Originally Posted by :
For years, there's been talk of one day mankind living on Mars.
And in recent times, with the likes of Elon Musk seemingly on a one-man crusade to get there first, it looks like it might happen fairly soon.
But according to one of the most recent studies into the viability of human life on the Red Planet, it might not be as easy as you'd think.
Yep, research carried out by team at UCLA looked to answer two key questions - the first being around the impact of particle radiation and whether it would pose too grave a threat to human life.
The second was whether the timing of a mission to Mars could protect astronauts and the spacecraft from radiation?
To answer both questions, the scientists used geophysical models of particle radiation for a solar cycle and models of how radiation could affect both human passengers and a spacecraft.
Now, the good news is that the answers to their two questions were 'no' and 'yes', respectively.
According to the scientists' calculations, the spacecraft should provide enough protection during the round trip to and from Mars for the astronauts.
However, if the material the spacecraft is built with is too thick, then it could actually increase the amount of secondary radiation.
They also noted that this would largely be dependent on the timing of the mission as well.
Researchers claimed the best time to leave Earth would be when the solar activity is at its peak.
This is because during the 'solar maximum' the most dangerous particles are deflected, thus shielding the astronauts from the worst of it.
On the other hand, the bad news is that experts recommended humans should spend no longer than four years on any mission to the planet.
According to the study, which was published in the Advancing Earth and Science Journal, beyond this point, the levels of radiation become unsafe.
It reads: "Our calculations clearly demonstrate that the best time for launching a human space flight to Mars is during the solar maximum, as it is possible to shield from Solar Energetic Particles.
"Our simulations show that an increase in shielding creates an increase in secondary radiation produced by the most energetic GCR, which results in a higher dose, introducing a limit to a mission duration.
"We estimate that a potential mission to Mars should not exceed approximately four years.
"This study shows that space radiation imposes strict limitations and presents technological difficulties for the human mission to Mars, such a mission is still viable."
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Yep. It's a near certainty a planet-killer asteroid will hit Earth over just the next million years or whatever. Way before the Sun expands into a red giant and swallows the Earth or any other natural calamity.
Beginning to look like we'll have to leave the solar system to find another long-term habitable planet.
There is absolutely no way civilization doesn't kill itself before then. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
Everyone is missing the obvious solution here. There's enough raw material on Earth to build another earth. We just have to start bringing dirt and rock up into orbit and then coagulate it in another place. It'll get easier to do that as the original Earth starts getting smaller.
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Probably it'll be ourselves. Though a planet-killer rock could hit us at any time really. Just in the last decade there have been at least a dozen rocks that have passed by closer than the Moon's orbit. And those are just the ones we saw. Probably many more we didn't see.
I’m going with AI and Skynet becoming self aware - machines taking over. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Fish:
Human brain, nervous system, installed in a robot body. Easy peasy.
Send sperm/egg, build artificial womb, genetic modification to allow radiation exposure and breathe limited atmosphere. Instant Martians...
We really need to get going on that warp technology or we aren't going anywhere ourselves. Transporters are going to be a real problem until we can build the Heisenberg Compensator... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bowser:
So naturally I'm wondering what they've discovered on Mars that would want them to keep the rest of us away from it.
They want to keep us away from Mars because if we established a colony there we could send a mission from Mars to Uranus. Uranus is what they’re trying to keep us away from. Uranus is filled with vast deposits of oil.
But don’t worry, no one is going to ask you any questions about what it was being used for. That’s classified information. [Reply]
Originally Posted by JohnnyHammersticks:
They want to keep us away from Mars because if we established a colony there we could send a mission from Mars to Uranus. Uranus is what they’re trying to keep us away from. Uranus is filled with vast deposits of oil.
But don’t worry, no one is going to ask you any questions about what it was being used for. That’s classified information.
So you're saying keeping us away from Uranus is a pro-state policy? [Reply]
