The saying ‘men are from mars’ could become a fact in the not too distant future. With climate change continuing to worsen and the effects becoming more apparent, many are looking for solutions. One of the main causes is the overpopulation of our planet. While many are looking to make our planets population more sustainable, with things such as renewable energy and veganism, some are thinking outside the planet. Scientists have been looking to Mars to see whether humans could in some way inhabit the planet.
There are some obvious setbacks to the possibility of inhabiting mars. The first is getting there, which no human has managed to do... yet! With current spaceships it is estimated that on average it would take around nine months to get to Mars. However, Richard Branson and Elon Musk have both been looking into ways to make travelling to Mars easier. Some people have even bought their tickets to be on the first commercial ‘flight’ to Mars, despite not knowing for certain that it will happen and when. Once we get there we then need to figure out how we will live there. There are signs of ice on Mars, which we could melt for water and, thanks to advancing technologies, we are likely to be able to build habitable accommodation and grow our own food there.
Living on Mars is looking more and more possible, but would you want to live there? Here are some facts that might affect your decision: • Due to Mars being further from the Sun than the Earth is, expect much lower temperatures. At Mars’ equator temperatures can reach highs of 20°C, however, at its poles, you can expect lows of -140°C. • The Sun apparently appears half the size on Mars than is does on Earth but it does have two moons. • A day on Mars is only 37 minutes longer than a day on Earth – an extra 37 minutes of sleep per day maybe? • A year is almost twice as long consisting of 687 earth days – so technically everyone on Mars will be almost half as old as those on Earth. • Mars has the largest dust storms in the solar system, often lasting months and covering the whole planet. • Mars is actually smaller than the earth but they have similar land masses.
Life on Mars doesn’t seem too bad I guess. Perhaps our days on Earth are already limited and the best chance of human survival is to set up ship on Mars. Looks like our offices may be moving to Mars – see you in outer space, where we will still take calls for you and your business 24 hours 37 minutes a day, 687 days a year.