A recent book says life on Mars will no longer be science fiction.
Stephen L. Petranek, former editor-in-chief of Discover and This Old House, is the author of a recent book, How We'll Live on Mars, which answers the question about why the human race should plan its escape to the Red Planet and what to expect when we get there. Petranek met with Assistant Editor-in-Chief Diana Tedeschi in July.
Air & Space: Why did you decide to write this book?
Stephen Petranek: I realized that the most extraordinary and most radical event in the history of mankind - the colonization of Mars - will happen much earlier, which many believed. As a journalist, I felt an urgent need to start discussing what this means - and as soon as possible.
Do you think that the landing on Mars will be monitored in the same way as the landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft on the Moon in July 1969?
- This will probably be the largest television audience since the start of television broadcasting, and the number of viewers will be much higher than at the time of landing on the moon - if only because today many more people have access to television. Imagine the sense of pride that all people on Earth will experience when they realize that humanity is capable of doing this - to enter another planet in our solar system.
Are there any physical qualities of a person that will help life on Mars?
Stephen Petranek, former editor-in-chief of Discover and This Old House
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“Humans seem to have a remarkable ability to adapt to cold climates, which will be beneficial on Mars, and we know that some individuals are much better than others in being able to withstand radiation - both solar and cosmic rays. Radiation is the most difficult problem we will face on Mars. Anyone who wants to go there will also have to come to terms with a shorter lifespan due to radiation.
When a successful colony on Mars has already been established, how quickly will adaptive Martian characteristics appear in the descendants of the first settlers?
“I don’t think we should wait for the moment when random mutations in our genes are found. I believe that we will begin to change genes even before we naturally begin to get used to life on the Red Planet. The most important adaptation we can benefit from after being resistant to radiation may be inhaling a higher concentration of CO2.
How can we ensure that Mars is not subjected to the same destructive environmental impact as the Earth?
- On Mars there are no laws, and, probably, at the initial stage we will use the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits any country from owning other celestial bodies. This law states that each country is responsible for any damage it causes on another planet or on its satellite. So many astronauts have reported their deep concern about changes on Earth after they looked at it from afar, and I hope that the settlers on Mars will feel the same respect and take their responsibility seriously. The big question is whether we can terraform the Red Planet in such a way that the changes we make are for the better, not the worse. This is why we must start discussing the colonization of Mars now - not in that decade,when it has already begun to be implemented.
Will NASA play a role in the creation of a colony on Mars? What role should NASA have?
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is working to create a huge SLS rocket, as well as a manned Orion capsule, which it says will be used to explore Mars in the 2030s. A year ago, they said almost nothing about flying to Mars using the Orion capsule and SLS rocket. However, SpaceX makes going to Mars much more real, and so NASA has suddenly announced its interest. In my opinion, NASA is so late in this case that it will ultimately never send a complex consisting of an Orion habitable capsule and an SLS rocket to Mars. In addition, it will be much cheaper to send NASA astronauts to Mars in a spaceship designed by SpaceX.
NASA has made remarkable strides in robotics, space probes, and scientific research. SpaceX will not be able to land its spacecraft on Mars in 2027 without information from space rovers and orbiters, and without devices such as NASA's MOXIE oxygen production system. The real situation is that NASA does not shine with special results in the field of rocketry, and also that everything needs to be done faster, better and cheaper. And SpaceX is doing well in these areas. The benefits of joining forces are clear.
Tragically, NASA can't just say, "Okay, instead of investing billions in Orion and an SLS rocket, let's give this money to SpaceX and work with SpaceX to plan and prepare a flight to Mars." … The government department is always in the wrong place because it must award contracts on a competitive basis. It is unwise to pay both Boeing and SpaceX to develop a system capable of transporting astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
“In your book, you claim that we have the technological capability to fly to Mars for at least 30 years, but NASA's shuttle-centric concept has prevented a manned flight to the Red Planet. Do you think NASA regrets that all the eggs were put in the space shuttle basket?
- All the NASA staff with whom I discussed the shuttle program understood perfectly well that it did not allow us to achieve any significant progress in space exploration. Many proponents of this space program seem to retroactively agree that the space shuttles and the International Space Station prevented us from returning to the moon and getting to Mars. People in the space business don't say such things under the protocol because it's not in their interest to criticize NASA.
When will the public in America begin to understand the need for a permanent presence on Mars?
- When people begin to understand how dependent we are on the whims of the universe. A giant solar flare, an approaching asteroid 16 kilometers wide and even a full-scale nuclear war between Pakistan and India can destroy our civilization on Earth as we know it, and perhaps in this case, all mammals larger than a rabbit will die. Even some virus can destroy us. If there are no other factors, then the human species may disappear at the moment when our aging Sun begins to increase in size. We cannot survive without becoming a species traveling in space. This is as simple a fact as climate change as a result of human activity, but people prefer to postpone thinking about it until tomorrow.
Diane Tedeschi