1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works, and I heart radio and I love 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: all things tech. And in our last episode, I talked 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: about NASA's Insight Lander, which is taking a lot of 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: measurements on Mars and it's all about helping us unlock 8 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: the secret of how rocky planets in general are formed 9 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: and Mars in particular, as well as other details about 10 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: the Red planets, sort of like a hey, what's what's 11 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: your core made out of? Man? I see you've been 12 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,239 Speaker 1: working on your core. Well, today I want to talk 13 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: about the various proposed missions to Mars that would see 14 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: people human beings set foot on the planet and what 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: that would require to make it successful and not a terrible, 16 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: terrible mistake. And let me tell you it's gonna require 17 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: a lot, y'all. Mars, as it turns out, wants to 18 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: kill you. Well, I guess it doesn't really want anything, 19 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 1: but conditions on Mars are not particularly suited towards supporting life, 20 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: specifically not supporting human life. So let's go down the 21 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: list of what's going on over at Mars, so we 22 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: can identify the challenges we have to overcome if we're 23 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: to ever land there and survive the experience. So the 24 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: first thing we can get of what out of the 25 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: way is something I talked about in the last episode, 26 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: and that's how far away Mars is from us. The 27 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: Moon is about two nine thousand miles from Earth or 28 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,559 Speaker 1: about three thousand five kilometers, which is a pretty good job. 29 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: But we can get there in a few days. As 30 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: proven by the Apollo lunar missions. Mars is much much 31 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: further away, and the distance changes throughout the year between 32 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: Earth and Mars because both planets are on their own 33 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: orbits around the Sun, as opposed to the Moon, which 34 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: obviously orbits the Earth, so the distance you must travel 35 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: depends upon the respective orbits of the two planets. There 36 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: is a launch window that represents the lowest amount of 37 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: energy required to get from Earth to Mars, and that 38 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: window comes around every couple of years, so you have 39 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: time to plan out your mission, and you want to 40 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: time it just right to minimize the amount of energy 41 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: you're going to need to get there. That minimizes the 42 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: amount of fuel you have to carry two Mars, and 43 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: once you're on Mars you should pretty much wait around 44 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: for the next launch window in order to get back 45 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 1: using the minimum amount of energy needed, because the more 46 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 1: energy you required to make the trip, the harder it's 47 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: going to be to do. You know, you're gonna have 48 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: to carry more fuel, it's going to be more expensive, 49 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: you have to design bigger spacecraft. So these things matter 50 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,639 Speaker 1: more on that a little bit. Next, the atmosphere. So 51 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: Mars has an atmosphere. Ya, that's a good thing, but 52 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,559 Speaker 1: it's not like Earth's atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere is a cocktail 53 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: made up of about seventy eight percent nitrogen, twenty one 54 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: percent oxygen, and then a bunch of other gases in 55 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:25,639 Speaker 1: very small amounts, like argone and carbon dioxide. Mars's atmosphere 56 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: is about nine five three percent carbon dioxide. The atmosphere 57 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: is only two point seven percent nitrogen and only about 58 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: point one three percent oxygen. There's also very little water 59 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: vapor in Mars's atmosphere. It has a point zero three 60 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: percent water vapor, whereas on Earth it's closer to one percent. 61 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: So we're not talking about a breathable atmosphere. Mars also 62 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth does, and there's 63 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: not much atmospheric pressure i they're On average, the atmosphere 64 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: exerts about six point one mill of bars of pressure 65 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: on the surface of Mars. On Earth, the average sea 66 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: level atmospheric pressure is one thousand, thirteen point to five 67 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,919 Speaker 1: mill of bars six point one compared to one thousand, 68 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: thirteen point to five. That is a huge difference, though 69 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: you could argue some of that difference also comes down 70 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: to Mars's gravitational pull, which is about point three eight 71 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,160 Speaker 1: times that of Earth's, so you would be lighter on Mars, 72 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: you know, you'd be more than more than half as light. Also, 73 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: air pressure changes on Mars throughout the year. During the 74 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: Martian summer, the Sun's heat will start to heat up 75 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: frozen carbon dioxide which is at the polar ice caps 76 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: on the Martian poles, and the frozen carbon dioxide will 77 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: begin to sublime. That means it will convert directly from 78 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: solid form into a gas us and so the atmosphere's 79 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide content will increase, which means the atmospheric pressure 80 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: will also increase by a whole two milo bars. That's 81 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: still a tiny amount of pressure, but it is a 82 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: significant increase when you're looking at an average of just 83 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: six point one mela bars. In the winter, carbon dioxide 84 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:21,559 Speaker 1: in the atmosphere will start to freeze at the polar 85 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: ice caps, and you will even see carbon dioxide snow, 86 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: which is kind of wild. The low atmospheric pressure and 87 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: temperatures means that liquid water does not exist on the 88 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: surface of Mars. Liquid water would