It is, essentially, a pressurized container of fluid, and gravity pulls those fluids down to our feet. The human body is designed around gravity. The passengers are kept busy with a daily routine of exercise, chores, and medical checks, all of which is meant to keep themselves, and their companions, physically and mentally fit. The days of gnawing zero-G nausea can meld together, separated only by interior lights approximating Earth’s solar cycle.
Getting to Mars requires a journey of around 35 million miles, representing at least six months on a likely cramped, regimented vessel. NASA’s Human Research Program rates “isolation and confinement” as one of the key threats to human health during long-duration spaceflight. Staring at something, anything, beyond the confines of the spaceship bulkheads is a welcome relief for the mind as well as the eyes. Why take the species this far without granting them the ability to see, with their own eyes, where they’re going? It’s also a sign of humans’ psychological frailty. The quartz can withstand heating and cooling without cracking, but each window represents an interruption in the structural integrity of the hull.Įach porthole is a symbol of stubborn, human defiance and biocentrism. It’s just wide enough for a single person to get a glimpse, and she can’t help but wonder if this narrow view of deep space was worth the cost and risk. Jonathan Bartlett Part One: Perilous Voyage From inside the ship’s recreation room, the Mars-bound geologist can see a landscape of motionless stars through a high-impact quartz glass porthole.
Around the face of mars full#
From the moment the spacecraft leaves Earth, each step of colonization will be defined by the engineering that is meant to let settlers live a full life on Mars. Getting things to “work out” on Mars will mean designing a generation of new equipment, spacecraft, landers, and infrastructure to deliver and support permanent residents on an alien world. “It’s going to be tough going, but it will be pretty glorious if it works out.” There’s a good chance you’ll die,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk told a conference in September 2020. “This is a very hard, dangerous, and difficult thing, not for the faint of heart. And the first humans could land as soon as 2029, if SpaceX can keep its ambitious timeline to settle Mars. Undaunted, engineers today are developing solutions that could lead to Martian funerals tomorrow. And the longer people stay on Mars, the greater the challenges grow. The hazards-the journey through space, treacherous landing, and brutal realities of life on an alien planet-are formidable. Dying on Mars means living on Mars, and that our species has mastered the dangers the Red Planet poses. Any remaining solids are transferred to compost bins to eventually form building materials like walls, deck planks, and particle boards. Nitrogen is a key component of chlorophyll, making this a valuable addition to the fertilizer used to grow Martian crops. The remaining liquid becomes fertilizer along with the bones, which are heat-dried and crushed into a nitrogen- and mineral-rich powder. The broth is piped to the colony’s anaerobic digester, where microorganisms break down biodegradable waste to produce methane gas that will fuel spacecraft and other vehicles.
After about 12 hours of pressure-cooking alkaline hydrolysis, the pod drains with an automated whoosh, leaving only the bones.
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