Problem: Mars is the apple of scientists’ eyes, for Mars is the door to unlocking of future of interplanetary travel in the coming years, but it is easier said than done. We have lots of information about Mars, but we have failed to apply it to develop technologies that are adapted to Mars. Such technologies have multiple benefits, such as economical development through mining, carbon dating, missile development, colony establishing and historical life detection. In this project, I will take the bountiful knowledge about Mars and adapt many Earth-like technologies to Mars’ surface. Mars is an inhospitable planet, but let us make it our new home without expensive materials and pollution.

Experiencing Mars: Can it be our New Home?

Objective : Our objective is to create a realistic model of the Martian surface to understand it's geograpy, terrainian features and envirommental conditions to understand how future missions can adapt to the Martian surface thus reaching the second phase of humanity's connection with Mars and establish myriads of majorly self sustaining space bases and many new invetions that can help us conquer the whole entire solar system. 

Materials Needed:

• Cardboard box: To create the base and room for sand
• Red sand: To replicate the reddish color of Martian dust.
• Rocks and pebbles: To simulate the rocky terrain.
• Clay: To build terrainian features like hills, valleys, and craters for testing potential landing sites
• Rover model To demonstrate rover navigation.
• Paint and Brushes: Red, brown, and orange shades for detailing the terrain.
• Foam board or cardboard: To construct the habitat model.
• LED lights: To simulate artificial lighting.
• Small nuclear reactor facilities: To demonstrate renewable energy sources.
• Miniature figures and plants: To represent astronauts and the fruit of hydroponics
• Hot glue gun: For assembling the model.
• Notebook and pen: For documenting the design process and observations.

1. Researching Martian Geography and Space Habitats:
   • I studied about the geographical features of Mars, including craters, mountains, valleys, and plains and typed them in a word document.
   • I learned about famous landmarks such as Olympus Mons (the tallest volcano), Valles Marineras (a vast canyon system), and Gale Crater (a landing site for Mars rovers) and myriads more.
   • I researched the environmental conditions on Mars, such as temperature, atmosphere, and weather.
   • I studied proposed space habitats, such as the International Space Station (ISS) and concepts for Mars habitats by NASA, other space organizations and private companies. 
   • I learned and discussed about the challenges of living on Mars and ways to adapt to them
   • I researched about renewable technologies that work on Mars and their energy output during different situation
2. Design the Martian Terrain:
   • I sketched a plan for the Mars surface model, including the placement of key terrain features.
   • I decided on the scale of the model to ensure it fits within the sandbox or tray.
   • Sketching a detailed design of the space habitat, considering theplacement of living quarters, laboratories, greenhouses, and other essential areas.
   • Planning the layout to ensure efficient use of space and resources.
3. Preparation
   • I filled the cardboard box with a layer of red sand to create the base.
   • I mixed different shades of red, brown, and orange paint to achieve a realistic color for the sand and add a nefarious level of detail
   • I used clay to sculpt hills, valleys, craters, and other geographical features.
   • I strategically rocks and pebbles to simulate the rocky terrain commonly found on Mars.
   • I added texture and details to make the surface look more realistic.
4. Construct the Habitat Structure:
   • I used foam board or cardboard to build the walls, floors, and roof of the habitat.
   • I made a realistic model of the habitat structure containing anything and everything scientists need to work and live
   • I labelled everything using toothpicks and small slips of paper
5. Add Key Features:
   • I installed LED lights inside the habitat to represent artificial lighting generated by nuclear reactors.
   • I created a system with mirrors in which the solar panel can harness more sulight and in turn produce more electricity
   • I created a greenhouse area using plastic sheets and miniature plants to simulate food production through hydroponics
   • I used clay or modeling putty to shape furniture, equipment, and other interior features.
   • I paintined and decorated the interior to make the model look realistic . (All of this is going to be based on Real-life data and feasibility)
   • I placed miniature figures inside the habitat to represent astronauts and I labelled their gear
6. Rover Navigation:
   • I will explain how scientists study the Martian surface using rovers and satellites.
   • I will discuss the importance of understanding Martian geology and its implications for future missions.
7. Environmental Conditions:
   • I will demonstrate and discuss how rovers navigate and explore the Martian terrain, avoid obstacles and face challenges
   • I will discuss and describe how these conditions affect the design and operation of Mars rovers and people
   • I will discuss the safety measures in place to protect astronauts from potential hazards.
8. Demonstrate Sustainability:
   • I will explain how the habitat's design addresses key challenges, such as providing oxygen, recycling water, and producing food.
   • I will analyze the efficiency of the habitat's layout and resource management.
   • I will discuss the importance of renewable energy sources and how the solar panels contribute to the habitat's sustainability.
   • I will propose improvements and innovations to enhance the habitat's functionality and sustainability.

