Could people really live on Mars?

Question

I think it is Mars that I heard could be lived on. But since Mars is probably 35 million miles away from Earth, how long would that take in years for people to actually get there? And isnt it true that people cant survive in space for more than 3 years?

Answer 1

Well, the three years thing is related to bone density. In space, there's no gravity, right? So there's no need for your bones to be super-strong like they are here on earth. And your body, because it recycles itself every so often, breaks down your bones until they're a more appropriate thickness. In space, that's really thin. So astronauts who come back after a long time in space basically are wimpy for quite a while until they can get their bone density up, unless they do a lot of exercise while they're up there to try to put force on the bones.

It's about an 8-month flight to mars.

The problems with living on mars that pop to mind quickly are the following:
1 - the atmosphere is mainly carbon dioxide, and very thin compared to ours. So there's no breathable air.
2 - It's much colder than earth.
3 - There's no place TO live. We'd have to build an entire enclosure. And that'd be hard.

Answer 2

First: Mars can NEVER be terraformed. It is too small to hold a significant atmosphere.

In space, in a zero gravity environment, humans wouldn´t survive forever. 3 years could very well be the maximum as our bones and muscles slowly lose their mass. But a trip to Mars wouldn´t take three years. Less then one year for sure. Maybe even as little as six months.
Once on Mars the astronauts would go about living much like people do on the space station. They can never leave the habitat without spacesuits and the would have to conserve everything they bring along. Food, water, energy. It would be recycling extreme. But the Martian gravity could possibly be enough for humans to survive without the perils of a zero G environment. It might be possible for them to have some food production using a hydroponics lab. Some fresh tasty vegetables would boost moral and also help handling waste water while cleaning the air.

So people could live on Mars. It just wouldn´t be a pick nick.

-edit-
wikipedia is riddled with errors. You can´t really be sure of getting accurate information there.

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The radiation is the least of the astronauts problems on Mars. Just so happens water is a very good radiation shield because of the density of protons (hydrogen nuclei). So the water the astronauts bring along would serve multiple purposes. A tank that blocks the sun from the astronauts would be a really good radiation shield.

Answer 3

The current understanding of planetary habitability—the ability of a world to develop and sustain life—favors planets that have liquid water on their surface. This requires that the orbit of a planet lie within a habitable zone, which for the Sun is currently occupied by Earth. Mars orbits half an astronomical unit beyond this zone and this, along with the planet's thin atmosphere, causes water to freeze on its surface. The past flow of liquid water, however, demonstrates the planet's potential for habitability.Evidence suggests that the planet was once significantly more habitable than it is today, but whether living organisms ever existed there is still unclear. The lack of a magnetosphere and extremely thin atmosphere of Mars are a greater challenge: the planet has little heat transfer across its surface, poor insulation against bombardment and the solar wind, and insufficient atmospheric pressure to retain water in a liquid form. (Water instead sublimates to a gaseous state.) Mars is also nearly, or perhaps totally, geologically dead; the end of volcanic activity has stopped the recycling of chemicals and minerals between the surface and interior of the planet.

They concluded that these were deposited by primitive life forms extant on Mars before the meteorite was blasted into space by a meteor strike and sent on a 15 million-year voyage to Earth. Also, small quantities of methane and formaldehyde recently detected by Mars orbiters are both claimed to be hints for life, as these particles would quickly break down in the Martian atmosphere

Answer 4

Mars has no oxygen in its air, and even if it did the air is way too thin; as thin as the Earth's air at an altitude of 100,000 feet.

We do not know how long people can survive in space. Nobody has ever tries to survive there for more than one year. But after one year they have severely weakened muscles and bones because they have been without gravity for so long.

Answer 5

There are three ways I can think of that would allow humans to live on Mars.

First: Develop a self contained colony (bubble) that would house the appropriate atmosphere and other necessities.

Second: Terraform Mars so that the planet itself is live able. A more daunting task to be sure, but within our technology to accomplish, just not very practical at the moment.

Third: Genetically alter humans to survive on Mars as well as other species of plant and animal. Forced adaptation.

Answer 6

I don't know about the rest of the answer, but yes, people could live on Mars. I've heard from yahoo that they've found water in the rocks. One belt on Mars is actually a pleasant 72 or so degrees all the time. :)

Answer 7

signs of water are being found on mars.moreoverthe atmosphere also seems to have some traces of oxygen.NASA AND ISRO r trying to find can really life exist on mars.i guess sunita williams is also going to mars for experiments.so ultimately we actually do not know whther life or human being can live on mars.wat u told is not true .human beings can easily stay in space for at least 4 yrs.

Answer 8

We could terraform Mars in the distant future. Check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming I was too lazy to read the whole article but the pictures are fantastic of what Mars would look like terraformed.

Answer 9

Maybe humans just like us can only live for 3 years in space.....but other types of people could possibly live there for as long as we can live here
We have adapted to be able to live on Earth, so I personally believe that other people or living things have adapted to live on their planet.
Just coz Earth humans can't live on other planets, doesn't mean that other living things haven't adapted so as they can survive on a different planet!

Answer 10

If you litter on Earth! Don't go to Mars!