Introduction

What`s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear that life is found on a planet that`s not the Earth? Small green aliens with big eyes and pointy ears or, in a more realistic way, bacteria, presence of water and a gravity that let us stay with our feet on the ground? What would be the first thing you would do if you had just woke up on Mars one morning? In an ideal and utopian world, we all see the future as a reality immersed in the technology, skyscrapers and flying cars but have you ever asked yourselves if that reality is going to happen on the Earth or on a different planet, perhaps Mars?

The title refers to foolish, but not impossible, idea of buying a one-way ticket to Mars. It may be a fascinating idea for some and scary for others but it`d be a huge change in the history of humanity anyway. Since my passion for astronomy and astrophysics, it hasn`t been difficult to find a topic that I like as much as this one even because there`s the possibility to look about it from different point of views the history behind the discovery and the observation of Mars in the past centuries is a valid starting point to tell you how and what we know about Mars. How would you feel, instead, if you got a letter that proposes you to move definitely to Mars? The psychological aspect is a fundamental part in this project because at the end we are all humans and we know that our mind is able to do great and big things. Behind that, though, two other important - if not the most important - aspects have to be considered: how do we get there? How much does it cost and how can we train the people for this enterprise? Why Mars and not a different planet? I will deeply talk about the problems and the solutions in the economic point of view and the resources needed to accomplish the mission and the physics of Mars. Why do we call Mars the red planet? It`s a common question but how many of you really know the answer? The differences and similarities between Mars and the Earth will be surprising and last but not least, leaving the theory and the mathematics hidden behind the project of sending the humans to Mars aside, I will go into the engineering work done and still to do to move from the theory on paper to the practice in real life.

In addition to spend my free time writing and getting to know more about a topic I`ve always been interested in, this EPQ will help me to improve my confidence about my written English and, in the future, to show that I can write a dissertation in English in addiction to improve my knowledge of physics, psychology, politics and engineering about a topic. The possibility of merging the subjects I`m studying at A2 (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Further Mathematics - plus Italian -) in a unique project shows that they link to each other in the daily life and not only on paper. On the other hand we have to consider some problems, such as the English terms that I don`t know, the fact that English isn`t my first language and the continuous release of informations about the mission that will take the man on Mars in not more than 20 years.

The usable resources are varied since the actuality of the Mars project, many universities let me read the lectures written by renewed professors and the website MarsONE is officially recognised as the main resource to refer to on the internet if you want to know more about the Mars mission. William Sheehan has been a source of inspiration thank to his book about Mars and varied YouTube channels have been able to teach me some notions about the topic such as that great platform we call internet contributed to my understanding of new concepts. Background Information

The history of Mars

The man, since its origins, has always observed the sky for possible correlations between their stories and cosmic phenomena from this "primordial" demand and the imagination and creativity typical of the human being Astronomy was born, probably the oldest of the natural sciences, which is lost in the dawn of time. The first signs developed in the field of Astronomy must be from a well-developed Babylonian civilization developed around 2700 BC This population proved to possess exceptional astronomical skills, after giving important contributions also to the Egyptians and the populations of India and beyond to realize the apparent motion of the planets based on the position of some reference stars in the sky they also discovered the synodic periods of the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn with a margin of error of a few days, reporting the predictions on ephemeris tablets^[1]. But a greater contribution was given by Philolaus, from the Pythagorean school, which supported a geocentric model of the solar system at the centre of the universe there was a big fire where the Earth rotated, the Antiearth, the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The existence of the Antiearth was probably introduced to justify the invisibility of the central fire which was concealed by the Antiearth, as well as the philosophical necessity to reach a total of ten bodies. At a remote epoch, it was observed in China a conjunction of the Moon with the planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury and from the times of Emperor Huang-Ti, in the year 2441 BC Mars was called the red star or the sparkling light. In India it was called Angaraka - burning coal - or Lohitanga - red body - and was attributed to evil influence. In Saudi was considered a heavenly warrior while the Egyptians called it Harmakhis. The Greeks, however, called him Ares and in the year 357 BC, according to the calculations of Kepler, Aristotle saw the moon pass over Mars actually the Greek philosopher observed an occultation of Mars by the Moon[2].

