DEADLY space radiation and rapid outbreaks of disease are just a few of the official Nasa dangers that visitors to Mars will face.
The space agency holds a list of “five hazards of human spaceflight” that puts astronauts travelling to the space station, the Moon and even the red planet at risk.
Nasa is already working on returning humans to the surface of the Moon – and Mars is the obvious next stop.
But Nasa’s Human Research Program has warned that these space-faring pioneers will face dangerous and potentially deadly threats.
Worse still, Nasa warns these dangers “can feed off one another and exacerbate effects on the human body”.
“Recognizing these hazards allows NASA to seek ways that overcome the challenges of sending humans to the space station, the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” Nasa said.
SPACE DANGER #1 – SPACE RADIATION
Space radiation is a serious risk to anyone spending a long time away from Earth.
“Invisible to the human eye, space radiation is not only stealthy but considered one of the most hazardous aspects of spaceflight,” Nasa warns.
When you’re on Earth, you’re protected by its magnetic field and atmosphere.
But when you go into space, you’re at risk from ionising radiation – and are no longer shielded like you would be on Earth.
You can’t see or feel it, but Nasa warns that the effects of this “silent hazard” are very real.
If you spend around six months in space, Nasa says your body will be exposed to roughly the same amount of radiation as having 1,000 chest X-rays.
This puts you at increased risk of developing cancer, but Nasa warns that it can also lead to “central nervous system damage, bone loss, and some cardiovascular diseases”.
SPACE DANGER #2 – ISOLATION AND CONFINEMENT
While you’re being blasted with space radiation, you’ll have to take on another difficulty: being a human.
For a start, you’ll be isolated from everyone back home.
On the space station, you can communicate with Earth – but you’ll be away from loved ones for a long time.
If you head to the red planet, it’s far worse.
“On Earth, we have the luxury of picking up our cell phones and instantly being connected with nearly everything and everyone around us,” Nasa explained.
“On a trip to Mars, astronauts will be more isolated and confined than we can imagine.
“Sleep loss, circadian desynchronization, and work overload compound this issue and may lead to decreased performance, adverse health outcomes, and compromised mission objectives.”
How long does it take to get to Mars?
It's not that short of a trip...
- There’s an immense distance between Earth and Mars, which means any trip to the red planet will take a very long time
- It’s also made more complicated by the fact that the distance is constantly changing as the two planets rotate around the sun
- The closest that the Earth and Mars would ever be is a distance of 33.9million miles – that’s 9,800 times the distance between London and New York
- That’s really rare though: the more useful distance is the average, which is 140million miles
- Scientists on Earth have already launched a whole bunch of spacecraft to (or near) Mars, so we have a rough idea of how long it takes with current technology
- Historically, the trip has taken anywhere from 128 to 333 days – admittedly a huge length of time for humans to be on board a cramped spacecraft.
- A realistic travel time for a crewed mission would be roughly two to three years.
SPACE DANGER #3 – DISTANCE FROM EARTH
Distance from Earth isn’t just bad in terms of isolation – but also in mission planning.
It takes a very long time to get humans over to and back from Mars. Communications will also take a very long time.
If you’ve ever played an online game with high latency or been on a Zoom call with a delay, know that visiting Mars would be so much worse.
After all, Mars is a whopping 140 million miles from Earth on average.
So while a trip to the Moon and back could be achieved in days, Nasa says that astronauts making the journey to Mars would be away from Earth for “roughly three years”.
That makes mission planning very difficult.
“Given this distance, planning and self-sufficiency will be essential to successful missions to Mars,” Nasa noted.
“Facing a communication delay of up to 20 minutes one way, the possibility of equipment failures or medical emergencies, and a critical need to ration food and supplies, astronauts must be capable of confronting an array of situations with minimal support from teams on Earth.”
MARS FACTS – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Here's some of the key info about our space neighbour...
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.
On average, it’s around 140 million miles away from Earth.
Its distances from the Sun also varies because Mars has an elliptical (egg-shaped) orbit.
Each day on Mars typically lasts around 24.6 hours – only slightly longer than on Earth.
But a full trip around the Sun – a Martian year – takes 687 Earth days.
The Martian atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide (around 96%), along with a combination of oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and water vapour.
Mars has two moons: Phobos, which is the larger inner moon, and Deimos, a smaller outer moon.
It’s expected that Phobos will continue to move towards Mars and ultimately crash into the red planet in around 50 million years.
The planet is rocky with a solid surface like Earth. Its red colour is due to the iron in Martian rocks and dust, as part of a rust-like oxidation process.
Picture Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS
SPACE DANGER #4 – GRAVITY FIELDS
Unless you’re a scientist or apples are regularly falling on your head, you probably rarely think about gravity.
But astronauts will have to face not one but three different gravitational challenges on their Martian trip.
Firstly, they’ll have to adjust to weightlessness on the long space-trek to Mars, which could take around six months.
Then when they’re on Mars, they’ll experience a different kind of gravity. It’s not complete weightlessness – instead, it’ll be about a third of Earth’s gravity.
And then when they finally make it back home, they’ll have to readjust to Earth’s gravity again.
“Switching from one gravity field to another is trickier than it sounds,” Nasa warned.
“The transition affects spatial orientation, head-eye and hand-eye coordination, balance, and locomotion, with some crew members experiencing space motion sickness.”
Astronauts might even find themselves fainting when they land their craft on Mars.
Crews may experience an increased risk of developing kidney stones due to dehydration and increased excretion of calcium from their bones.
Nasa
But that’s not all: astronauts flying through space face very serious health risks as a result of the lack of gravity.
“Without the continuous load of Earth’s gravity, weight-bearing bones lose on average 1% to 1.5% of mineral density per month during spaceflight,” Nasa explained.
“Water and other fluids in the body shift upward to the head, which may put pressure on the eyes and cause vision problems.
“If preventive measures are not implemented, crews may experience an increased risk of developing kidney stones due to dehydration and increased excretion of calcium from their bones.”
So if gravity does bring an apple crashing down on your head here on Earth, remember to be grateful.
SPACE DANGER #5 – HOSTILE AND CLOSED ENVIRONMENTS
When you’re on a spacecraft, Nasa will do its best to keep it closed off from the hostile outside world.
That’s very handy, as there are many things in space (and on Mars) that could kill you.
But by keeping astronauts confined in small and closed-off spaces, there are other risks that can appear.
“Microbes can change characteristics in space, and micro-organisms that naturally live on the human body are transferred more easily from person to person in closed habitats, such as the space station,” Nasa revealed.
“Stress hormone levels can elevate and the immune system can alter, which could lead to increased susceptibility to allergies or other illnesses.
“More research is needed into whether these changes pose serious risks to astronauts.”
On top of that, Nasa needs to also think about how to make its space craft, stations, and bases comfortable for living.
That means making sure that the heating, amount of free space, ambient noise, and lighting are all spot on – so you’re not driven mad on your Mars adventure.