either freeze because of 89 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: the temperature or evaporate because of the very low air pressure, 90 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: and it would just depend upon the local conditions at 91 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: that time. And since we humans rely heavily on water, 92 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: that's one of the things we would have to deal 93 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: with if we were to go to Mars. There is 94 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,600 Speaker 1: water on Mars, but not really in liquid format, so 95 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: we would have to extract the water from various Martian 96 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: environments in some way and process it in order to 97 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: make use of it. And we would absolutely have to 98 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: do that if we wanted to stay there for any 99 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,279 Speaker 1: real length of time and keep our water supply to 100 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: a level that can sustain life. You could recycle water, 101 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: and in fact, we see this done a lot in 102 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: space missions like the International Space Station. They're really good 103 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: at recapturing water and reusing it. But even so you're 104 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: gonna lose some through various means, so it's good to 105 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,679 Speaker 1: have a way of replenishing that in the Martians spring. 106 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 1: In summer, the sun heats up the atmosphere of Mars 107 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 1: enough to cause convection currents or wind. Sometimes that wind 108 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: gets pretty gusty despite the very thin atmosphere, and it 109 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: can blow hard enough to start picking up dust particles 110 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:48,919 Speaker 1: and blowing them around. Uh, it does have to be 111 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: a pretty strong wind. Because there is so little atmosphere, 112 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 1: it's tough for the atmosphere to move the dust. So 113 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: to stir up dust clouds it takes winds traveling at 114 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: speeds of around six any miles per hour or one 115 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: two hundred kilometers per hour. These dust storms can last 116 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: for months and spread across enormous regions across the surface 117 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: of Mars. So we would likely be at least partly 118 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: reliant on solar power for any sort of human presence 119 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: on Mars. So this is another challenge because if there's 120 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: a really bad dust storm, you're not going to get 121 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: very much solar exposure to your solar panels, so you 122 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: have to have enough energy storage systems there to get 123 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: you through any long periods where you have limited to 124 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: no solar access. You also have to have a way 125 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: of clearing those solar panels if they get covered in dust. 126 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: So we may not be able to depend upon the 127 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: sun as the sole means of generating electricity, and in fact, 128 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: a lot of the proposals I see suggest bringing along 129 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: other types of sources for generating electricity, like nuclear power 130 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: plants for example portable ones. Also that thin air presents 131 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: more challenge is than just breathing. For one thing. As 132 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: I said in the last episode, it really makes it 133 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: hard to slow your spacecraft down as you're descending to 134 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: the planet from outer space. The atmosphere is thick enough 135 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: to present thermal problems as you come in at high speeds, 136 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: because your spacecraft will compress the air in front of it, 137 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: and that will cause the temperature of the surface of 138 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: your craft to climb quickly. So you'll need to get 139 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: some good heat shielding on your entry craft. But the 140 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: atmosphere is so thin that a parachute is not nearly 141 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: as effective as it would be on Earth. It will 142 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: slow you down a little bit, but not as much 143 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: as you would need and not as much as it 144 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: would in Earth's deliciously soupy atmosphere, so you'll need some 145 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: sort of other method like retrorockets on your landing craft 146 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: to keep things from getting too rough on arrival. The 147 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: thin atmosphere also means Mars doesn't hold on to heat 148 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: from the sun very effectively, even though that thin atmosphere 149 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,720 Speaker 1: is almost entirely made up of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. 150 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: The temperature on Mars can vary by as much as 151 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:03,559 Speaker 1: a hundred degrees fahrenheit or sixty degrees celsius in a day, 152 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: So how the heck do you dress for that weather? Yeah? 153 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,599 Speaker 1: I thought Georgia was bad, and we're not done yet. 154 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 1: The soil itself on Mars is a problem. You may 155 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 1: have heard that on Earth where developing soil that's meant 156 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: to mimic that of Mars. You can actually buy this stuff. 157 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: I think it's like ten bucks a pound. So this 158 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: is typically called simulant, and simulant is intended for use 159 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 1: and experiments that could lead to developing techniques for growing 160 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: food crops on Martian soil, for example, or using Martian 161 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: soil in other ways, like as part of a way 162 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: of creating construction material. It's another uh necessity for any 163 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: mission to Mars with humans is being able to grow 164 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: stuff once you get to Mars, because if you're gonna 165 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: be on the planet for a couple of years, chances 166 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 1: are you're not going to be able to carry all 167 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: of the food you're going to need for that time 168 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: along with you. You just won't have the cargo capacity. 169 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: It would be better if you could bring stuff that 170 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: you could plant and grow at your destination. It would 171 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: take up less space and you would become sufficient on 172 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 1: the planet. Also, plants generate oxygen, so that would be good, 173 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: So simulants are good for running those kind of experiments. However, 174 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,560 Speaker 1: simulants tend to leave out the stuff in Martian soil 175 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,719 Speaker 1: that's really harmful to humans. Makes sense, you don't want 176 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: to put human lives at risk while you're running these experiments. 