Mars Colony Questions

Mars has a very thin atmosphere and no magnetic field. Dangers to settlers include radiation, cold, meteorites, and dust storms. What strategies will your Mars colony use to address these threats?

• Heating system powered by solar power, which is a renewable resource to address the cold

• Underground base protects from radiation and meteorites

  • Additionally, build shields to protect further from meteorites

• To protect from dust storms, wearing masks with filters when going out and underground shelter mostly reduces impact as well

Mars' atmosphere is too thin to support life. How will you provide enough O2 for youre colonists? How will you filter out the CO2?

• Create closed system with necessary resources (artificial sunlight, soil, water, carbon dioxide) within underground base allowing plants to grow in soil brought from Earth

• Plants perform photosynthesis in closed system and filter out CO2 by absorbing to use in the process

  • Photosynthesis produces oxygen that is a renewable resource as long as the plant is alive and has access to the necessary resources

Energy is needed for the colony to survive. List and describe ONE method that the colonists will use to generate energy. Your energy sources should include a way to make electricity. Give one advantage and one disadvantage for your energy generation method.

• Solar panels that are built on Mars from materials brought from Earth

• Advantage: renewable resource which is good for a self sufficient colony with an extended stay on Mars

• Disadvantage: expensive, takes time to build, disrupted easily by weather/limited access to sunlight

Water is essential for human life. Where will Colonists get their water from?

• Recycling water through distillation of urine which is a more sustainable method that allows the same resource to be used for an extended period of time

• collecting ice from planet and melting to filter and reuse if needed

Food needs to be produced on Mars for the long-term sustainability of the colony. Using your knowledge of food chains and food webs, what should the main diet of the colonists be? Explain. Where will the required nitrogen for growing food come from? What dangers do you see in this?

• Main diet of plants because it is the most sustainable source of nutrition, meaning they use less resources such as energy, space, and water

• Also allows for more efficient energy transfer due to energy lost up the trophic levels

• Nitrogen in soil provided through transport of a sample of Earth soil containing microorganisms that perform nitrogen fixation and convert nitrogen into the right form for successful plant growth

• Dangers: must be performed in closed system so could be contaminated easily, requires long setup