On the 13th of October 1590 Michael Mästlin observes the only documented occultation of Mars by Venus in the German city of Heidelberg. Galileo Galilei, however, did the first observational study of Mars when, in 1610, found the planet in opposition. The Italian scientist identified the phenomenon of Martian phases, proof that the heliocentric theory of the solar system was the only one possible. We had to wait a further 49 years to find out a few details about its surface with the astronomer Christian Huygens and seven more to get a first approximation of its rotation period (in 1666) thanks to the astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini with an impressive accuracy, wandering excess of 3 minutes. Cassini was intrigued by Mars and continued to investigate on this planet, saw its white polar caps and, estimating the distance Earth - Sun, Mars came to a diameter of 586 km less than that known today. The history of Mars resumed its path of knowledge and after the observations (1777-1783) by William Herschel. He determined the presence of an atmosphere, the slope (wandering in excess of 4 degrees) Martian axis, the presence of alternating seasonal terrestrial albeit of varying duration. He was convinced that the white polar caps of Mars were index of water ice and spread the idea that the dark spots would indicate its oceans. Meanwhile, the observations of Mars continued and intensified: the astronomer Angelo Secchi (1850) identifies the clouds in the atmosphere and colleague Pierre Janssen (1867) water vapour. The Englishman Richard Proctor spreads its publications the idea of a red planet suitable for life (1870). In 1877, Mars is again the opposition and is under study by Giovanni Schiaparelli Virgil, who, in May of 1878 announced, at a meeting of the Royal Academy of the Lincei, to have discovered 40 channels on the Martian surface[3].

Progress in the observation space also allowed the discovery of the two moons, Phobos and Deimos, probably asteroids captured by the planet`s gravity.

Missions to Mars

Many missions to Mars were taken by the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe and Japan to study the geology, the atmosphere and the surface of the planet. About two-thirds of the missions, however, were failures due to various technical problems. The first success came in 1964 with the passage in the vicinity of Mars from NASA`s Mariner 4[4]. The first landing on the other hand came in 1971 thanks to the Soviet Mars 2 and Mars 3 but lost contact with Earth a few minutes later. It was later created the Viking program[5] launched by NASA in 1975 that consisted of two orbiteers and a lander that reached the ground in 1976. Viking 1 remained operational for six years while the Viking 2 for three. Thanks to their activities they got the first coloured pictures of the Martian surface and mapping of such quality that they are still used today. In 1988 Soviet modules Phobos 1 and 2 were sent to study Mars and its two moons. The signal of Phobos 1 was lost but Phobos 2 was able to send pictures of the planet but broke down just before releasing two probes to the moon[6]. After the failure of the Mars Observer in 1992, in 1996 NASA sent the Mars Global Surveyor[7]. The mapping mission was a complete success. After the launch of the Surveyor, in 1996, NASA launched the Mars Pathfinder[8] carrying the Sojourner robot exploration that landed in the Ares Vallis. That mission was a success and became famous for the images sent to Earth.

More recent missions to Mars

The Phoenix Mars Lander[9] was launched August 4, 2007, and it reached the Martian north pole in 2008. The module was equipped with a mechanical arm with a reach of 2.5 meters by 1 meter able to dig into the ground and it also had a miniature camera that discovered – on the 15th of June 2008 - a substance that turned out to be water on the 20th of the same month. The mission ended on November 10th. In 2003, ESA launched the Mars Express Orbiter[10] along with the lander Beagle 2, which was declared lost in early February 2004. The team of the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer[11], housed in the satellite, discovered methane on Mars. In June 2006, the ESA also announced the sighting of aurora[12] on the planet. NASA instead sent the two twin rovers Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity (MER-B), which successfully reached the Martian surface in January 2004. Among the key findings we have definitive proof of the existence of liquid water in the past, thanks to the discovery of his tracks in both landing points. On March 22, 2010 contacts are lost with Spirit, Opportunity is, instead, still active. On 6 August 2012, rover Curiosity[13] landed on Mars, the largest in size and technological complexity developed by NASA.

