Lots of things on Mars already
We, as humans, have already sent many things to Mars. As I write this post, humans have sent 51 successful missions to Mars. But this article is about Humans on Mars – None, Zero.
The USA, Soviet Union, Europe and India have all sent landers and/or robots to the surface of Mars successfully. The first successful landing on Mars was the Soviet Union’s “Mars 3”, which actually landed on Mars way back in 1971. It lasted about 20 seconds after it landed. It sent back a few images, but did not send any data back after that. The ability to land on Mars was established, which was a major achievement and put forward the confidence that we could do it again. “Mars 4” also landed but failed to send back any data. “Mars5” and “Mars 6” were successful. More about that later.
Despite all of those missions and landings, only 3 robots are currently operational on Mars.
What have we learned?
We have learned the challenges of landing on and some insight into surviving on Mars. As with all exploration, it is easy to see that some things are easier than we expected and some things are much harder than we imagined. By going there we understand much, much more about those challenges and about the planet.
One example would be dust storms. When we first went to Mars 50+ years ago, we probably didn’t understand how the dust storms might affect our landers. Now that we have been there several times, we now understand that dust storms in certain places can last for days, weeks or even months. Some storms can completely envelop the planet (2018 for several months). That is not perfect if your very expensive robot is solar powered and cannot see the Sun. When the dust storm is over, you robot that was not able to move could be buried in dust – end of mission.
We continue to devise ways to avoid and survive Mars’ dust storms with our robots and that knowledge will pave the way for future successful missions.
Our Current Robots
Today, we have 3 robots that are generally referred to as “Rovers” and “Landers”. As rovers, they move very slowly around the surface of the planet and gather data which they send back to scientists on earth to investigate. As an example, the Curiosity Rover has travelled less than 20 miles since it landed on Mars – about 2 miles per year (not per hour, you read that right). Stationary craft are referred to as landers and they stay where they land.
- Curiosity Rover – moving ( since 2012) – Launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
- Insight Lander – stationary (since 2018) – launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, USA
- Perseverance Rover – moving (since 2021) with its Ingenuity Drone – launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
Curiosity Rover
Probably considered to be the most successful mission thus far because it has remained operational for such a long time. It is about the size of a medium car and is exploring the Gale Crater and Mount Sharp. It went there because the Gale Crater looks like a [dried up] lake and Curiosity is looking for water. Water would be an essential commodity if humans were to survive on Mars. Humans need to survive on Mars for at least 2 years and cannot travel with 2 years’ of water, but more on that later. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)
Insight Lander
The ‘Insight’ is less about exploring and more about testing. You can think of it as a drilling platform – it is looking for heat, earthquakes and crust movement. Do you remember that lesson about tectonic plates when you were 12 years old? It’s doing that, but on Mars.
Perseverance Rover
The name should tell you a lot about that project. It is there for the long haul. Like Curiosity, it is mid car sized at 1,025kg on Earth, and it is in the Jezero Crater, again thought to have been a lake. It’s primary mission is to find water (there is a theme here). Later missions to Mars will be able to locate Perseverance, grab the samples that it has collected (20 so far), and bring them back to Earth. It will continue grabbing and we will continue collecting. Perseverance! (https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/)
When are Humans going to go to Mars?
The biggest difference between robots going to Mars and Humans going to Mars is that the robots don’t do anything while they are on their way. i.e. they don’t need anything. Humans, on the other hand, need water and food as a minimum.
Key Mars facts to consider
- With current rocket technology, it takes about 7 months to get to Mars when Mars gets closest to us. We have to launch and catch up with it rather than crash head-on into it.
- An Earth year is 365 days. A Mars year is equivalent to 687 Earth days. That means it is only close to Earth approximately every 2 of our years. For part of that time, it is on the other side of the sun and a mission would be impossible.
- Mars’ gravity is about a third of ours. The Moon is about a fifth. When we want to come back from the moon or Mars then it is relatively easy to propel ourselves off of the Mars or Moon surface. When leaving the Moon, Earth immediately starts to pull a lunar lander toward it. That is relatively easy as long as we can slow down as we re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.
- When returning from Mars, Earth’s gravitational pull is not enough to pull a returning Mars lander toward it. Mars would still try to draw the lander back if it did not have enough thrust, so the returning lander would need power/propulsion to escape Mars’ surface. The lander would have been there for 2 years with (with only Solar Power with current technology).
- An average human drinks about 180 gallons of water per year. A two year mission would therefore require at least 360 gallons of water and weigh about 1,500 Kilograms (weighing more than a rover). LEO has a minimum payload cost at present of about $10K per Kilogram. So some rough mathematics gives you a bill of about $15M to get enough water for one person to survive 2 years in space in Low Earth Orbit. The cost for then sending sufficient water to Mars (and back) would be way over $750M for just a single person’s journey.
Why would we want to go to Mars?
- To explore: Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in our solar system. It is a cold, dry, and dusty place with a thin atmosphere. However, it is also the only planet in our solar system besides Earth that has evidence of liquid water on its surface. This makes Mars a prime target for exploration, as scientists believe that water is essential for life.
- To search for life: There is a possibility that Mars once had life, and that life may still exist on the planet today. Scientists are eager to explore Mars in order to search for evidence of life, either past or present.
- To learn more about our own planet: By studying Mars, we can learn more about our own planet and how it formed. Mars is thought to be similar to Earth in its early days, so by studying Mars, we can learn more about how Earth evolved.
- To develop new technologies: The challenges of sending humans to Mars will require the development of new technologies. These technologies could be used to improve our lives on Earth, such as in the areas of medicine, transportation, and energy.
- To inspire future generations: Sending humans to Mars would be a monumental achievement that would inspire future generations to dream big and reach for the stars.
Can humans go to Mars?
Right now, no. Not in my lifetime, without breakthrough technology or discovery of water on Mars.
Our quest to send humans to Mars is the impetus for scientific and technological development. So our goals and desires are correct, but we probably won’t see humans on Mars for a very long time.