All of us are well aware that Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX has been striving on his long-term mission of Mars Colonization. The spacecraft company has been working its best to make a successful launch of its satellites on Mars. Elon Musk also had a plan of transporting millions of people from Earth to Mars in the next ten years.
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What is the reason behind NASA not sending humans to Mars?
NASA played a very important and crucial role in sending rockets from Earth to the moon. It has made several successful launches to the moon and even carried human astronauts from Earth to the moon. However, several rumors are coming out about NASA not being able to send humans from Earth to Mars.
Some claim that it is the distance between the two planets that is causing the major problem to design a spacecraft that carries humans for such a long distance. On the other hand, some people brought up a doubt that there might be some kind of virus present on the red planet making it unsuitable for humans to live and might affect the lives of the astronomers who reach there.
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What is the plan made to send satellites from Earth to Mars?
It is a well-known fact that all the planets revolve around the sun all the time. So, this also states the fact that Earth and Mars being planets, will revolve around the sun all the time. Scientists, on the other hand, are looking at the major scope of utilizing this revolution as a key part of their Earth to Mars mission.
So the scientists are planning to utilize this situation when Earth and Mars would get the closest to each other during their revolution around the sun. If the planets are closest to each other, then this would reduce the impact of long-distance travel which has been a major reason behind the delay in designing a spacecraft to carry humans from Earth to Mars.
When do Earth and Mars get the closest to each other?
Scientists say that as part of their revolution around the sun, the Earth and Mars would get the closest to each other every 24 months. So if at all a mission is made to land on Mars then it has to be done during this time when the planets are closest to each other.
When will the Mars mission be started to make it successful?
Since the two planets get closest to each other every 24 months, the mission to Mars must start at least two years before the launch is planned. This period would make sure that everything is perfect concerning the spacecraft as all tests and reviewing can be performed in a full-fledged manner.
It is also estimated that it would take about eight months for any spacecraft to travel from Earth to Mars. So there should be proper equipment and materials like the food provided to the astronauts for all this period.
Why can’t Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket make a successful landing on Mars?
To make a successful launch of any rocket on any planet there needs to be a soft landing of the satellite on the planet’s surface. However, this soft landing of the satellite is completely based on the atmosphere in which the satellite travels.
Research says that there might be a necessity for a huge parachute that could control the speed of the satellite during its landing time. But this is considered impossible as the parachute to handle a satellite is very huge and is thus very difficult to build.
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The colonization of Mars and its major problems
There are multiple organizations that are working on the only mission of colonizing Mars. But no person has set his foot on the red planet to date. There are several reasons behind colonizing Mars like the curiosity of humans to know in-depth information rather than the ones conveyed by the rovers, the economic interest in the resources that might be present there, and majorly to check the possibility of human settlement on other planets.
Some of the difficulties that might arise during the Mars Colonization include radiation exposure call making a trip to Mars and on the other hand there might be conditions like lower gravity, toxic soil, lack of water, the isolation that the astronauts might face because of the large distance between Mars and earth and the cold temperatures that might be present on Mars surface.
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Is Mars having suitable conditions for human settlement on it?
It is said that the conditions on the surface of Mars are almost closer to the conditions that are present on earth in terms of temperature and sunlight. However Mars’s surface is said to be non-hospitable to humans because of the radiation present on its surface, and an atmosphere that consists of only 0.16% of oxygen and finally it also has a greatly reduced air pressure. All these together might affect the lives of astronauts who might place their foot on Mars’s surface.
What are the chances of Mars travel affecting the whole planet i.e., Earth?
The robotic spacecraft that ought to be sent to Mars must have at least three lakh spores on the exterior of the craft and it needs to be completely sterilized if the spacecraft is to come in contact with the water present on Mars surface. If this is not done then there is a risk of contaminating the planet itself keeping the life detection experiments aside.
Is it a major problem to arrange the equipment that helps the astronauts travel to Mars?
Since the Earth to Mars journey takes a very long time the astronauts traveling require a lot of utilities like oxygen, waste disposal, water recycling, and sanitation. There should also be a lot of storage facilities arranged and an airlock is needed in order to manage the dust and for pressurization.
One of the major material requirements is the fuel that is needed to travel from Earth to Mars. A lot of fuel is required for the journey and there should also be certain supplements that can provide the fuel to the spacecraft in the middle of the journey.
All these issues might be the reason why the colonization of Mars is a difficult task for Elon Musk’s SpaceX as most of them require millions of dollars and despite spending a lot of money, there is no guarantee for the safety of human life after reaching Mars.
Conclusion
It is estimated that the time to receive a signal or message from Mars to Earth or vice-versa is about seven minutes when both the planets are closest to each other. On the other hand, if the planets move away from each other then the time duration to send messages may take up to 24 minutes which is very long.
This might be a major problem because if there is any kind of emergency caused then it would delay the action to be taken during that time thus ultimately risking the lives of the astronauts.