7 235 Going to Mars is not to be taken lightly. After all, that's over 56 million kilometers. The red planet is the next great human achievement, and there are several obstacles on the way to it. Both national governments and private companies compete to send people to Mars. But how long to fly to Mars and how expensive it will cost. And what happens after you actually set foot on this soft, dusty, red Martian land? The Mars InSight craft managed to reach the planet in a relatively short time, but a shuttle with people and supplies needed to survive could take longer. The smallest recorded distance between Earth and Mars is 56 million kilometers. The distance changes due to our orbits. Even light that travels incredibly fast can take up to 12 minutes to reach us from the surface of Mars. NASA's InSight lander about to land on the surface of Mars, NASA photo, October 2016 The fastest rocket launch from Earth occurred in 2015 and traveled at 36,000 miles per hour (58,000 km/h). Based on that figure, and given that Mars could be farther away depending on when you visit, scientists say the journey to the red planet takes about 300 days. It's a little less than ten months. However, some say that if all the correct elements are aligned and you have used a lot of fuel, it can only take 150 days, which is five months. While it takes some patience for a spacecraft to travel 250 days to reach Mars, we may need a completely different method of propulsion if we send humans. Space is a hostile place, and radiation from interplanetary space can pose a long-term threat to the health of human astronauts. The question of how long to fly to Mars is important not only in technological and financial terms. Space flights are not a trip to a resort, this is a dangerous event for human health. The less time you spend in space, the better for you.How long to fly to Mars from Earth
Other Ideas to Reduce Flight Time to Mars
Background cosmic rays create a constant cancer-causing flux, but there is a greater risk of massive solar storms that can kill unprotected astronauts in a matter of hours. If you can reduce travel time, you will reduce the amount of time astronauts get from exposure and minimize the amount of supplies they have to carry for the return flight.
This composite photo was taken from over 100 images of Mars taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s.
How long to fly to Mars using various technologies
nuclear missiles
One of the ideas is nuclear missiles, which heat a working fluid - such as hydrogen - to intense temperatures in a nuclear reactor and then blast it out of a rocket nozzle at high speeds to generate thrust. Because nuclear fuel is much denser than chemical rockets, you can get higher thrust speeds with less fuel. It is assumed that a nuclear rocket could reduce the flight time to Mars to about 7 months.
Magnetoplasma rockets
Another proposal is a technology called magnetoplasma rocket With variable specific impulse(or VASIMR). This is an electromagnetic engine that uses radio waves to ionize and heat fuel. This creates an ionized gas called plasma that can push the back of the spacecraft at high speed. Former astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz is leading the development of this technology, and a prototype is expected to be installed on the International Space Station to help it maintain its altitude above Earth. In a mission to Mars, the VASIMR rocket can reduce the flight time to Mars by up to 5 months.
antimatter
Perhaps one of the most extreme suggestions would be to use antimatter rockets. Created in particle accelerators, antimatter is the densest fuel you could ever use. When atoms of matter meet atoms of antimatter, they turn into pure energy, as predicted by Albert Einstein's famous equation: E = mc 2 .
So, how long does it take to fly to Mars using antimatter technology? It would take just 10 milligrams of antimatter to propel a human mission to Mars in just 45 days! But then the production of even such a small amount of antimatter would cost about $250 million.
How to fly to Mars with the least amount of fuel
The main task of engineers is how to get a spacecraft to Mars with the least amount of fuel. Robots don't really care about the hostile space environment, so it makes sense to keep the cost of launching a rocket as low as possible.
NASA engineers use a travel method called the Hohmann Transfer Orbit - or Minimum Energy Transfer Orbit - to send a spacecraft from Earth to Mars with the least amount of fuel. The technique was first proposed by Walter Homan, who published the first description of the maneuver in 1925.
Instead of aiming your rocket straight at Mars, you raise your spacecraft's orbit so that it follows a larger orbit around the Sun than the Earth. Eventually this orbit will intersect the orbit of Mars - at the very moment when it is also there.
If you need to launch with less fuel, you need more time to raise your orbit and increase your trip to Mars.
How much will a flight to Mars cost?
