Live on the Red Planet? Scientists simulate Mars mission on Earth
CBC Radio | Posted: October 3, 2016 1:27 PM | Last Updated: October 3, 2016
Serial entrepreneur and tech billionaire Elon Musk has a vision for the future where his company, SpaceX, rolls out affordable commercial flights to Mars by 2022. Musk sees Mars as an alternative to Earth with the potential "to become a space-faring civilization and a multi-planetary species."
Scientist Sheyna Gifford lived in a simulated Mars for a year as part of the HI-SEAS project (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) and describes to The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti what living in a two-story dome placed on a slope of a remote Hawaiian volcano was like.
"Essentially [we were] scientist farmers growing crops, keeping the dome running — as any homeowner will know that's a full-time job — plus doing science for ourselves, and for NASA, staying fit and healthy."
While the environment was stark, Gifford says exploring lava tubes and beautiful caves was "an intense sort of beauty on its own."
- Related Link: What is it like to live on Mars?
Gifford shared the experience with five other scientists and says a full space suit was used anytime someone left the dome to go outside.
"For safety reasons, there were always at least two people in the dome and at least two people going out on an extra vehicular activity, and then you'd have to... go through a decompression cycle or five minutes that was simulated."
The crew did bring some staple foods but ate vegetables from what they farmed such as radish greens and hydroponic peas.
"We tried for potatoes but it didn't work out," Gifford tells Tremonti.
Through NASA's Deep Space Network, the spacecraft could receive date and information. Gifford says it would take between four and 20 minutes depending on where Earth and Mars was in relation to each other to send information.
"No worse than a bad internet connection."
The probability of living on Mars comes down to conquering the demands Mars presents for humans to survive.
While Elon Musk sees Mars as an alternative to human extinction, Gifford sees it going beyond this venture as "truly becoming non-destructive masters of our world."
"We have to go to Mars — if we go to Mars — and learn to live within this history of the environment. There's not a lot we can do to change."
The massive challenges to keep the planet warm when the core is dead, to keep atmosphere on board, is a harsh reality that Gifford says we have to master living within.
"Becoming geniuses living in extreme environments is actually something we can't live without — whether or not we have an extinction."
Listen to the full conversation at the top of this web post.
This segment was produced by The Current's Sujata Berry and Jacqueline McKay.