• Question: can we go to mars as astronauts?

    Asked by to Clara, Simon, Thomas on 20 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Simon Albright

      Simon Albright answered on 20 Mar 2014:

      Currently no but they are looking for people to do it.

      I saw an advert recently from a group looking for people to make a one way trip to Mars. Not something I’d want to do but pretty impressive.

      I think in the future it’ll almost be routine. We have the International Space Station where astronauts can live for a couple of weeks at a time. I think the next step will be a permanent moon base and then a Mars base.

    • Photo: Clara Nellist

      Clara Nellist answered on 20 Mar 2014:

      Technically yes, we can. There are some companies talking about doing so, but no one has done it yet.

      We have a ability to send a spaceship to Mars and to land on the planet, but there are improvements that need to be made to make the journey comfortable for the astronauts on the way. Also, since it’s a long trip in space, we need to think about the cosmic radiation that the astronauts would be hit with. This radiation is out there all the time, but we’re protected on the Earth by our magnetic field. On a spaceship, the astronauts would have this protection, so we need to think of other ways to keep them safe. There’s also the issue, like Simon said, of getting back. It’s very difficult to launch a rocket from another planet, because the setup wouldn’t be there. This is why some companies are currently talking about a one-way trip!

      Did you know that there was an experiment to see how astronauts would do on the trip out. They took 5 volunteers and kept them in a mock version of a spaceship for the time it would take to get to Mars. Then they let them out for a little while in the desert (in spacesuits, of course!) and then they had to sit in the spaceship again. In total this took 500 days!

    • Photo: Thomas Elias Cocolios

      Thomas Elias Cocolios answered on 20 Mar 2014:

      We have already sent a few rovers to prepare for that and many people are talking about it.

      I read in the news this morning that the Mars One project has received 200,000 applicants willing to go on a 1-way trip to Mars! The idea would be to use parts of the ship to make up the base, so you would not be able to leave after that. They have already trimmed down the list to 1058 participants, of which 24 will be chosen by 2015. The plan is to take off in 2025.

      You have to remember that Mars is quite further from Earth than the moon is and it might take over a year just to go there! You’d better be sure that you like your ship mates because you are going to spend a lot of time with them!

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