177 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: But actually on Mars it's a different story. You have 178 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: stuff like perchlorate chemicals, so in high concentrations such as 179 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: what you would find in Martian soil, that stuff is 180 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 1: toxic to humans. The good news is it's also a 181 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,439 Speaker 1: common component of rocket fuel, so maybe you could use 182 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: stuff on Mars to help manufacture the fuel you would 183 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: need for a return trip to Earth, but you would 184 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: also need to figure out a way to thoroughly clean 185 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: any component that was to pass from the surface of 186 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,959 Speaker 1: Mars into an inhabited area, as particles of that dust 187 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 1: could be deadly to humans. The percolorates could have other uses, 188 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: like manufacturing oxygen, but we would have to be very 189 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: clever in how we manage our interactions with the Martian 190 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: regulars to avoid the possibility of contaminating any habitats. Uh. 191 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: The stuff can really mess up thyroids, for example. So 192 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,319 Speaker 1: even the dirt on Mars is trying to kill you. 193 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: But wait, there's more. I'll explain in just a moment, 194 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: But first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. 195 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: All Right, So the atmosphere on Mars cannot support life. 196 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 1: There's no liquid water to be found on the planet. 197 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:57,559 Speaker 1: The soil itself will kill you. And then there's radiation. 198 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: So on Earth, our atmosphere and the Earth's magnetic field 199 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:06,439 Speaker 1: or the magnetosphere protect us from the most harmful radiation 200 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: that comes from the Sun and other sources stuff like 201 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,440 Speaker 1: cosmic rays. But as we've mentioned, the Martian atmosphere is 202 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: not so thick, and the planet has a very weak 203 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,680 Speaker 1: magnetic field, so there isn't much protection against radiation. Also, 204 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: the trip to Mars would take months, as we mentioned earlier, 205 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: and during that time you would be on a space 206 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: ship and potentially exposed to incredible amounts of radiation, like 207 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: fifteen times more than the annual radiation limit we put 208 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: in place for people who work at nuclear power plants. 209 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: So the Curiosity Rover, when it was traveling from Earth 210 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: to Mars, monitored how much radiation it was it was 211 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:53,199 Speaker 1: subjected to as it went through that trip, and it 212 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: accumulated the equivalent radiation of twenty four cat scans on 213 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: the duryation of that trip. Oh, and that long trip 214 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: could also cause other problems, not just the radiation. The 215 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,079 Speaker 1: micro gravity, the fact that you are quote unquote weightless 216 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: in space can lead to stuff like loss of bone 217 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: density as well as loss of of muscle tissue. So 218 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: some proposed plans of sending humans to Mars include a 219 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: method of generating artificial gravity, typically by spinning the spacecraft 220 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: so that you have this centripetal force thing going on 221 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: that you would kind of fake gravity, But that also 222 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:40,719 Speaker 1: has challenges associated with it. A big one being that 223 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: if your spacecraft is not large enough, then the the 224 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,679 Speaker 1: radius of rotation it will be so different between your 225 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: feet and your head that probably messy up big time, 226 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: Like it would be very difficult to move around and 227 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: and adapt to that kind of environment. So even creating 228 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: artificial gravity has its own challenges. Cosmic radiation and solar 229 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: particles could continue to cause real problems on the surface 230 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: of Mars even after you've gotten off the spacecraft. The 231 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: threat of radiation is such that exobiologists, as to say, 232 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: scientists who are studying the possibility of life on other 233 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: celestial bodies, have suggested that if any organics still exist 234 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: on Mars, assuming they ever did exist on Mars, they 235 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:33,239 Speaker 1: would likely be several feet below ground because the radiation 236 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 1: would otherwise scour the surface of the planet clean of life, 237 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: at least any kind of life that we would be 238 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: familiar with. So some of those cosmic particles are traveling 239 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: at such speed that when they hit Mars they actually 240 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: penetrate the soil itself and bury themselves in by a 241 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: few feet. So you'd probably have to dig down at 242 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: least a meter or so if you hope to find 243 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: evidence of organic material like the kind we have here 244 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 1: on Earth. All right, So any mission to Mars with 245 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: human beings is going to have to take into account radiation, 246 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: atmospheric issues, landing challenges, water supply, food supply, some means 247 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 1: of cleaning off contaminants to avoid thyroid issues brought on 248 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: by exposure to percolorance. The Hey, we've been to the Moon. 249 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: We can totally do this, right, Well, it's It's certainly 250 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: a goal that several people and organizations have set for themselves, 251 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: though not all of those proposals have been met with enthusiasm. 