In addition to the fact that it takes a long time to fly to Mars, this is also an expensive undertaking. Although, according to mega-cosmic billionaire Elon Musk, in the end, it's not that much. He says it could go down to $100,000. And don't worry about providing a return ride because, according to Elon, it will be free.
"A flight to Mars would cost less than $500,000 and maybe even less than $100,000"
— Elon Musk
What will we do when we get to Mars
Musk envisions 1,000 passenger ships flying en masse to the Red Planet in the next century, Battlestar Galactica style. He outlined his vision for the colonization of Mars at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara a few years ago. Needless to say, he received a warning from avid space lovers in the crowd. But he acknowledged that going to Mars would not be as easy as, say, moving to another city.
SpaceX is now actively trying to make this scientific dream a reality. The company is developing a 100-passenger spacecraft called the Starship and a giant rocket known as the Super Heavy, which together make up a transportation system that Musk believes will eventually lead to the settlement of Mars.
“This is the fastest route to a self-sustaining city on Mars,” Musk said during a webcast about the Starship-Super Heavy architecture.
In response to a question about when it could be built, Musk said, "Probably 2028 would be a good time to build a base." In the early years, human civilization on Mars would have been fairly simple. Musk said the pioneers would have “just a base to make rocket fuel, power plants, blast domes where you can grow crops. All kinds of basics you can't survive without."
And most likely you won't come back. So anyone wondering how long it takes to get to Mars will have to say goodbye to our big blue planet, because they probably won't set foot on it again.
The Mars One project intends to send the first people to Mars in order to establish the first colony there.
However, this flight will be one way, and no one will return.
More 200,000 people applied to fly to Mars, and the first 1,058 people were selected to advance to the next stage. A group of the first 4 selected people will land on the Red Planet already in 2025, but every two years they will be joined by the next group of marsonauts.
Here are a few facts that everyone who wants to leave planet Earth for good and go to Mars needs to know.
How long is the flight to Mars?
1. It will be a very long and sad flight.
Mars One said the flight would take 7 to 8 months (minimum 210 days), depending on the relative position of Earth and Mars.
The astronauts will spend all this time in a very cramped space (about 20 square meters each), devoid of many amenities. They will not be able to wash themselves, will eat canned food and hear constant noise from fans, computers and life support systems. In the event of a solar storm, they will have to take shelter in an even narrower space for protection.
2. This will be a test for the psyche
© Elen11 / Getty Images
When Russia conducted the Mars 500 project, where six volunteers were in a confined space for 520 days, it turned out that four of them had problems sleeping or developed depression during the mission.
One crew member developed chronic sleep deprivation, which affected his concentration and attention.
Flight to Mars
3. People have never been in space for so long
© Sergydv / Getty Images
At the moment, astronauts spend no more than six months on the International Space Station. This is due to how microgravity affects the human body, including the loss of bone and muscle tissue. It is worth remembering that a flight to Mars will take at least 200 days, which is more than six months.
Time on Mars and year on Mars
4. It will be difficult to get used to Martian time.
© Sergydv / Getty Images
A day on Mars is 40 minutes longer than on Earth. Although this may not seem like such a big difference, for us who are used to living on a 24-hour cycle, it will become quite noticeable.
At the same time, a year on Mars lasts 687 days, which means that those who will live on the Red Planet will be almost twice as young as earthlings.
One way flight to Mars
5. You will never see Earth again.
© Volodymyr Goinyk / Getty Images
When the Apollo astronauts went to the Moon, they spoke of feeling confused and frustrated as they got further and further away from Earth. However, compared to Mars, the Moon is not that far away.
Gravity on Mars
6. Once you get used to the gravity on Mars, you won't be able to return to Earth.
© Sergydv / Getty Images
Gravity on Mars is one-third of Earth's. So if your weight was 100 kg, then on Mars you would weigh 38 kg. Human bones and muscles atrophy, and after some time it will be difficult for a person to get used to earthly conditions.
Astronauts returning to Earth face the same situation.
People on Mars
7. The first settlers on Mars will not be able to have children.
© 1971yes / Getty Images
Mission Organizers Mars One advise the first settlers not to attempt to conceive children. First, the colonies on Mars will not be suitable for children at first. Second, little is yet known about the ability of humans to conceive in reduced gravity and whether the fetus can develop normally in such conditions.