The objective of the mission is to investigate the past and present ability of the planet to sustain life. The probe found water, Sulphur and chlorinated substances in the first samples of Martian soil, evidence of a chemical complex. NASA states that the result is only a confirmation that the probe`s instruments are working perfectly but it can’t be excluded that the substances may have been transported to Mars by Curiosity[14] itself.

Discussion

Comparison: Mars vs. Earth

Earth and Mars are two of the rocky planets that orbit within the inner Solar System. In some ways they are very similar, but in other ways, they couldn’t be more different. The origin of Earth and Mars is the same for all of the planets in the Solar System. Scientists believe that the Sun, the planets and everything in the Solar System all formed at the same time within the solar nebula a giant cloud of cold molecular hydrogen. The Sun formed in the middle of the Solar System, and its rapid rotation created a disk of material surrounding it. It was from within this disk that Earth and Mars and all the planets formed.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and it is often described as the "Red Planet" because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a red colour^[15]. Mars and Earth are very different planets when it comes to temperature, size, and atmosphere, but geologic processes on the two planets are surprisingly similar. On Mars, we see volcanoes, canyons, and impact basins much like the ones we see on Earth.

One of the main differences between Earth and Mars is the fact that Mars is much smaller than the Earth, its equatorial radius is 3,397 kilometres across, about half the one of Earth and has only 10% of the Earth’s mass which means that, standing on the surface of Mars, the gravity experienced would only be 1/3 of the gravity on Earth (the gravitational force is proportional to the dimension of the object – in this case of the planet – smaller the planet, weaker the gravity). Also, the duration of the four seasons on Mars is just less than twice of the ones on Earth due to the time that Mars requires to make a complete orbit of the Sun, 687 Earth days versus 365 days for the Earth. The duration of the day, instead, is pretty similar, 24 hours and 37 minutes on Mars and slightly under 24 hours on Earth. Another big difference between the two planets is the average surface temperature which is 14 degrees Celsius on Earth and about -63 on Mars, definitely much colder than the Earth.

Talking about similarities, the mean density - the planet`s total mass divided by its total volume, which gives some clues about the planet`s makeup and whether it is solid or gaseous – is 3,933 kilogram/meter³ for Mars and 5,514 kilogram/meter³ for the Earth whereas the masses – Mars’ is about 11% that of Earth - are about the same value. Finally, Mars’ composition is very similar to Earth’s: the crust and surface of Mars are mostly iron-rich basaltic rock similar to Earth`s thin crust, both planets have a mantle made of silicate rock – the Earth’s is rich in magnesium and iron – and the core is made of probably an iron, nickel, and sulphur for Mars and just iron-nickel alloy for the Earth. The composition of the atmospheres - The chemical materials that make up the layers of gases surrounding a planet or moon, which are held in place by the object`s gravity - are quite different even if made of the same compounds: the main gases on Mars are 96% Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), 1.93% Argon (Ar), 1.89% Nitrogen (N₂), 0.145% Oxygen (O₂), <0.01% Carbon Monoxide (CO) whereas on Earth are 78.09% Nitrogen (N₂), 20.95% Oxygen (O₂), 0.93% Argon (Ar), 0.039% Carbon Dioxide (CO₂). [16]

Life on Mars

Is there life on Mars? For many years, people have asked themselves this question, coming up with different ideas and points of view. Soil and rock samples have been studied in 2013 by the instruments on NASA`s Curiosity rover that certified additional information on several habitability factors. The team identified some of the key chemical ingredients for life in this soil, including sulphur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and possibly carbon, as well as clay minerals, suggesting a long-ago aqueous environment — maybe a lake — that was neutral and not too salty[17]. On December 9, 2013, NASA reported that, based on evidence from Curiosity studying Aeolis Palus, Gale Crater contained an ancient freshwater lake which could have been a hospitable environment for microbial life[18]. The confirmation that liquid water once flowed on Mars and the early discovery of a past magnetic field that protected the planet from Solar radiation, strongly suggest that Mars could have had the environmental factors to support life. The latest uploaded video of NASA chief Charles Bolden may have given us an answer to the fatidic question “is there life on Mars?” he confirmed that the space agency does believe life existed for a time on the red planet but then, he hesitantly said that there may be evidence of current life forms[19].