252 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: Let's take one of the more questionable ones first, because 253 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 1: I remember being incredibly skeptical of it when I first 254 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: heard about it back in two thousand twelve. I'm talking 255 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: about Mars One now. According to co founder Bas Lansdorp, 256 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: he and his co founder ar No Wielders created this 257 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: organization back in two thousand eleven. Their plan was to 258 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: create a project with the goal of sending humans to Mars, 259 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: and it would be a one way trip. Those humans 260 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: were meant to a stay, publish a permanent colony on Mars, 261 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: and they also wanted this project to make use of 262 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,720 Speaker 1: as much existing technology as possible, which would help cut 263 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: down costs. They wouldn't have to do research and development 264 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: on new tech. They wanted to manage this with as 265 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: much existing tech as they could, and they thought by 266 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 1: making it a one way trip and by relying on 267 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: existing technology, they could cut the cost down significantly. They 268 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 1: produced a roadmap back in two thousand twelve with a 269 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: timeline for various key elements they identified as being necessary 270 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: to lead up to the point of sending the first 271 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: crew to Mars. The selection process was to begin in 272 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,280 Speaker 1: two thousand and thirteen. Originally, the company's goal was to 273 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: land a small crew of four people on Mars by 274 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: twenty three. Well it's twenty eighteen now, so we're getting 275 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: pretty darned close to that date. But no worries because 276 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: over time Mars one has pushed that date back more 277 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: than once. The latest version of the roadmap now estimates 278 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: a twenty thirty two touchdown for the first crew mission. 279 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: Between now and then would be other missions to test 280 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: various technologies and to establish communication satellites, as well as 281 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:23,640 Speaker 1: the infrastructure that will be necessary for the colony moving forward. 282 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,679 Speaker 1: News of the project spread very quickly in two thousand twelve. 283 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,200 Speaker 1: Some people thought this was a really interesting idea, some 284 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:37,160 Speaker 1: people considered it interesting but really super ambitious, and some 285 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: felt that it was just whackadoodle crazy talk. Now wrapped 286 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: up with this incredibly challenging goal of getting people to 287 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: Mars safely and then keeping them alive was a reality 288 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: television element. The organization sent out the equivalent of a 289 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: casting call for perspective colonists. So to apply, you were 290 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: so happosed to pay a forty dollar application fee and 291 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,679 Speaker 1: submit your application. Mars one claims that around two hundred 292 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,880 Speaker 1: thousand people submitted applications. I have not found any sources 293 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: to back that up, but if it's true, that means 294 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:18,160 Speaker 1: a cool eight million dollars flooded the organization's coffers. That's 295 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: probably not true. Though NBC counted up the number of 296 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: video applications that were on the Mars one website that 297 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: was part of the application process was submitting a video 298 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,399 Speaker 1: that would be hosted by Mars one. That number was 299 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: two thousand seven two, which is a far cry away 300 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: from two hundred thousand and then the reality television element 301 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,199 Speaker 1: was supposed to kick in during the training process and 302 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,679 Speaker 1: the selection process. There was to be a reality television 303 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,879 Speaker 1: show program that would document all of this, and the 304 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: proceeds the money raised by advertising on that program would 305 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 1: go towards supporting the project. That program never really materialized. 306 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: There were some sort of questionable circumstances around that. I'm 307 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: not going to go into it, but it just sounds 308 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,680 Speaker 1: like things just didn't work out properly. And anyway, even 309 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: if you assume that two hundred thousand people did apply 310 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: as the company suggests, that would still only mean eight 311 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: million dollars and no eight million dollars and a lot 312 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: of money, but it's peanuts when it comes to space travel. 313 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: NASA has estimated that it would cost one hundred billion 314 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: dollars to send people to Mars, although to be fair, 315 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: NASA's estimate also includes bringing them back to Earth, and 316 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,320 Speaker 1: those estimates have ranged from one hundred billion dollars to 317 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: four hundred fifty billion dollars. And keep in mind that 318 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: does include bringing people back to Earth, so that obviously 319 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: adds a lot to the expense, right, And that was 320 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: one of the points that the Mars One folks said, 321 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 1: is that we aren't planning on breaking them back. That's 322 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: where they're gonna live, so we can cut that out 323 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:08,959 Speaker 1: of the the project entirely, but the Mars One estimate 324 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: is that sending the first four colonists will cost six 325 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: billion dollars. That's still an astronomical number pun intended, but 326 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:19,720 Speaker 1: it's just a drop in the bucket of what other 327 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,479 Speaker 1: people have estimated it cost to get a colony started 328 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: on Mars. Mars One's plan is to send up living 329 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: units as in habitats. These sort of like the space 330 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: living rooms. The artists renderings make them look a lot 331 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: like the space capsules from the Apollo missions. They kind 332 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: of have that sort of general shape to them. The 333 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 1: initial habitat would include two living units, to life support 334 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: units and a supply unit, plus a couple of rovers. 