Introduction

Mars is the closest planet to Earth and is the most likely planet to show signs of ancient life. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun with a bountiful amount of iron oxide, which gives it a reddish hue. This reddish shade has been its defining factor for centuries and even the reason behind its name. Mars was theoretically made due to a gravitationally loose part of a gargantuan molecular cloud. It has been the apple of astronomers’ eyes due to its vicinity to Earth, potential for habitability, availability of resources, and its possibility to take our technologies to the next level and the next era. It has intrigued us and our imaginations to a point where Mars has become a household name, and every person on the street believes we are on the brink of unlocking the doors to an interplanetary era. Even though the space race ended decades ago, can we rejuvenate our old ambitions, and call Mars home? This research project will explore Mars in detail, adapt technologies to Mars, and build habitats on the Red Marble.

Basic Information

Mars is the second smallest planet in our solar system, with a diameter of about 6779 kilometers or 4212 miles, which is less than the distance between Calgary and London. Even though Mars is a minuscule marble compared to Earth, it is still just as, if not more, interesting than Earth. It has many beautiful natural features that are currently hiding from us. Mars is probably the most similar planet to ourselves due to its terrestrial classification, four seasons a year, and a similar day-night cycle to ours. Some differences include that its length of day is 24.6 hours, which is longer than that of Earth, one year on Mars is quite similar to two years on Earth, and the temperatures are absolutely mind-bursting at -153 degrees Celsius. Such challenges are hard to overcome, especially with our minimal knowledge about the Martian surface. Formerly Mars was just like a baby Earth with an atmosphere, a microscopic magnetic field, water that was a byproduct of the bombardments of asteroids on Mars, and an air composition quite similar to that of Earth. Today, Mars has been reduced to a mere wasteland by radiation and solar winds, but that was not always the case, as previously Mars may have been more welcoming. A few billion years ago, Mars was much like Earth with the ingredients for life, such as oxygen and nitrogen, but 3.6 billion years ago, Mars lost its atmosphere, which stripped it of oxygen, water, and nitrogen and trapped it in the iron oxide rocks and carbonates. Mars has no global magnetic field today, but areas of the Martian crust in the southern hemisphere are highly magnetized, indicating traces of a magnetic field from 4 billion years ago.

 

Rock composition on Mars

Mars is a quite beautiful place with millennia of evolution to its name. Over the years, Mars has taken on its profound beauty we see today through a wide array of processes including, but not limited to the eruption of terrorizing volcanoes, the movement of clean water through the crust, and the ballistic bombardments that were part of Mars’ history. The surface has a myriad of rocks, sediments and dust formed through such processes. Its quite like a geoengineering puzzle to increase adaptability on Mars and eventually create sustainable communities and economies on what we currently think is a piece of junk home to nefarious, life-taking chemicals. But without wiping out Mars entirely by terraforming, can we tackle this dream mission of many generations.

Basaltic Volcanic Rocks

A gargantuan portion of the Martian surface is composed of basaltic volcanic rocks. Such rocks are formed by the supercooling of lava during Mars’ geologically active period. They contain a myriad of elements such as iron, magnesium and silicon due to the supercooling of molten lava. Surprisingly, after comparing basalt formations to Earth, we figured out that basaltic minerals on Mars are quite similar to those on Earth. Thus, both planets share a common volcanic origin. This basaltic history could have contributed to Mars formerly having thick atmosphere potentially supporting life. One of the most staggering volcanic features on Mars is the Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system at a gargantuan height of 22 kilometers and 600 km across. This awe-provoking sight may have been responsible for immense, prolonged volcanic activity in the profound past.

