• Question: What are the criterias needed to sustain life on Mars?

    Asked by Anyadb to Anna, Hayley, Iain, Rebecca on 24 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by kizrarox.
    • Photo: Iain Bethune

      Iain Bethune answered on 24 Jun 2015:

      Several things need to be solved so we can live on Mars:

      1) Breathable air. The martian atmosphere is very thin (low pressure) and has very little oxygen. At the moment we would need to wear spacesuits or at least some form of pressure garnet with an oxygen supply

      2) Radiation shielding. Because Mars has very little magnetic field and atmosphere, high energy radiation from the sun could strike us when living on the surface. One solution would be to build habitats underground, and use Martial soil as a radiation shield.

      3) Food. Nothing (as far as we know now) lives on Mars. If we were to live there long-term we would need to be able to grow food. The soil conditions are also not ideal, so would probably need to be intensively fertilised.

      4) Water. Mars has no liquid water at the surface – it’s too cold, and most of the water is locked up in the sub-surface as ice. We would need some way to access this water for us to drink.

      There are probably lots of other reasons why life isn’t possible right now on Mars, these are just some of the most major ones!

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