335 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: The first rover would actually arrive before anything else, and 336 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: it would be in charge of scouting out a good 337 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: location for the actual colony and then hauling the various 338 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,439 Speaker 1: units like the habitat and life support units to the 339 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 1: appropriate locations at that destination. The project is pretty vague 340 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 1: about a lot of details about stuff that would need 341 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 1: to happen for this to all work, but it doesn't 342 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: make claims that the facilities on Mars would be generating 343 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: oxygen and water by processing the Martians soil and using 344 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: plant systems inside habitats. The colony, according to the company, 345 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: would also make use of inflatable habitats that would provide 346 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,920 Speaker 1: one thousand cubic meters of space. Now, if those were 347 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: on the surface of Mars, you would still have the 348 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 1: problem of radiation to deal with. But one proposed solution 349 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 1: is to send robots up ahead that would dig out 350 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: a space and inflate the habitats inside the holes, and 351 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: that way you would have an underground habitat, and the 352 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: soil of Mars itself could provide protection against radiation, assuming 353 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,680 Speaker 1: you dug down deep enough. But that does present lots 354 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: and lots of other challenges. Also, Mars One isn't in 355 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: the business of making this technology. They plan on contracting 356 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: with other companies to provide spacecraft, launch vehicles rovers that 357 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: kind of thing. As far as I know, there are 358 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: no existing contracts to do any of that right now. 359 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: There were some feasibility studies that were done early on, 360 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,160 Speaker 1: but as far as I can tell, that's all that's happened. 361 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,679 Speaker 1: There's also been no real information about who is developing 362 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,680 Speaker 1: those habitats or what the spacecraft is going to be like, 363 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: or how it will even land on Mars. So, in short, 364 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:40,120 Speaker 1: there's a whole lot of stuff that's like really super 365 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:44,720 Speaker 1: necessary to make sure people don't, you know, die, and 366 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,360 Speaker 1: a lot of it hasn't been talked about at all. 367 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: For those and many other reasons, there are plenty of 368 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,640 Speaker 1: people in the space business who think that Mars one 369 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:59,080 Speaker 1: is at best completely out of its element, that it 370 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: has been enough way more than it can chew. There 371 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:06,360 Speaker 1: are others who worry that it's a total scam and 372 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: not even a legitimate project. More than a few of 373 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,440 Speaker 1: the people who had made it through the initial round 374 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: of the crew selection process have since left the project, 375 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,960 Speaker 1: many of them disillusioned about the lack of information and preparation. 376 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 1: And it may very well be that the founders of 377 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,359 Speaker 1: Mars one are completely sincere in their desire to send 378 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: people to Mars, but it doesn't sound like the work 379 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: that was needed to make that happen and to keep 380 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,760 Speaker 1: people alive has been done, and I seriously doubt it 381 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: will get done. There's also lots of reports about various 382 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,360 Speaker 1: financial problems that the company has encountered over recent times, 383 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:53,159 Speaker 1: so I would be truly shocked if even within the 384 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: next twenty years, this company is able to capitalize on 385 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: on even of the plans they've made. My guess is 386 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: that it will limp around for a bit longer and 387 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: then eventually just sort of fade away and no one 388 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:12,480 Speaker 1: will have heard of it afterward. Uh. But that's a guess. 389 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: They could prove me totally wrong, and I kind of 390 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: hope they do, because it would be incredible, but the 391 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: odds are stacked against them. I have other Mars Colony 392 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: projects to talk about, but before I get into that, 393 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: let's take another quick break to thank our sponsor. Next, 394 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,920 Speaker 1: I want to talk about Mars Direct. This is a 395 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: plan that was developed by Dr Robert Zubrin, and Zubran's 396 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:46,919 Speaker 1: plan would allow humans to not just travel to Mars, 397 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: but to come back from Mars, so this is not 398 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 1: a one way trip situation. To do so, we would 399 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: have to develop methods to manufacture rocket fuel from materials 400 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: on Mars, particularly materials that are found in Mars' atmosphere, 401 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: and he advocates using Martians soil and minerals in it 402 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,359 Speaker 1: for a construction materials, which could be problematic with the 403 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: percolorate issue. And like the Mars One plan, he feels 404 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: that would be important to extract water from the Martians 405 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: soil to support life. But unlike the Mars One Plan, 406 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,840 Speaker 1: he goes into a lot more detail about his ideas 407 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 1: and has a lot more scholarship to back him up 408 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: on many of his plans. So in the Mars Direct Plan, 409 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: the initial plan, the first step was to send an 410 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:40,160 Speaker 1: unmanned spacecraft called the Earth Return Vehicle to Mars. So 411 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: essentially you're putting the the return ship onto Mars's surface. 