Red color of Mars

The red appearance of Mars is a result of myriads of Fe₂O₃ or rust within the surface. The planet’s surface has myriads of iron-bearing minerals like olivine and pyroxene which give birth to iron once exposed to oxygen and liquid water. This oxidizing process is theorized to have occurred about a few million years back. Iron oxide forms due to weathering from the punishing Martian atmosphere. Currently, Mars has a thin layer of C02, but the former evidence suggest that Mars had a thicker atmosphere with bountiful amounts of oxygen and water which let the process take place smoothly. The reddish soil on Mars, as described by these rovers named as ‘Curiosity and Perseverance’, have myriads of highly oxidized minerals and an abundance of hematite which forms in liquid water, suggesting a past liquid history

Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary Rocks on Mars are key to understanding Mars past due to their importance in shaping Mars. Unlike Earth’s Sedimentary rocks which are commonly the result of erosion, the sedimentary deposits found on our profound Mars are theorized to be remnants of past rivers, lakes and oceans formed by steam-containing asteroids slamming into Mars’ surface. The rocks are often sandstones, shales, siltstones and other materials that are formed from the accumulation of particles in liquid water. The Curiosity Rover which has been deployed in Mars since 2012 has discovered myriads of succinct and gargantuan examples of sedimentary rocks. For a succinct example, the layers in Yellowknife bay (in Canada) and Glenelg (on Mars) are quite similar. These rocks suggest a former presence of a temperate climate, and liquid water in basins. The presence of clay, minerals and sulfates in these rocks further supports the theory that water played a critical role in the ancient history of Mars. Clay minerals also suggest the presence of water on Mars.

Ice on Mars

There are two large water ice and frozen carbon dioxide polar ice caps on Mars. The southern cap grows in winter with frozen out CO2, but the northern cap is mostly water ice. The layered ice of the northern cap may hold some information about past climates like our ice cores on Earth. Radar has also found subsurface ice, which raises the possibility of microbial life, which adds to the knowledge of the climate of Mars and its capacity to support life. The northern polar cap is especially the apple of scientists’ eye due to the fact that the exposed ice gives us more material to study the layering of ice core on Mars which gives us clues about it’s potential for former habitability.

Craters on Mars

The Martian surface is heavily cratered due to the bombardment eras where asteroid from the farthest edges of the solar system got attracted to Mars. These craters caused a gargantuan amount of destruction, but they may provide us a succinct glimpse of Mars’ natural history. Some of the largest crater impacts such as the Hellas Planitia (a 2,300-kilometer-wide basin) formed quite early in the planet’s history stretches across 1/3 of the Martian surface. These incidents have led to many scars on the Martian surface, exposing clues about its history. Many of the sediments from asteroids show signs of erosions and containment of water which may have been caused due to previous Martian water bodies and oxygen.

Similarity between Earth and Mars

It is also the only planet whose solid surface and atmospheric phenomena can be seen in telescopes from Earth due to its close vicinity to Earth Mars is similar to Earth in many ways. For a succinct example, Earth and Mars have clouds, winds, a roughly 24-hour day cycle, seasonal weather patterns, polar ice caps, volcanoes, canyons, and other familiar features. Mars is easiest to observe when it and the Sun are in opposite directions in the sky—i.e., at opposition where Mars gets a bountiful amount of energy and light. Interestingly, while Mars is about half the diameter of Earth, its surface has nearly the same area as Earth’s dry land. Its volcanoes, impact craters, crustal movement, and atmospheric conditions such as dust storms have altered the landscape of Mars over many years, creating some of the solar system's most interesting topographical features.

 

