While science fiction has long dreamed of a beautiful oceaned oxegynated Mars, the fact is, we will probably always live there in some sort of dome. Be it the relics of a past civilization that daringly took the first steps on the (formerly) red planet, or the desperate struggle to contain their boxed reality against the harsh reality of cosmic existence, at some point in the future, Humans will be there watching and learning about the future of colonization on a cross planetary scale.
The real trick is, that, while colonizers are likely to be a relatively homogenous bunch – hardy space explorers with good intelligence, good body structure, and a desire to work out to maintain them, the rest of humanity blunders on in its mundane pursuits. Money, power, and politics as usual. No matter how many billions pioneers like Elon Musk might throw at the red planet, the fact is, without dedicated explorers, time and money, a colony is simply not going to happen.
For a simple historical analogy, look at the Viking explorers in the New World. With little or no support from home, they were successful in colonizing Greenland and Vinland (North America) but were unable to hold their objectives without support from their homelands. While the lack of hostile natives is a significant factor in any human explorers advantage, the hostile environment of the potential Mars colonists will be a significant disadvantage to them, in much the same way. While locals might not be trying to poke them with pointy sticks, the environment will be, from sandstorms filled with rock sized projectiles to the simle fact that you can’t go outside for a walk. A Martian explorer must maintain the same character as a submariner, willing to work inside in a tiny space for months at a time, and only going outside in limited conditions.
Manned Mars exploration is not as far off as we think it is, but, the logistics behind it are still a long sight away from becoming reality. As mentioned, the Norse attempted to colonize Greenland, and succeded for a time, but, as a self sufficient colony, they failed because of various conditions. While we have their example to point to, and can explore their various attempts to deal with the hostile environment, the limited growing season, and their limited trade with their homeland, the fact is, they were less remote from their homelands as a Martian colony would be to us.
Even with our most advanced propulsion designs which are still on the blackboard, a Martian rescue misison is still days away. So if the atmosphere started to leak, or a fire broke out, those poor colonists would be reduced to waiting for days in an isolated “protection” chamber waiting desperately for the needed supplies to reach them, be it through advanced technology delivery, or a slow chemical rocket dashing through space a few years in the making. One must bear in mind the fact that even if we were to realize the best propulsive designs and be ready to launch them, mission specific parameters, like fire retardant chemicals, or food to replenish a colony that has lost its environmental structure is still a significant barrier. Weeks to months away at best.
So, colonists will have to be a hardy breed. But, somehow, they will need to fabricate their basic necessities from what they have at hand. For this reason, a mission to the poles is more likely to present a tempting target, if for no other reason than the abundance of water. Water can be refined through electrolisys into air, water, and fuel. It is in relatively plentiful quantities at the pole, and a simple distiller powered by a solar or nuclear array can make the colony self sufficient. While the soil of Mars may be unforgiving in growing plants, with enough water and energy pumped into it, it can indeed be the substance that forms life, and re-envigorate a planet that once hosted at least microorganisms, and may still do so.
So, colonists must have enough energy to run a distiller. They must recycle water whenever possible, so that the distiller can keep pace with the colony’s needs. They must grow their own food somehow, be it in the massivve domes that are envisioned in science fiction, or through some sort of innovative engineering technology that does not exist (barring anything I am not aware of yet) Either way, the fact is that the colonists will need food, air, and oxygen.
But, this is a bare bones view. The colonists need more than food on their plates, air to breathe, and water to drink. They are going to be disinterested in exploring without something to aspire to. Perhaps a link to the world wide web (www) will be a boon to them, being able to communicate in a relatively small time with their predecessors on earth, and perhaps even communicating with them in a meaningful way. While televised broadcasts like the Apollo missions will be difficult, because of the time lag, the explorers could still post to social media websites in plenty of time. They could still have one foot in their birth roots, while having their body millions of miles away.
Martian explorers are at first going to be an unhappy bunch, so the inclusion of the world wide web (perhaps in future the solar wide web) will be a boon to them in every way. They will be able to enjoy discussing movies with their earth bound counterparts. They will be able to discuss news and politics. They will even be able to voice their opinion back home, an option that the Viking explorers of so many millenia ago simply did not have. It will become a necessity, simply for the explorers and colonizers to feel that they have some sort of link to the planet that birthed them.
Mars is not a pretty place, for people, for explorers, or for life. But, the fact is, it exists and it deserves our research efforts. But, we must be cautious to make sure that every need of future explorers are met. Countless sailors in the past have met an unpleasant death through isolation, boredom, or simply not being able to cope with the long periods of isolation that come with being alone on a boat in the middle of an ocean. Mars has these same difficulties ten fold. We must ensure that we provide as much meaning to the explorers as they have energy to explore. Because a depressive astronaut will be a horrible distraction in an isolated situation with a limited amount of people. We must ensure that the colonists have everything they need to survive.
This means they should be able to manufacture anything that they need. While this capability is probably impossible for the first few colonizers who arrive, it is something that cannot be neglected. There is no point to sending astronauts to Mars without an escape program. As the Vikings in Greenland proved, when isolated, humanity will try to protect what it has, but, will ultimately collapse. Without the industrial capability to provide their own boosters, their own rockets, and their own engineering, the future Mars explorers will be trapped on a planet that they cannot escape from without Earths help, and likely with budget cuts and space program subsidies dwindling, they must be able to assure their own self sufficiency.
So, to add to our grab bag, we must include food, water, air, and the ability to manufacture fuel and transport in their bucket list. Because without it, we would face a slowly stagnating economy, driven to madness, stuck on a red rock millions of miles away from the rest of civilization, desperately clinging to whatever is left as human beings. Any successful mission must include the world wide web as a medium to communicate with fellow humans in order to assure the explorers well being, and also to share information, technology, and developments. Because eventually, no matter how hardy the Martian colonist, they are going to want to be able to enjoy a simply luxury like a grill.
Eventually the Martian economy might be built up to the point where it is self sufficent, and provides itself with enough food, water, and distractions to become a fully functioning diverse society. At that point, it will be able to look back on Earth as a founder, although not as an equal. What might the future look like where succesful colonists of Mars look back on Earth as the cradle of their civilization, but, aloft and bred apart from it? This will be a fundamental question answered in future works from other authors. But, it will be a question that will be necessary if we are supposed to be an advanced species, and do succesfully propogate life to other worlds. How will a Martin react to an Earth born person immigrating into their culture? How will they see future colonists of other celestial bodies? Will they see themselves as a distinct tribe, or will they welcome any and all to share in their meager resources (likely meager because of their initial starting block of resources)
In colonizing Mars, humanity will be able to see itself in its most extreme environment. Hopefully we can learn to wrok together, and make a place where its residents will be pleased to call home, rather than a tribal and isolated society, such as the Pacific Islanders or Vikings experienced. Either way, the Mars colonists will have to deal with things that were never anticipated in their original mission parameters, and without adapting, they will die. So a hardy bunch will be needed, indeed, not only to cope with their social stresses, but, also to cope with dealing with communicating with earth, perhaps with antiquated technology, and still forging ahead with their own celestial mission.
Mars is not to be colonized lightly. But, it will be a reward that humanity can look on with pride. Though we are a tribal race, and exist from one quarrel to another, perhaps we can send the best of ourselves to another planet, who will learn to cooperate together, and become a more cohesive society than the nations and states that we currently operate on. They might one day rise to become their own tribe, and be able to manufacture their own means of transportation. Perhaps some day, they will come back to us, and look on us with new eyes.
And what will they see then?
jayrsworld 