412 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: That's your first step. And not only would it be 413 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,959 Speaker 1: the spacecraft, it would also the payload would also include 414 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 1: a rover that would be able to travel on the 415 00:25:55,359 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: surface of Mars and do mission parameters or fulfillment and parameters, 416 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,679 Speaker 1: i should say. And then the nuclear reactors that the 417 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 1: Mars Colony would use to process materials to generate rocket fuel. 418 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 1: And the idea would be that between the rover, these 419 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: nuclear reactors, and the return vehicle, you would be able 420 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: to process enough material to fully fuel the return vehicle 421 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 1: and have it ready to go, so that day one, 422 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,199 Speaker 1: when you land on Mars, you've already got your return 423 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: ticket ready. So that was the first part of the plan. 424 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:32,640 Speaker 1: Then you would have a second trip where you would 425 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: send two payloads. Uh. One would be a second Earth 426 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: Return vehicle or e r V, and another would be 427 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: a habitat module that would be a place where people 428 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: would actually live and a few astronauts along the way 429 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: as well. The initial plan was to send four and 430 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: that way you would never have a situation where anyone 431 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,480 Speaker 1: would be alone. People can travel in pairs. The astronauts 432 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: would spend about a year and a half on Mars 433 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 1: before jumping into one of the r v's and returning 434 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 1: home or maybe you know, both if necessary, But that 435 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: would give them plenty of time to work on Mars, 436 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:13,400 Speaker 1: to start setting up the colony and to uh get things, 437 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: you know, really prepared for future trips. And while they 438 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 1: would be returning home, a new crew and new e 439 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: r v s and new habitat units could be traveling 440 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: back toward Mars, because it's taking advantage of that same 441 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: launch window way he talked about earlier, and so you 442 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: would be adding more and more habitat units and Earth 443 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: Return vehicles to the surface of Mars. This would keep 444 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: up a cycle that would allow astronauts to explore more 445 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,880 Speaker 1: and more of the planet and eventually start linking those 446 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: hab units together to create a larger colony that could 447 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:54,679 Speaker 1: be sustainable. And his plan really depends upon us making 448 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: the most out of the materials that are available on 449 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: Mars as aaron. As Mars is, there are a lot 450 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: of ways that we could potentially exploit the material there 451 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 1: to create a colony, and including things like extracting that 452 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 1: water from the soil. So it's a lot of living 453 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: off the land kind of mentality as much as we 454 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: possibly could now. Unlike Mars One, the Mars Direct plan 455 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:24,920 Speaker 1: is just a proposal. It's not a project that's being 456 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,719 Speaker 1: run by a nonprofit that has a for profit element 457 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: that's supposed to handle all the money. That's what Mars 458 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: one is doing. Mars Direct isn't. It's more of an idea, 459 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: a strategy that's advocated by Zubrin and the Mars Society. 460 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: It is not an active organization that's taking investments in 461 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: the supposed effort to send people to Mars. Zubrian has 462 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: proposed it to NASA, and after some initial criticisms about 463 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: the plan, he went back and made some changes to 464 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: his approach. One of those changes became uh the Mars 465 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: Semidirect approach, which would put the Earth returned vehicle not 466 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: on the surface of Mars, but rather insert it into 467 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 1: the orbit around Mars. So the Earth return vehicle, the 468 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 1: return ticket home would be in orbit around Mars. And 469 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,400 Speaker 1: on Mars you would put a different vehicle called the 470 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: Mars Ascent Vehicle, and it's only job would be to 471 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: launch a crew off the surface of Mars into Martian orbit, 472 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: where then it could rendezvous with the e r V 473 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: that was already out in orbit. Astronauts would transfer over 474 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: to the e r V and then they could head home. 475 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: So this way the e r V itself would uh 476 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: would not have to do all the work of liftoff 477 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:46,920 Speaker 1: and then travel all the way to Earth. It would 478 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: already be in orbit. It would mean that you would 479 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: have to already fuel the e r V, most likely 480 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,280 Speaker 1: because it would never be on the surface of Mars, 481 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: so you couldn't build out that fuel depot approach for 482 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: the r V. You could do it for the Mars 483 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: A sent vehicle. However, now it's possible we might see 484 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: a mission similar to what Mars direct or Mars Semidirect proposes, 485 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 1: and there are other suggestions out there as well. So 486 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: NASA looked at this and said, there are some elements 487 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: to here that we think are really interesting, and they 488 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: kind of incorporated that into their own proposed long term 489 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 1: plan for Mars. But there are others who have argued 490 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: for more ambitious plans that would happen sooner than that. 491 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: One guy was Dennis Tito, who founded a nonprofit organization 492 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:42,479 Speaker 1: in ten called Inspiration Mars Foundation, and the plan was 493 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: to fly a crude mission, as in a mission with 494 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 1: people on it, not not crude as in, hey get 495 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: a load of that mission anyway. This plan was to 496 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,920 Speaker 1: send this spacecraft around Mars and then back to Earth, 497 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: so fly by essentially. Initially, the hope was to do 498 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: that by this year and by this year I mean 499 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 1: eighteen when I'm recording this episode. However, that did not 500 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: work out, and the next opportunity to do so at 501 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: the lowest energy expenditure would be in one Tito's organization 502 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,040 Speaker 1: estimated that the cost of this mission would be somewhere 503 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: between one and two billion dollars, and Tito said that 504 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:24,920 Speaker 1: he had secured about three hundred million dollars in potential investments, 505 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:27,560 Speaker 1: but that he would need an additional seven hundred million, 506 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: and he was hoping that the US government would give 507 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: it to him, but Congress said, no, Dice, We're happy 508 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 1: to give you expertise, but no Mullah, And as far 509 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,240 Speaker 1: as I can tell, the project pretty much died out 510 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:46,600 Speaker 1: after that. Then there's Elon Musk and SpaceX. Elon Musk 511 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: has been incredibly bullish on Mars, to say the least. 