Concerns about the planet Mars

Firstly, we need to address some vexatious problems that haunt the Martian surface, and make many scientists and engineers avoid this topic. Few such problems are - Mars has a lot of poisonous dust due to the high concentration of chlorine-based compounds on Mars’ regolith. This dust is carried across the planet’s surface by powerful winds, and it is fine enough to be suspended in the atmosphere, where it can cause global dust storms. It is difficult to find resources on Mars due to the precipitous process which needs a lot of investment and money to actually function, the deadly atmosphere will probably choke us to death and with modifications it is still extremely flammable due to the abundance of combustible oxygen. Also, the bone-chilling temperatures will have the potential to defy our current technologies and kill many people by rapid hypothermia; the extreme ultraviolet radiation can have the potential to increase cancer risk by over 41 percent which will harm the Martian population; the release of diseases and the lack of a magnetic field causes no stable population and permanent adaptability efforts. These problems are really hard to solve due to the precipitous scale, but using some innovative technologies, we can breathe the minty Martian surface. The temperature on Mars can be as high as 70 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) or as low as about -225 degrees Fahrenheit (-153 degrees Celsius). And because the atmosphere is so thin, heat from the Sun easily escapes this planet. If you were to stand on the surface of Mars on the equator at noon, it would feel like spring at your feet (75 degrees Fahrenheit or 24 degrees Celsius) and winter at your head (32 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Celsius). Occasionally, winds on Mars are strong enough to create dust storms that cover much of the planet. After such storms, it can be months before all of the dust settles.

Comparison between Earth and Mars core

Mars has many different elements in its thick core. Beneath the crust is a silicon mantle responsible for many of the tectonic and volcanic features on the planet's surface. The mantle appears to be rigid down to the depth of about 250 km, giving Mars a very thick lithosphere compared to Earth. Below this, the mantle gradually becomes more ductile, and the seismic wave velocity starts to grow again. The Martian mantle does not appear to have a thermally insulating layer analogous to Earth's lower mantle; instead, below 1050 km in depth, it becomes mineralogically similar to Earth's transition zone. At the bottom of the mantle lies a basal liquid silicate layer approximately 150–180 km thick. Mars's iron and nickel core is completely molten, with no solid inner core. It is around half of Mars's radius, approximately 1650–1675 km, and is enriched in light elements such as sulfur, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen.

Chemical composition of Mars

Mars is a terrestrial planet with a surface packed to the brim with minerals such as silicon, oxygen and different types of metals. An accurate assessment of the bulk chemical composition of Mars is fundamental to understanding planetary affairs such as history and adaptability, the nature of the igneous rocks that were altered to produce sediments on Mars, and the initial concentrations of elements such as H, Cl and S, are the important characteristics of the Martian surface. Bulk silicate Mars has roughly uniform depletion of moderately volatile elements such as K, and strong depletion of highly evaporable elements (e.g., Tl). The highly volatile  elements are likewise roughly uniformly depleted, but with more scatter, with normalized abundances. Bulk planetary H₂O is much higher than estimated previously: it appears to be slightly less than in Earth, but the heat of the process when pressure is constant is similar in Earth and Mars, indicating a common source of water-bearing material in the inner solar system.

Moons of Mars

One of Mars’ moons – Phobos is the innermost and larger of the two moons. Discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall, it was named after the son of the Greek God of war, fear and panic Ares (Mars). Phobos is small and irregularly shaped object probably due to speculation about it being a rogue asteroid attracted towards Mars. Phobos has a mean radius of 11 km and has dimensions of 26 by 23 by 18 kilometers. Phobos is closer to its primary body than any other satellite, as it is only at a 6000 km distance from the Martian surface. It completes it’s orbit around Mars in 7 hours and 39 minutes. It can be seen completing it’s orbit twice in a Martian day (sol) from the Martian surface. It is the most studied natural satellite in our solar system with a synchronous orbit around Mars which means that it revolves faster around Mars than Mars rotates around itself. Due to being the known least reflective object in the solar system, it has temperatures ranging from -4 Celsius on the sunlit side and -112 Celsius on the dark, gloomy side.

Deimos is the smaller and outer moon of Mars and one of its natural satellites. Deimos has a mean radius of 6.2 km (3.9 mi) and takes 30.3 hours to revolve around Mars. Deimos is around 4 times farther from Mars than Phobos with a mean distance of 23,460 kilometers from Mars. Deimos is a gray colored body which is greatly non- spherical with dimensions of 16.1 km × 11.8 km × 10.2 km with a mean diameter of 12.5 km. This size is about 57% of Phobos. Deimos is rich in carbon material much like meteorites. It is cratered but smoother than Phobos due to the craters being filled to the brim with regolith. The escape velocity from Deimos is 5.6 m/s which can be achieved by a human.