2011 : MarsONE foundation

In 2011 Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders lay the foundation of the Mars One mission plan.[20] Mars One is a project act to establish a permanent colony on Mars. The plan is to send in Mars orbit an artificial satellite for telecommunications in 2016 and finally, after some other intermediate steps, send humans to start a permanent colony in 2026. The feasibility of the idea was consequently researched with specialists and expert organizations, which discussed the financial, psychological and ethical aspects of it. After securing the first investments and commissioning the first conceptual design study in 2012, Mars One was ready to launch its Astronaut Selection Program. It was launched at press conferences in New York and Shanghai in April 2013. From their website, this is how the mission is described “It is Mars One`s goal to establish a human settlement on Mars. Human settlement of Mars is the next giant leap for humankind. Exploring the solar system as a united humanity will bring us all closer together. Mars is the stepping stone of the human race on its voyage into the universe. Human settlement on Mars will aid our understanding of the origins of the solar system, the origins of life and our place in the universe. As with the Apollo Moon landings, a human mission to Mars will inspire generations to believe that all things are possible, anything can be achieved.” [21]

The technology

Considering Mars One not as an aerospace company, all the equipment needed to finalise the mission will be developed by third party suppliers and it’s the following: several rocket launches will be needed to take payloads into Earth orbit and then onto Mars. Payload may be satellites, rovers, cargo or humans. Mars One anticipates using Space X Falcon Heavy, an upgraded version of the Falcon 9, which is in use by Space X currently[22] a Mars transit vehicle consisting of two propellant stages - a landing module and transit habitat due to the human crew that will travel through space for around seven months several landers needed to carry life support units (that generate energy, breathable air and water for the crew), supply units with food, solar panels - thin film solar (photovoltaic) panels will power the settlement. These are less efficient than those more commonly used in aerospace, but have the advantage of being extremely light, thus easily transported. The first settlement will install approximately 3000 square meters of power generating surface area - and other components, living units that are outfitted with deployable inflatable habitats, to carry humans and rovers - one used to explore the surface of Mars in search of the most suitable location for the settlement, for transport of large hardware components and then general assembly and the second used for transporting the landing capsules - to the surface of Mars and, finally, the communications system that consists of two communications satellites and Earth ground stations. It will be used to transmit data from Mars to Earth and back. Luckily for us, while complex, the Mars One Mission is feasible. The science and technology required to place humans on Mars exists today. Much of what was learned from Skylab, Mir and the International Space Station for example, Nasa recently tested the Orion Spacecraft[23] - back on dry land after its historic first test flight on December 5 – which is a valid candidate that will allow men to get to Mars in the next 20 years.

2013: Crew selection

Before starting the crew selection, the candidates who want to be interviewed should have five key characteristics: resiliency - indomitable spirit, a “Can do!” attitude - , adaptability – ability to adapt to situations and individuals while taking into account the context of the situation and also the ability to be open and tolerant of ideas and different approaches -, curiosity, ability to trust and creativity. The candidates should also be 18 years or older and follow some medical requirements such as being free from any disease, any dependency on drugs, alcohol or tobacco, visual acuity in both eyes of 100% (20/20) either uncorrected or corrected with lenses or contact lenses, free from any psychiatric disorders, the blood pressure should not exceed 140/90 measured in a sitting position and the standing height must be between 157 and 190 cm^[24]. The astronauts selection is then divided in four rounds: the first one, called “The Application Period” was available from April 2013 to August 2013 and it consists of applicant’s general information, a motivational letter, a résumé and a video. The results of applicants selected for round 2 were declared in December 2013. A total of 1,058 applicants from 107 countries were selected, mostly under 36 and well educated and about the same numbers of men and women. The second round called “The Interview Period” consists in a medical review and the third round is about meeting the Mars One selection committee, followed by the fourth and last round, called “The International Selection Period” which is the creation by The Mars One selection committee of international groups of four candidates. Those groups will then be expected to demonstrate their ability to live in harsh living conditions, and work together under difficult circumstances. This selection round will run until the end of 2015[25].

