The Future of Humans on Mars

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Back: The First Manned Mission the Mars

This first mission will accomplish many things for future missions to Mars. First, it will leave behind the cargo and fuel ships, which may make another mission much cheaper. Also, with the information provided by the experiments, future missions can upgrade the fuel ship so that it does not need hydrogen to produce fuel. Instead, it will use Martian water.

Future missions will also carry refineries capable of manufacturing materials such as glass and metal from the Martian environment. This, along with some construction equipment and small factories, can be used to build permanent structures. At this point, it will become the first permanent Martian base.

As this permanent base grows, and as other bases are established, the people living on Mars may decide to terraform it. Terraforming is the process of making a planet to be Earth-like, and capable of supporting terrestrial life. In order to terraform Mars, several microwave heaters would be placed on the polar ice caps in order to thaw out enough CO₂ to thicken the atmosphere, increase the pressure, and raise the temperature.

As soon as the atmosphere is thick enough, water will begin to thaw around the equator of the planet. When this happens, lichens and cyanobacteria will be planted on Mars to begin photosynthesis and to break rocks up into nutrient-rich soil.

When enough liquid water accumulates, various types of Algae and Plankton can be added. After that there will be other organisms, in the order that they can survive on the planet. At first, most of the species added will be from the Arctic, especially in the Tundra(a cold and desertlike environment, much like conditions on many parts of Mars). Although it will probably take hundreds, if not thousands of years, the end result is worth it: A miniature version of Earth capable of supporting human life.

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