Should We Colonize Mars?

Experiments were conducted to see if any earth organisms could survive in the Martian atmosphere. It turned out that methanogens, which are organisms that use hydrogen for energy and carbon dioxide as their carbon source could survive on Mars. The by-product of these organisms is methane. These organisms are found on earth in places like swamps and marshes. It is interesting that scientists think they have detected methane in the past near caves on Mars. Could there already be organisms of this type on the Red Planet? methanogens are one of the oldest types of organisms on Earth. Methanogens don’t require oxygen and can live without nutrients. A doctoral student stated, "These organisms are ideal candidates for life on Mars. All methanogen species displayed survival after exposure to low pressure, indicated by methane production in both original and transfer cultures following each experiment. This work represents a stepping-stone toward determining if methanogens can exist on Mars."

We have a connection to Mars and have had it since the first time a caveman looked into the sky and saw a red dot moving through the heavens. The interest was so great ancient races thought Mars was a god of some kind. After the telescope was invented we started studying Mars and came to the conclusion it could be inhabited and canals existed all over the planet. Intricate drawings were made of these features, but as technology increased we got better looks at the planet not only from bigger telescopes, but also with probes. We now know there are no canals, but Mars is no less mysterious. Many people believe we are not getting the entire story and there are ruins on Mars which prove there was a prior civilization which lived on the planet and it may have moved to earth or even to other planets not necessarily in our solar system. Many scientists want to terraform Mars which would eventually make it habitable to humans again. There is even no shortage of volunteers to go there even if it is just a one way trip.

We can’t hold back progress even though some experts are doing their hardest to keep advanced technology from us. History has taught us it is almost impossible to keep the genie in the bottle after the bottle is opened. In other words once you invent something, no matter how careful you are to protect it, it will usually emerge. It can be delayed however and I believe we have enough technology which if put into the public domain would allow us to easily get to Mars and much further. One of the most important things is speed. The reason speed is so important is it allows for much less exposure to the radiation of space. If a ship takes 9 months to get to Mars, the crew is going to be exposed much more than a crew who was able to reach Mars in a day or so. There has also been many rumors about a plasma shield. This is not a shield like the one we see on Star Trek, it is a shield to protect people from radiation and is said to use a cold plasma which is somehow electronically charged. If we could eliminate the exposure to radiation the speed would not be as important as it relates to radiation exposure. We would still want to get to Mars as fast as we could for the sake of efficiency.

What would life on Mars be like? If the planet is terraformed to be Earth like, one would think life would not be too much different, but there would be changes. The gravity on Mars is 62% lower than it is on Earth. What would this mean to colonists? I would imagine as time goes by the people living on Mars would become weaker than their counter parts on Earth. They would not need to use the same effort to get around or conduct their daily chores. The devices on Mars we use on Earth would weigh 62% less, so if one was to lift a window air conditioner into place on Earth which weighed 65 pounds on earth, the effort you would have to expend on Mars to do the same thing would be equivalent to lifting something weighing only a little under 25 pounds. Multiply this type of thing throughout your lifetime and you can see how people’s muscles would get weaker. If we colonized a planet which had more gravity than Earth, assuming we could live there, because the gravity increase would not be too great, eventually the people there would probably get stronger.

Since there are no oceans on Mars, at least not on the surface, Mars has about the same land area as Earth even though it is smaller. Both Mars and Earth are terrestrial planets and are made of rock and metal. Mars has no magnetic field. This is a problem for colonists. The magnetic field on Earth protects us from most of the solar wind. The solar wind contains charged particles and contains harmful ultraviolet radiation. Something else would have to be constructed to protect the planet, or at least a part of the planet where the colonists would live. The surface of Mars doesn’t change much because the planet is not anywhere as dynamic as the Earth, due to the fact there are no plate tectonics going on. The surface of Mars is just one thick crust. This is the reason some of the volcanoes on Mars have gotten so big. This is also a gold mine for archaeologists since not much changes on the surface except for volcanic eruptions and the steady beat of radiation. The Curiosity Rover has taken radiation measurements on Mars and we have found out it varies a lot. Colonists will need radiation proof shelters to live in.

Some scientists are saying we will have to monitor things like solar flares and such to protect colonists on Mars. The answer is to terraform Mars and create an atmosphere with an ozone layer. This does not solve the problem of no magnetic field on Mars. Animals and organisms on Earth have a history of adapting. If we look at some spots on Earth we find life thriving in some conditions we thought were impossible just a few years ago. Life has been found living in boiling water near ocean vents and inside rocks. Who knows what would eventually happen to colonists on Mars and their descendants? They could eventually develop into a race of humans who have quite a few differences from the rest of us living on Earth.

It could turn out if we colonize Mars we are not only opening up a new planet for human life, but we are also creating a new branch of the human race. We would not notice it immediately, but over time I think there would be a lot of changes.