Sending humans to Mars is difficult not only from a technical standpoint, for equipment to last several years will be required, but also from a personal perspective; the demands placed on our first visitors to Mars will be great indeed.
How to make the mission function at its best? As we all know, some people just can't get along. Even if you like your colleagues, many months in confined quarters can make the crew irritated and fussy. How should we go about picking a crew? We will have to find groups and individuals who would be optimal. We will also have to ask what problems--biological, social, and psychological--might afflict the crew?
The first few months would become tedious with all the monotonous work which can cause headaches, moodiness, and depression. Problems that might plague the crew on their journey could possibly include isolation, confinement, lack of privacy, and weightlessness.
The Russian space program learned that after thirty days in space their cosmonauts became very hostile toward ground control. They also might become antisocial. We cannot have just a group of people going to Mars. We need a team. A team will subordinate personal prominence and lend an efficiency to the whole.
To reduce hazards, the astronauts would have to do stressful parachute drills and dangerous survival tests. The planners of this trip are hoping that if the supply work changes, nice habitats, interesting recreation, exercise opportunities, and sufficient privacy, this will help the individuals work together smoothly as a team. The crew to Mars will have to be chosen by their individual attributes and their group skills.
The ideal Mars crew would be made up of seven people of both male and female genders who have specific skills, scientific expertise, total dedication, and excellent social skills. We cannot have hermits on a mission to Mars.
Once the astronauts land on Mars the fun will really begin. The astronauts would survey the land and do experiments of durations from as little as ten days to about 18 months. They will use chemically powered jeeps to roam about the surface. They will be able to use a 12-ton stockpile of fuel to roam about 24,000 kilometers to search for past and present life on Mars.
Photo. An artist envisions a colony on Mars. Courtesy of NASA.
Then they would return home, leaving their habitat behind. As soon as this one mission returns, another set is launched. After several missions, we would have bases all around Mars. We would try to "break-in" our trips to Mars by making each mission a little longer than the last. Eventually we shall inhabit Mars!
Once we inhabit Mars, how will we transport materials and people from Earth to Mars? One idea is to have a spacecraft fly on an orbital trajectory between Mars and Earth. It would take advantage of the gravity of each planet to stay on course and to accelerate at each planetary encounter.
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Mission to Mars. An educational site created for the ThinkQuest contest.