Mars’ Big Problem (Does Elon Know?)
Mars in incredibly inhospitable, possibly more than you think
So, you’ve heard of SpaceX’s plans to send us to Mars and build a long-term base. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Pioneering humanity into an interplanetary species! But there is one glaring problem with Mars that few people are talking about. It isn’t the toxic soil, deadly radiation, pathetic atmosphere, weak gravity or minuscule amount of water. Even if we solved all these problems, Mars still wouldn’t be a comfy home.
The problem is power. You need a lot of energy to sustain us humans, particularly on a planet as inhospitable as Mars. The Red Planet is cold, toxic and airless compared to Earth, which means we need an awful lot of life-support once we get there. The base will not only need to be pressurised, but the levels of CO², oxygen and nitrogen continuously need to be balanced out, all while the base is kept warm from the frigid temperatures outside. Food and water will also need to be grown, distilled and recycled to keep our pioneers alive. All of this takes quite a bit of power. Not to mention the coffee consumption you would need just to stay sane while living.
It is estimated that a Mars base would need around 90 kW of power per person for a 12 person mission or 1,080 kW of power overall. That is roughly the same power…