Crew training

The training is split up into three programs: technical training, personal training and group training. The first one consists of the understanding of new skills in a variety of disciplines psychology, electronics and physiotherapy knowledge will be shared among the four astronauts in each of the initial groups, one person will study the geology of Mars and at least two people will receive extensive medical training in order to be able to treat minor and critical health problems[26]. The personal training would be part of the psychological and ethical aspect of the mission, topic which will be treated in a few chapters, the Group training, finally, consists of several simulation bases, some easy to access for early stage, while others will be located in a harsh environments on Earth, providing realistic desert terrain and drastically cold conditions. These trials will demonstrate whether they are suitable for all elements of the task ahead. One of the most famous simulation base is the Simulation Outpost Alpha[27] based on six assembled transit modules and two additional inflatables making up living quarters, private areas, food production, life support systems, surface access, recreational areas, mission operations, life science and much more.

What next? 2018-2026

After the completion of the crew training and the selection of appropriate people for the first manned mission to Mars, in 2018 a demonstration mission will be launched. The payload of the 2018[28] lander will include: a camera which, in combination with the Mars-synchronous communications satellite, will enable us to send a 365 days per year video stream from Mars to Earth a water extraction experiment that confirm we can extract water from the Martian soil and a thin film solar panel experiment testing multiple brands and types of thin film solar panels for their suitability in providing our crew the renewable energy they need to maintain and grow a human civilisation. In 2020[29], then, a Rover and a Communication Satellite are launched and when the settlement location is determined by the Rover, it will then prepare the surface for arrival of the Cargo missions in 2022[30]. It will also clear large areas where solar panels will lie. After only one year, another Rover is launched which will set up the outpost before the arrival of humans[31]. Finally, in 2024, the first Mars crew, now fully trained, is launched into the same Earth orbit and, after a final check of systems on Mars and of the Transit Vehicle, engines of the Propellant Stages are fired and the Transit Vehicle is launched on a Mars Transit Trajectory. This is the point of no return for the Mars crew[32]. About 24 hours before landing, the crew move from the Transit Habitat into the landing module, bringing some of the supplies from the Transit Habitat. The landing module detaches from the Transit habitat, which is too large to land on Mars. The Transit habitat is discarded and stays in orbit around the sun. Upon landing, the crew takes up to 48 hours to recover from experiencing gravity again after spending a long time in space. When the first crew lands they find the habitat with a good level of redundancy already: two Living units, each large enough to house the crew of four and two Life Support units, each capable of providing enough water, power and breathable air for the entire crew[33]. As a result of that, the second crew departs from Earth in 2026. With the second crew, the Cargo for the third crew is also launched. The second crew lands On Mars in 2027. This process continues as additional crews land every two years[34].

Risk and challenges

Regardless the fact that the mission seems to be possible in terms of getting there, there are some issues that the crew may face during the journey to Mars. But engineers at MIT say the project may have to take a step back, at least to reconsider the mission`s technical feasibility because new technologies will be needed to keep humans alive on Mars for example, if all food is obtained from locally grown crops, the vegetation would produce unsafe levels of oxygen, which would set off a series of events that would eventually cause human inhabitants to suffocate. To avoid this scenario, a system to remove excess oxygen would have to be implemented - a technology that has not yet been developed for use in space. Also, missions to the Red Planet would take several years to complete and, during that time, astronauts would face health risks from two main types of radiation: cosmic rays and energetic particles from the sun, associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Both types of radiation can damage DNA and increase the risk of an astronaut developing cancer[35]. Other effects on human health are due to the exposure to weightlessness because the human body is too adjusted to the gravitational conditions on Earth, and as such extended periods of weightlessness cause various physiological symptoms such as muscle atrophy, vertigo or headaches on a day to day basis and vision deterioration[36]. Finally, fuel for the travel could be a challenge but methane and oxygen can be produced using Martian H₂O and atmospheric CO₂ with mature technology[37].