 

Discovery by NASA

In November 2016, NASA discovered a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region which could potentially be a game changer for Martian missions and adaptability due to its resources and help to life. The volume of water detected has been estimated to be similar to the volume of water in Lake Superior which is one of the most gargantuan lakes on Earth. Between 2018 and 2021, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observed signs of water and subsurface ice in the Valles Marineris canyon system. Mars holds significant reserves of water, primarily as dust-covered ice at its polar ice caps. If the water ice in the south polar ice cap were to melt, it could inundate much of the Martian surface to a depth of 11 meters. Liquid water cannot persist on Mars’ surface due to its extremely low atmospheric pressure, less than 1% of Earth's, only allowing for transient liquid water presence at lower elevations under specific temperature conditions. Fine-scale valley networks on older surfaces imply runoff from rainfall in Mars's early history, while gullies in the southern highlands hint at recent activity linked to melting ice. Geological remnants such as deltas and alluvial fans further support theories of a warmer, wetter past, backed by mineral findings like hematite and goethite that form in aqueous conditions.
 

Rovers

In 2004, the ‘Opportunity rover’ discovered jarosite on Mars, indicating past acidic water presence. The ‘Spirit rover’ found silica deposits in 2007, further suggesting wet conditions. By December 2011, Opportunity detected gypsum, which forms in water's presence. Mars’s upper mantle may contain significant water, potentially covering the planet to depths of 200–1,000 meters. In March 2013, Curiosity rover's findings of hydrated minerals indicated subsurface water, with up to 4% water content detected down to 60 cm depth. In September 2015, NASA reported evidence of hydrated brine flows in recurring slope lineae, suggesting water's role in their formation, although later studies proposed alternative explanations involving dry flows. The presence of ancient oceans on Mars remains a controversial topic, with some researchers suggesting that northern plains were once covered by such an ocean. Evidence of higher Martian deuterium ratios hints at more water in the past, but confounding climate models raise doubts about warm conditions suitable for liquid water.

Early discoverers of Mars

Kepler was the first to discover Mars’ elliptical orbit. Moreover, Kepler “discovered” angular momentum and a part of special relativity. In 1590, Michael Maestlin discovered an occultation of Mars and Venus. In 1610, Galileo Galilei was the first person to see Mars via the telescope.  The first person to draw a map of Mars that displayed any terrain features was the Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens. In 1877 ,Giovanni Schiaparelli used a 22-centimetre (8.7 in) telescope in Milan to help produce the first detailed map of Mars.

 

Axis of Rotation of Mars

Mars' axis of rotation is tilted 25 degrees with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. This is another similarity with Earth, which has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees. Like Earth, Mars has distinct seasons, but they last longer than seasons here on Earth since Mars takes longer to orbit the Sun (because it's farther away). And while here on Earth the seasons are evenly spread over the year, lasting 3 months (or one quarter of a year), on Mars the seasons vary in length because of Mars' elliptical, egg-shaped orbit around the Sun.

Mars Mission

Several plans for a human mission to Mars have been proposed throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, but none have come to fruition partly due to many other problems that governments have to juggle into eye dragging schedules. The NASA Authorization Act of 2017 directed NASA to study the feasibility of a crewed Mars mission in the early 2030s; the resulting report eventually concluded that this would be unfeasible because of a lack of funding from the government and a great focus and Manpower dedicated towards solving gargantuan problems on Earth. In addition, in 2021 China was planning to send a crewed Mars mission in 2033, for it is still participating in the space race and wants to distract itself from its economic mishap. Privately held companies such as SpaceX have also proposed plans to send humans to Mars, with the eventual goal to settle on the planet through terraforming which is highly expensive and resource hefty. As of 2024, SpaceX has proceeded with the development of the Starship launch vehicle with the goal of Mars colonization. In plans shared with the company in April 2024, Elon Musk envisions the beginning of a Mars colony within the next twenty years. This enabled by the planned mass manufacturing of Starship and initially sustained by resupply from Earth, and in situ resource utilization on Mars, until the Mars colony reaches full self sustainability.

