Living and digging in space - especially on Mars - is what has attracted our species for many years. SpaceX founder Elon Musk recently decided to put a very large sum of money into colonizing the Red Planet. NASA also loves to brag about its upcoming trip to Mars, slated for the 2030s, and several other celebrities, billionaires and even states are planning to settle in one way or another on the Red Planet.
But there is a big difference between leaving a few footprints and establishing a long-term base on another planet. When it comes to human colonization of Mars, there are many challenges - in particular, how will people live, physically and psychologically, in such harsh conditions? In a recent article in Space Policy magazine, Konrad Sotsik, a cognitive scientist at the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszow, Poland, argued that sending astronauts aboard the ISS is not entirely adequate training for life on Mars. In fact, Sotsik suggests that humans will have to change their bodies dramatically in order to physically and psychologically support themselves in the Martian colony.
Other Mars enthusiasts, including Elon Musk, disagree.
“My idea is that the human body and mind are adapted to life in the earthly environment,” says Sotsik. “Consequently, some isolated physiological and psychological problems during travel, and then during life on Mars, are likely to be too difficult for human survival. For example, we must take into account the high risk of developing heart problems during this mission and the total lack of adequate medical support."
In her article, Sotsik explores some of the preventative treatments that other researchers have suggested to astronauts before they travel to Mars. He notes that some have suggested "putting the crew in a comatose environment prior to travel," which could reduce energy requirements, prevent muscle wasting and provide additional protection from radiation in deep space, and even "remove the appendix to avoid major hazards."
In 2012, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) listed the potential risks and benefits of having an appendectomy and cholecystectomy - removing the appendix and gallbladder, respectively - before sending astronauts on a long space flight. The logic is extremely simple: if someone's appendix or gallbladder swells in space, the operation will not only be dangerous - it will be impossible.
Sotsik also argues that the first missions sent to the Red Planet could carry a serious psychological burden. Although the early colonialists will presumably be selected by very serious psychologists, the pressure of isolation in an unfamiliar environment is a powerful threat. Still, the first results of NASA's HI-SEAS experiments, which mimic this isolation by creating conditions for a small group of "astronauts" to live under a dome near the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, are very promising. Not long ago, the crew spent a year in this pseudo-Martian environment and were quite content despite their potent mixture of personalities and tastes.
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“Yes, psychological issues are indeed a concern,” says Mark Schelheimer, former NASA chief scientist for the human research program. “In this sense, the ISS is not the best platform for simulating a Mars mission. The ISS is isolated and confined (although not in the way that a Martian spacecraft would be). But the crews change, so new faces appear every three months, and the structure itself is reliably maintained (astronauts can communicate with friends, family, doctors and psychologists on Earth without any time lag).
Overall, Sotsik argues that no amount of terrestrial preparation will provide all that is needed to survive on Mars in the long term.
“I think medicine alone will not be enough, some permanent solutions, genetic or surgical, will be required,” he says, adding that we will have to resort to the idea of transhumanism - using science and technology to improve a person so that he can survive in completely different conditions.
This concept is far from new: futurists have long suggested that humanity should use biology, nanotechnology, information technology, and cognitive sciences to make us better suited to life in space. But while accelerating our own biological evolution to improve our chances of surviving on Mars admittedly sounds interesting and exciting, not everyone is convinced that it is possible, ethical, or necessary.
“People are already suggesting that astronauts be selected based on their genetic predisposition to things like radiation resistance,” says Schelheimer. “Of course, this idea is fraught with problems. First, it is illegal to make an employment decision based on genetic information. Secondly, when such manipulations are carried out, unintended consequences usually arise, and who knows what can get worse if we start choosing what, in our opinion, should be improved."
Although he recognizes Sotsik's ideas as interesting, in Schelheimere's opinion, they will be superfluous in the long run. “I think we can give astronauts the tools - physical, mental, operational - so that they, individually and as a group, stand firm in the face of the unknown,” he says. “This is what I'm working on now, but so far the work is only at the very beginning. What kind of person will thrive in extreme conditions? How to build a mission to help this person? This should be considered systematically."
Future Mars president Elon Musk was even harsher when asked to comment on the idea that humans will have to change their biology to survive on Mars. He called this premise "ludicrous." “Being in deep space or orbit the Earth for extended periods is far worse than being on Mars,” Musk said. "But Buzz Aldrin still feels good, as do the other astronauts."
Even if the optimists are right and we don't need to change ourselves in order to live a healthy life on Mars, there is still another important question on the topic of colonization: how will we reproduce? Although the surface of Mars is not as bad as it is in deep space, the surface of Mars emits intense radiation because its atmosphere is much thinner than that of Earth and there is no global magnetic field to deflect energy particles. This is especially true for women who want to become pregnant, since even small doses of ionizing radiation can have a serious impact on the development of the fetus. In all likelihood, permanent settlements will have to be built under the surface of the planet in order to protect the old, young and pregnant from the energy particles of the sun and galactic cosmic rays.
“We don't know how reduced gravity and radiation will affect human reproduction,” Sotsik says. "We can assume that this exposure may be harmful."
And he adds that to maintain a colony that can exist without inbreeding, we will have to send a lot of people to Mars, which can be problematic. Therefore, he proposes to "take into account the possibility of human cloning or other similar methods" in order to preserve the colony.
Well, it looks like human dispersal across multiple planets will be exciting. And terrible.
ILYA KHEL