No. 155 / Dec 6, 2021
Humans are naturally curious about things that we cannot immediately be seen. People have long shown interest in living on Mars, beyond mere exploration. Now, it is up to the giants to make this happen. Among them, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX’s joint Mars residence project is drawing global attention. They have built civilian spacecraft, launched them to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time in human history, and succeeded in docking, raising interest in manned Mars exploration as well as space commercialization.
Why Mars?
Mars is considered to be a planet holding a high possibility of human migration and settlement. This is because Mars has a solid surface, and Mars’ soil can also be used as a building material. In addition, the tilt of Mars’ axis of rotation is 25 degrees, very similar to that of the Earth, so similar seasonal changes can be observed. It is also advantageous to send transport ships or space shuttles because it is much closer to Earth than other planets.
Limitations
Mars has a very barren environment for humans and other life forms. Mars’ surface temperature is much lower than on Earth, and its gravity is less than 40% that of Earth’s and its atmosphere is very thin. Mars has no magnetic field, so it does not provide a natural barrier against ultraviolet radiation or high-energy particles from space. For these reasons, no traces of life are currently found on Mars. In addition, a transport ship must be sent to Mars, which takes five to six months, and it would not be easy to build a base camp because we would have to prepare it during this period.
Progress
Since self-sufficiency on Mars is practically difficult, to build a base camp, it would be necessary to receive supplies via transport ships sent from Earth. Blue Origin is building a transport plane to travel to Mars, and SpaceX has sought to receive technology transfer from NASA. Currently, NASA has the technology to create a base camp as well as the technology for manned space shuttles to travel to and land on Mars.
Goal
SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s ultimate goal is for mankind to migrate to Mars. Musk has vowed to send humans to Mars by 2024, and ultimately he plans for humans to live on Mars through terraforming, a plan to create an environment similar to Earth’s.
SpaceX plans to be selected and participate in the lunar landing ship project of the Artemis program promoted by the United States (U.S.) government; however, Elon Musk’s goal is Mars. Despite the lack of technology and high cost of a manned Mars exploration, Elon Musk’s success suggests that Mars exploration will become a reality.
By Park Se-jeong, AG Cub Reporter
summer06@ajou.ac.kr
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