ROSCOSMOS Proposed Space Habitats and Satellites

ROSCOSMOS as in the Russian Space agency has launched satellite constellations that support a variety of services including navigation, communication, and Earth Observation. The GLONASS system with 23 spacecraft in the orbital planes at an altitude of 19,100 km, provides global navigation and stunning timing support to land sea, air and space users. Furthermore, Russia's Earth observation satellites, such as Resurs-P, Canopus-V, and Meteor-M, provide myriads of data for monitoring the planet in times of need and managing and protecting precious resources. Cosmodromes like Baikonur, Plesetsk, and Vostochny play lead roles in launching such satellites due to their immense space adaptability, with Baikonur being the most gargantuan and one of the most historic. The adaptability of these satellites has been demonstrated in their ability to accurately track deforestation in the emptiest of areas, detect changes in land use, monitor climate change and its nefarious effects, and even manage natural disasters like wildfires or floods. They also contribute to improving agricultural practices by monitoring crop health and predicting yields.

 NASA’s Proposals for deep space development

NASA is seeking proposals from far and wide for deep space habitat prototypes for deep space habitats and exploration in NASA’s new ‘Journey to Mars’ initiative through the next step 2 program. This colossal and gargantuan effort by NASA aims to advance habitation in space, propulsion and understanding of deep space and satellite technologies, and spacecraft launch systems. This creative program promotes public-private partnerships to foster development of space exploration capabilities which in turn will increase the chances of Mars adaptability.

NextSTEP-2 encourages private sector innovation which eventually will smoothly reduce manufacturing costs and speed up the development of deep space habitats and future missions. The program also focuses on creating adaptable prototypes, allowing for improvements over time. For a succinct example, habitat systems designed for Mars could also support future lunar base operations, space tourism while life support technologies might be scaled for extended missions in low-Earth orbit. These adaptable solutions contribute to a sustainable space economy by letting infrastructure increase its malleability for a variety of missions.

CSA Benefits

According to CSA, if we double down on space exploration, we will be blessed with sweet, fruitful benefits such as:

• Experiments performed in space help us understand health problems on Earth.
• Satellites provide data on climate change, measure pollution, and help protect our planet.
• The space sector generates high-tech jobs for Canadians.
• Space technologies improve products we use every day, weather forecasts, and communications worldwide.
• Satellites data can be used to predict natural disasters and to support emergency relief efforts.
• Scientific breakthroughs are challenging our assumptions and pushing our boundaries by exploring the unknown.
• Astronauts encourage young people to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
• The thirst of exploring space can spark world peace

 

 

ISRO Discoveries and adaptabilities

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), or Mangalyaan, carried five key scientific payloads that led to jaw-dropping discoveries about Mars:

 Mars Color Camera (MCC) captured high-resolution images of Mars' surface, including craters, valleys, and ice caps, providing data on its surface features and weather systems.

 Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) detected methane in Mars' atmosphere, a potential indicator of microbial life or geological processes.

 Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA) studied Mars' upper atmosphere, offering glimpses of atmospheric loss and possibility of life

 Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS) mapped Mars' surface, mineral composition, which revealed clay and hematite, suggesting past water activity.

 Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) measured deuterium and hydrogen levels , helping to understand Mars' water history and atmospheric loss through the Dyson sphere effect

These payloads provided myriads of data on Mars' surface, atmosphere, and potential for life.

NASA space soil

One proposed habitat design is a cylinder that rotates to create artificial gravity and houses up to 8000 people, for purposes such as asteroid mining, space manufacturing and research. This habitat is meant to be self-sustaining with regards to food and have ample green space, which both supports crew mental health and functions as part of the life support system. At this scale, generating enough food using hydroponics would run into difficulties with the amount of machinery needed and the gargantuan errors along the way. Moreover, hydroponic systems require nutrient solutions and do not easily lend themselves to the recycling of agricultural and human waste, which is readily accomplished in a soil-based system through composting the waste and incorporating it into soil.

Instead, we propose to create soil from carbon-rich asteroid material, using fungi to physically break down the material and chemically degrade toxic substances. This process is quite similar to terraforming by on a whole new level. We will use fungi to help turn asteroid material into soil. The basic idea is to inoculate carbonaceous asteroid material with fungi to initiate soil formation. Fungi are excellent at breaking down complex organic molecules, including those toxic to other life forms. For example, oyster mushrooms) have been shown to successfully clean up soil contaminated by petroleum by digesting the hydrocarbons making up the petroleum. Fungi can penetrate long distances into cracks and exert large amounts of pressure, physically breaking down rock – some even live inside rocks. Indeed, evidence indicates that fungi played an undeniable role in early soil formation on Earth.

