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triceratops 1 hours ago [-]
Reading idlewords' blog (specifically https://idlewords.com/2025/02/the_shape_of_a_mars_mission.ht...) has convinced me that human exploration of Mars is infeasible without drastic advances in space propulsion. If the journey takes over a month it's not happening.
m4rtink 56 seconds ago [-]
Why is a flight longer than a month problem ? It will be much longer, more like half a year one way.
On the other hand, uninterrupted (orbital) spaceflight record now stands at 437 days, so we know humans can do it.
mallory854 58 minutes ago [-]
Since the gravity is so different on Mars, I assume eventually born-Martians will evolve differently from earthlings. They'll be taller and thinner and require less oxygen. One day, when earthlings and Martians mate, there's going to be a new species. How cool is that?
ramses0 58 seconds ago [-]
"The Expanse" (or: "Leviathan Wakes" by James S. A. Corey).
They talk about "living at the bottom of the well" within our solar system (gravity well, that is). Mars effectively "divorces" from Earth (no kings / 1776, plus they need to be 100% self-sufficient), casually called "Dusters" presumably due to the Martian dust.
People working on the asteroid-based bases (in our "Asteroid Belt") are called "Belters".
Then also read: "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein, where humanity colonizes "Luna" and have "Loonies" for relatively obvious reasons.
Both books delve a bit into the physiological changes but also the socio-political ramifications of humanity in space, and both are _excellent_ reads!
altern8 44 minutes ago [-]
Why would anyone want to move to Mars?
It's like moving to a desert.
mallory854 1 hours ago [-]
Fascinating. I first heard of this terraform idea a few years ago. Question - how do we get the ice to melt enough to have something similar to oceans?
mrkeen 3 hours ago [-]
Build MarsX and hope they can one day get over to Earth
bee_rider 2 hours ago [-]
It sounds not as bad as Moon dust. Realistically the Mars is about as habitable as the Moon, not habitable. So it’ll be a one-off problem.
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3 hours ago [-]
ButlerianJihad 2 hours ago [-]
The question in my mind in 2026 is how astronauts will walk on two legs.
Look at astronauts who exited the Gemini capsules or even the Space Shuttle orbiter, and see how they could, more or less, walk around and deal with Earth gravity.
Now, compare the ISS expedition astronauts. They are carefully extracted by a team of strong people. They are immediately placed on medical gurneys for transport. Nobody from ISS stands upright or walks unassisted. They will suffer vertigo, no matter what.
Furthermore, NASA restricts their activities for months afterwards. No jogging. They will be re-learning how to shower and brush their teeth! Any task that was different in microgravity will challenge them anew.
Now a Mars journey is 6 months, one way. There will be no spinning the capsule and no constant 1G acceleration with actual technology. So without science fiction, in the real world, astronauts would face a debilitating environment of zero-G that would reduce them to toddler status at their destination.
That, not dust, is the chief reason why Mars will continue as the domain of robots and automatons. I, for one, welcome them!
vitiral 1 hours ago [-]
Well, Mars has 1/3 of earth gravity so that helps.
So for spinning the capsule, you only need say 1/5 earth gravity to be reasonably capable of walking on Mars.
On the other hand, uninterrupted (orbital) spaceflight record now stands at 437 days, so we know humans can do it.
They talk about "living at the bottom of the well" within our solar system (gravity well, that is). Mars effectively "divorces" from Earth (no kings / 1776, plus they need to be 100% self-sufficient), casually called "Dusters" presumably due to the Martian dust.
People working on the asteroid-based bases (in our "Asteroid Belt") are called "Belters".
Then also read: "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Heinlein, where humanity colonizes "Luna" and have "Loonies" for relatively obvious reasons.
Both books delve a bit into the physiological changes but also the socio-political ramifications of humanity in space, and both are _excellent_ reads!
It's like moving to a desert.
Look at astronauts who exited the Gemini capsules or even the Space Shuttle orbiter, and see how they could, more or less, walk around and deal with Earth gravity.
Now, compare the ISS expedition astronauts. They are carefully extracted by a team of strong people. They are immediately placed on medical gurneys for transport. Nobody from ISS stands upright or walks unassisted. They will suffer vertigo, no matter what.
Furthermore, NASA restricts their activities for months afterwards. No jogging. They will be re-learning how to shower and brush their teeth! Any task that was different in microgravity will challenge them anew.
Now a Mars journey is 6 months, one way. There will be no spinning the capsule and no constant 1G acceleration with actual technology. So without science fiction, in the real world, astronauts would face a debilitating environment of zero-G that would reduce them to toddler status at their destination.
That, not dust, is the chief reason why Mars will continue as the domain of robots and automatons. I, for one, welcome them!
So for spinning the capsule, you only need say 1/5 earth gravity to be reasonably capable of walking on Mars.
Does that help?