512 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: In an interview on HBO that happened very recently, Musk 513 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: said he gave himself a seventy percent chance of moving 514 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,959 Speaker 1: to Mars, and in that same interview he said, quote, 515 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: we think you can come back, but we're not sure 516 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: end quote. So in other words, it would be perhaps 517 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 1: a life sentence to Mars that you're going to move 518 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,920 Speaker 1: there knowing that you will die there, and also that 519 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:19,760 Speaker 1: conditions are so harsh that you might die there much 520 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:23,160 Speaker 1: earlier than you would have otherwise. He's very forward about 521 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 1: the whole thing and says, yeah, Mars is dangerous, and 522 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: your risk of death on route to Mars, as well 523 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: as just day to day living on Mars is much 524 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,160 Speaker 1: higher than it would be on Earth. But he still 525 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:39,280 Speaker 1: thinks he's he's got se chance of ending up there. 526 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: So Musk projects that such a trip might be possible 527 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: in less than a decade and might cost around a 528 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: couple hundred thousand dollars once it's turned into a space 529 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 1: tourism kind of thing. SpaceX in general has some big 530 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,480 Speaker 1: Mars plans as well as general plans for a craziness 531 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: in space. In September two eighteen, SpaceX announced a deal 532 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: with Yusaku Mazawa, who had secured a pretty darn exclusive ticket. 533 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 1: Mazawa is going to become the first private passenger to 534 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,840 Speaker 1: fly around the Moon right now. The projection for that 535 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:25,400 Speaker 1: trip is to happen sometime in twenty three. No telling 536 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: how much that ticket cost, but I bet it was 537 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,160 Speaker 1: way more than a couple of hundred thousand dollars. The 538 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,360 Speaker 1: hope is that private space flight will initiate a whole 539 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: trend and that will help fund the development of the 540 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:43,720 Speaker 1: b f R that's the successor to space X's Falcon 541 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: Heavy and Dragon systems. So the Falcon Heavy is a 542 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:51,240 Speaker 1: launch vehicle and the Dragon is a spacecraft capsule. The 543 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: BFR would be a two stage spacecraft. It would consist 544 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:59,240 Speaker 1: of a booster and then the spacecraft itself, and it's 545 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,280 Speaker 1: on a b f R that Musk says he would 546 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 1: travel to Mars, assuming that they're able to complete the 547 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 1: design and testing phase and build out the stuff. Now, 548 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:13,799 Speaker 1: according to the SpaceX site, the BFR is designed to 549 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,879 Speaker 1: quote ultimately carry as many as one people on long 550 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:22,320 Speaker 1: duration interplanetary flights end quote. So this is a beast 551 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,719 Speaker 1: of a spacecraft, much much, much larger than anything we've 552 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:31,280 Speaker 1: ever seen up to this point. SpaceX wants to send 553 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:37,160 Speaker 1: unmanned missions to Mars in twenty twenty two to deliver 554 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:42,400 Speaker 1: components that would be critical. They would they would begin 555 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 1: various processes like mining, life support, and power production on 556 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 1: Mars way ahead of any humans getting there. Then in 557 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 1: four they would follow that up with a mission with 558 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:57,719 Speaker 1: actual human beings on it, and that would have the 559 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:01,719 Speaker 1: goal of building out a propellant deep oh and the 560 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:06,239 Speaker 1: basic colony site, which would grow with subsequent missions. Now, 561 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 1: while all of this sounds pretty incredible, not everyone is 562 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: sold on the idea. Bill Knight, the Science Guy, a 563 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:21,480 Speaker 1: science communicator extraordinaire, has expressed hearty skepticism about colonizing Mars. Now, 564 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,359 Speaker 1: I have not touched on the concept of terraforming in 565 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: this episode. Terraforming is when we try to transform a 566 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:34,359 Speaker 1: planet's environment to make it habitable. Uh so it would 567 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 1: require an enormous amount of energy. We've never done it. 568 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:41,440 Speaker 1: We've never terraformed a planet before. We have certainly affected 569 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,719 Speaker 1: our own planet, but we haven't terraformed another planet. So 570 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 1: we don't even really know how much energy and money 571 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: and resources it would take, but we're guessing it would 572 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 1: be a lot. Bill Knight kind of dismisses this idea 573 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,479 Speaker 1: pretty quickly points out, we're not even able to take 574 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:00,120 Speaker 1: care of the planet we live on now, so if 575 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 1: we can't take care of Earth, what's to suggest we 576 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:08,839 Speaker 1: would make some other inhospitable planet habitable. In addition, nine 577 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: points out how life on Mars wouldn't just be difficult 578 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:18,000 Speaker 1: and dangerous and potentially deadly. It would be relentlessly difficult, 579 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:21,600 Speaker 1: but it would also be monotonous. You would always be indoors, 580 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:25,160 