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one can’t remain in a cradle forever”. Colonising Moon and Mars is the first step towards moving out of our solar system, to other star systems. We have to move today, for a better tomorrow. So when do you think, we will go back to Moon and Mars? Let us know in the comments below.
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