Now that Elon Musk sent his Tesla roadster en route to Mars.;Are we ready to colonize Mars?
Well before the time when science sprung into existence, the red planet had already captivated our curiosity and the imagination.
No other planet in our solar system has enticed the earthlings as much as Mars. Amenable earthlings have spent billions of dollars trying to understand Mars. We have already sent about 40 spacecrafts to the Red Planet as a germane response to the prospect that life may have once existed on Mars.
Now that we have figured out that Mars is just a terrain of rocks, sand and some ice at the poles, we have lately been thinking of colonizing mars. Even the Hollywood suddenly seemed interested by the prospect of colonizing Mars. “Martian” the movie where the protagonist survives against all odds in the Red planet by exploiting science when he had very limited resources cleverly kept us thrilled and ravenous for more.
Now, After hearing about Elon Musk’s Mars colonization plan. It appears to us that its actually possible to colonize Mars in the next 5–6 years. But can we?
Before we come to a conclusion we should have a better look at the challenges involved in colonizing mars.
The Radiation levels on Mars: Radiation on the surface of Mars is more than twice of what the international space station is exposed to. Because of the exposure to energized particles. The colonists would suffer a reduced life span. How pleasant would it be to walk around Mars with a heavy metallic shielded suite.
The atmosphere on Mars: The atmosphere of Mars has no breathable amounts of oxygen. So the colonists would have to carry oxygen cylinders together with suit to protect them from radiation. This will make it very cumbersome for them to move around with ease in the surface of Mars
The biggest challenge
Social Isolation: The colonists in Mars will be isolated from the community on the earth. This can lead to Psychological changes that can mentally degrade colonists.
Loss of privacy: When the colonists are busy building a colony and surviving in mars, the earth will be watching them 24/7. Surveillance is already known to cause depression. This can degrade their psychological state further.
The travel time: It would at least take 150 days to reach the surface of the Red planet from our home. It will be difficult for the astronauts to cope up with this long Journey, both psychologically and biologically.
At present, we don’t have the necessary effective and long lasting solutions that solve these challenges. An odyssey to colonizing Mars seems like a very far off goal.