Speaker 1: whether you're inside the habitat or inside a space suit. 581 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:29,239 Speaker 1: You would never be outside outside because you would die 582 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,360 Speaker 1: if you were to ever leave a space suit. You 583 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:33,360 Speaker 1: would have to be in a space suit if you 584 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,440 Speaker 1: were out on the surface of Mars. So your day 585 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:39,319 Speaker 1: to day life would be very monotonous. It would also 586 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:42,040 Speaker 1: get kind of smelly, you know, you don't have a 587 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:47,680 Speaker 1: whole of opportunity to use various systems to clean. You'd 588 00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:49,600 Speaker 1: be using a lot of a breeze. He says he 589 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:51,759 Speaker 1: actually specifically called that out, which I thought was kind 590 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,120 Speaker 1: of funny. You would always be in cramped quarters with 591 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: the same people. You would always be worried about the 592 00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 1: next potential disaster because stuff does wear out or its 593 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:03,319 Speaker 1: stuff becomes less efficient over time and you have to 594 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,160 Speaker 1: replace it. Sometimes that might mean that you need to 595 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:10,000 Speaker 1: do it, you know, in an emergency situation, because it 596 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:14,520 Speaker 1: could be two years before you get more stuff from Earth, 597 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,600 Speaker 1: depending upon where Earth and Mars are in their respective 598 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,040 Speaker 1: orbits and how long ago it was that you got 599 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: your last shipment. So it be super duper hard to do. 600 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:26,799 Speaker 1: And and Bill and I thinks it's just not a 601 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,760 Speaker 1: practical long term endeavor. He does think that humans exploring 602 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: Mars on a temporary basis could be really cool, but 603 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:37,319 Speaker 1: setting up a colony doesn't make much sense personally. I'm 604 00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:43,320 Speaker 1: of two minds honestly about Mars colonies. On the one hand, 605 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,720 Speaker 1: I do think it would be incredibly hard to do 606 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 1: and to make safe and to ensure the survivability of 607 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:53,680 Speaker 1: the colony and the people you send there. I think 608 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,480 Speaker 1: it might be too big of a risk to really 609 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 1: merit going after it. However, that being said, if you 610 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:08,800 Speaker 1: take the challenge of creating a effective colony on Mars 611 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:13,000 Speaker 1: as your goal, then that drives a lot of innovation 612 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:14,920 Speaker 1: because you have to come up with ways to solve 613 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:19,799 Speaker 1: these problems I've been talking about. And so I almost 614 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 1: want to say that taking on the goal of building 615 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,200 Speaker 1: out a colony on Mars is a good idea simply 616 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:31,560 Speaker 1: to drive that innovation and the research and development that 617 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 1: would be necessary to make it happen. But then to say, 618 00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: just kidding, We're not going to do it, but we 619 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:41,160 Speaker 1: are gonna totally take advantage of all this innovation that 620 00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:43,880 Speaker 1: has come up as a result. You look at the 621 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:47,840 Speaker 1: space race between the United States and the Soviet Union 622 00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,160 Speaker 1: that led to the development of lots of technologies that 623 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:56,759 Speaker 1: have had applications well beyond space exploration, and we have 624 00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:01,200 Speaker 1: benefited from that those those uh in the chins. So 625 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,160 Speaker 1: can you even imagine the sort of stuff that might 626 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:09,239 Speaker 1: come out as part of a very focused effort to 627 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:13,720 Speaker 1: make possible a Mars colony. Even if we never establish 628 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:17,400 Speaker 1: a colony on Mars. It could be incredibly beneficial in 629 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,200 Speaker 1: many different ways, ways we can't even anticipate right now, 630 00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:25,320 Speaker 1: So I think ultimately I'm in favor of pursuing the goal, 631 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:31,280 Speaker 1: but also maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism and critical 632 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:35,200 Speaker 1: thinking about whether or not it ultimately makes sense to 633 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:40,320 Speaker 1: actually pull the trigger and go there. Um. It's fascinating 634 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,600 Speaker 1: stuff though. I'm sure that Mars is going to play 635 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:48,640 Speaker 1: an important role in space exploration for the future of humanity, 636 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:50,879 Speaker 1: but whether or not it will be in colony form, 637 00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:53,400 Speaker 1: I don't know. What do you guys think. I'm curious 638 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:57,399 Speaker 1: to hear your thoughts about colonizing Mars. Do you think 639 00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:59,480 Speaker 1: it's worthwhile? Do you think it would be a waste 640 00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: of time and resources? Do you think there's some other 641 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:06,160 Speaker 1: place out in our Solar system or beyond that we 642 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:08,319 Speaker 1: should really be focusing on. Keeping in mind that if 643 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:10,600 Speaker 1: we want to go outside of our solar system, that's 644 00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:14,680 Speaker 1: an even longer trip, which means even more problems with radiation. 645 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:17,719 Speaker 1: But still it's good to think about. Send me a 646 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,920 Speaker 1: message telling me your thoughts. The email address for the 647 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:25,280 Speaker 1: show is tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com. 648 00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:28,560 Speaker 1: You can go on over to tech Stuff Podcast dot com. 649 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:30,799 Speaker 1: That's the website for the show. You can find other 650 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: ways to contact me. You also see a link over 651 00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:36,600 Speaker 1: to t public dot com slash tech stuff. That's our 652 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:40,439 Speaker 1: merchandise store. Remember every purchase you make goes to help 653 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:42,960 Speaker 1: the show, and we greatly appreciate it. And that's all 654 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:51,880 Speaker 1: for me. I'll talk to you again really soon for 655 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,279 Speaker 1: more on this and bothands of other topics. Is it 656 00:40:54,360 --> 00:41:01,000 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com One