 

DLR and ESA Proposals

The launch of DLR's satellite EuCROPIS (Euglena and Combined Regenerative Organic-Food Production in Space) on 3 December 2018 was the start of DLR's mission in which a satellite equipped with two greenhouses – each containing a united double system consisting of bacteria in a biofilter, tomato seeds, single-celled algae and synthetic urine – orbits the Earth.

The aim of the mission is to determine whether biological waste can be recycled in space and used to grow fresh food. Astronauts on long-duration missions would benefit from fresh vegetables, but so too would people in extreme terrestrial habitats. The two greenhouses will operate for a total of 62 weeks – one under Martian gravitational conditions, and the other under lunar gravitational conditions, which will be simulated by adjusting the satellite’s rotation rate. The experimentation phase on board the Eu:CROPIS satellite developed by DLR came to an end on 31 December 2019.

 

 

 

 

Mars

• It has an average temperature of -65 Degrees Celsius
• It has an atmospheric pressure of 6-10 millibars
• It has a radius of 3,390 km
• It has 1% of Earth’s Atmosphere
• It is filled with 96% CO₂

Moon

• It’s temperature ranges from 127 Degrees Celsius to -173 Degrees Celsius
• It has an atmospheric pressure of 0.000000000003 bar
• It has a radius of 1,734.4 km
• It has no atmosphere
• It is filled with helium, neon, argon, hydrogen, ammonia, methane, potassium, sodium, and carbon dioxide

What we NEED to SURVIVE

• A temperature of -70 Celsius - +50 Celsius
• Minimal atmospheric pressure of 475 millibars
• Any Radius size
• 30% of Earth’s Atmosphere
• Atmosphere filled with 78% Nitrogen and 21% Oxygen

 

Citations

https://homework.study.com/explanation/at-what-atmospheric-pressures-can-humans-survive.html#:~:text=Answer%20and%20Explanation%3A,in%20an%20environment%20of%20oxygen.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21164-hypothermia-low-body-temperature

https://www.weather.gov/ama/heatindex

https://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/bowdoc/hypothermia/hypothrm.html

https://www.lpi.usra.edu/announcements/artemis/whitepapers/2011.pdf

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/temperatures-across-our-solar-system/#:~:text=The%20median%20surface%20temperature%20on,F%20(%2D153%C2%B0C).

https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-moons-atmosphere.html#:~:text=The%20moon's%20atmosphere%20(with%20a,are%20found%20in%20small%20amounts.

https://www.unitconverters.net/pressure/bar-to-millibar.htm

https://www.tiger-algebra.com/en/solution/scientific-notation-conversion/3%2A10%5E-15/

Mars is a minuscule planet formed by years of evolution and ubiquitous geological instability. Now, due to a lack of a magnetic field and a thick atmosphere, it has lost its habitability, and its rivers of water. But it still hosts one of the most awe-striking geological formations in the solar system with many clues hinting to it’s fluctuating past particularly regarding its era of habitability. These are only some of the reasons this planet is the apple of the scientists’ eye, and the most prominent candidate for exploration and colonization. By adapting technologies such as Rockets, Tethers, Windmills, Rovers, Satellites, Factories and vehicles to the Martian surface we can unlock a new era in the development of humanity today and experience this august planet. Let us all gather to spend money on this cause, so that we can live on Mars peacfully and cock-a-hoop for the valiant astronauts who embark on this journey and make a new planet for us.

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I would like to give a gragantuan thank you to my mother who helped me proof-read the text and help me in the art and digramatical aspect of the project. Secondly, I would like to give a vast ocean of appreciations to my dad helped me a lot in the organiztion and the preparition ascpect of the project. Thirdly, I would like to give a great collosal amount of appreciation to my science-fair co-ordinator Mr. Tackney, who helped me register for the project. Fourthly, I would express my debt of obligation for Mr. Sia Lu who guided me through many technical issues and was my go to teacher for project discussions. Lastly, I would like to thank my peers who helped me critically analyze the poster. Furthermore, I would directly like to express a lot of apprecition for the CYSF team who selected my project for judgment.