Psychological aspect

Previous missions have always been just a few months or years long, the one-way mission to Mars would be the first one where the astronauts will never come back to Earth and, consequentially, to their friends, families and habits. There are a number of psychosocial and psychiatric issues that may have an impact on crew member during the mission to Mars. The astronauts must be able to deal with medical and psychiatric emergencies, such as physical trauma due to accidents as well as suicidal or psychotic thinking due to stress and depression. The issues that might be faced during either the journey to Mars or the time spent on the planet can be summarised into four main problems: social isolation (because of the distance from Earth, real time interaction with people back home will be impossible for the Mars’ colonists – the shortest delay for sending transmissions will be about 10 minutes. These circumstances will probably cause mental illness in at least some of the astronauts such depression, insomnia, anxiety, fatigue, boredom and emotional instability), confinement (everything on Mars will be a indoors because the atmosphere is not breathable and the global temperature averages is -60 degrees Celsius. From the moment they land, the colonists will spend at least 80% of their time within units that offer about 50 square metres per person and not surprisingly long-term confinement in a small space is associated with many of the same problems triggered by social isolation), loss of privacy (they will be monitored by people on the Earth 24 hours a day 7 days a week) and lack of mental health services (the colonists won`t have real-time access to mental health services such as counselling and psychotherapy).

Financial aspect

As everyone has probably imagined, going to Mars will be one of the most expensive things to do in the history of space explorations. The cost of sending people to Mars has been the main obstacle of any mission, estimates of cost have ranged from $6 billion to $500 billion and there have been many critics about Mars One’s $6 billion budget which is thought to be too optimistic space logistics analysis conducted by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology revealed that in the most optimistic of scenarios would require 15 Falcon Heavy launches – instead of six - that would cost approximately $4.5 billion each for a total of $67.5 billion just in terms or rovers[38]. Therefore, another problem arises: instead of spending this huge amount of money in a manned mission to Mars, people think it would be more ethically correct to use this money for hospitals, scientific and medical research, world hunger and more urgent problems on Earth.

Conclusion

As much as the idea of buying a one-way ticket to a different planet in the universe might sound exciting to a person, like me, who finds the space exploration one of the most interesting things in the science field, the complications due to this mission are way too big nowadays. Even if the technology that allows the astronauts to land on Mars already exists, the psychological and ethical aspects are more important because, at the end, we are all humans. Saying this, I found the idea of going to Mars amazingly thrilling but only if it includes a return ticket to the Earth. The possibility of exploring and seeing and experiencing a planet so distant from ours would be a big step in the history of astronomy but forcing a bunch of people to live in such drastic conditions for the rest of their lives is not right this doesn’t exclude the opportunity, in the future, to have colonists who live on Mars for one year and then longer and longer until a balance between psychological and technological/engineering issues is finally found.

Regarding the money issue, there are way more important problems that need to be solved on our planet which requires money and loads of them can be found in the scientific field so, instead of spending huge amounts of money in a mission that at the moment sounds too crazy, scientists should focus more on solving our problems first and then move to a different planet.

Evaluation

As part of my extended project I had to take some consideration of time management because, when working on a project of this nature, it’s essential that I managed my time well and I’ve found many methods which helped with time management. The most important is, without any doubts, the use of deadlines and a checklist where I annotated all the things I had to do week by week and, even if I had to change some deadlines due to school related problems, I found really useful having everything planned and knowing what to do and when to do it. Overall I’m very happy with the way my dissertation has taken shape and in the end I’m extremely happy with it and I believe that is effective in what I intended it to do. I experienced some difficulties due to the English language – but I successfully overcome them with the help of a dictionary and Italian versions of the websites I used. I have also developed many skills in research which I had some knowledge of but have never used it to the extent in which was needed for this project. With this I found out that not only website research in valid, there needs to be a range of sources to get comprehensive research, that has to comprise of a mixture of primary and secondary research. Throughout the project I have gained other skills which have helped me not only in my project but in other aspects of my undergraduate studies, mainly because I’ve learnt many technical terms that can be useful in the improving of my English. This project though, doesn’t end here because there are many more things to talk about either now or in the future when new technologies will be discovered. We could talk more about the psychological aspect and have a discussion on the philosophical side of the question and not on my scientific one. Finally, even if I faced some difficulties, I’m happy about my Extended Project as it made me change my idea about the one-way Mars mission and let me learn a huge amount of new things that I’ve always wanted to learn.