8. You will need to constantly keep yourself in shape.
© Kzenon
If you don't like exercise, then flying to Mars is not for you. Bones, muscles, heart and lungs work differently in space. Astronauts on the ISS train for two hours a day to keep fit.
Life conditions on Mars
9. In case of illness, you will be at a distance of 362 million km from the Earth
© raspirator / Getty Images
Although astronauts will have the necessary funds to treat common injuries and illnesses, certain diseases will be difficult or almost impossible to treat.
10. You can always get infected with something unknown on Mars
© frentusha / Getty Images
Before every mission to Mars, scientists make every effort to disinfect the rovers so that bacteria from Earth do not get to Mars.
However, if astronauts on Mars are infected, earthlings are unlikely to take them back (if it were possible), as this could lead to the spread of an unknown extraterrestrial epidemic.
11. You won't try your favorite foods anymore.
© digiartfoto / Getty Images
The organizers plan that the colonizers will grow vegetables on Mars. Since the amount of food brought from Earth will be limited, they will mainly eat what they grow, such as spinach, lettuce and soybeans.
Everyone who is not even very strong in astronomy knows how long to fly to Mars - a long time. However, in the world of professional space flights, a lot depends on what the mission of the flight is, what kind of apparatus flies: manned or just a probe, and other factors.
Classic indicators of a flight to Mars:
- Fly to Mars for a minimum of one hundred and fifteen days (using current technology). You can fly to Mars at the speed of light in at least 3 minutes (182 seconds)
- Fifty-five million kilometers will have to be overcome.
- With the speed of flight, it is even more difficult, because so far the most advanced spacecraft cannot fly faster than twenty thousand kilometers per hour.
However, everything is in order! Let's find out whether the basic parameters indicated by us above are plausible. We will find out how much to fly to Mars in time, distance, and at what speed you can fly to Mars. And what is being done to speed up the flight, make it more economical and safer.
Why so long?
First of all, it must be clarified that Mars is located fifty-five million kilometers from our planetary home. So even if the Earth and this planet stop moving, it will take one hundred and fifteen days to fly in a straight line, since the speed of aircraft does not yet exceed twenty thousand kilometers per hour. In reality, both Mars and the Earth revolve around our star. Therefore, you can’t just take and launch the ship straight to the address of the permanent registration.
The flight path is thought out in such a way that the lead principle works. That is, in fact, the device flies to where there is no Mars yet, but by the time the ship arrives, it will.
Fuel is another issue. Flying requires an incredible amount of fuel. It would be nice to have a bottomless supply. But for now we have to be content with the current possibilities. If there were no obstacles in this, scientists would accelerate the ships to tremendous speed until the middle of the path, and then the nozzles would turn around and slow the ship down. In theory, everything is possible. But then you have to build an aircraft of incredible size with an incredibly huge fuel tank.
Ideas for speeding up flights to Mars
To be honest, engineers are not faced with the task of acceleration, but the task of saving fuel. Just do not think that we are talking about the health of the environment. It's all about real cost savings.
NASA today uses the Hohmann trajectory method, which consists in developing a method that leads to significant fuel savings. The method was developed by Mr. Goman back in 1925. It consists in delivering ships not directly to the red planet, but into the orbit of the Sun. At a certain time, this orbit will intersect with the Martian one, as a result of which the ship will immediately be tied to Mars.
It would seem that everything is so simple. But in fact, behind such manipulations lies a very serious work on accurate calculations.
True, there is another option. Try the ballistic capture method, when the spacecraft is launched in the orbit of Mars towards the planet. The red planet, when approached by its own gravity, captures the ship, as a result of which fuel is significantly saved. But not time, which takes much more than usual.
Promising types of fuel
Use of nuclear missiles
Nuclear missiles are, of course, not a bad prospect. Their work can be carried out by heating a liquefied type of fuel, for example, hydrogen. After the thermal process, it will be necessary to eject this fuel from the nozzle at high speed. And this will create the necessary traction. In theory, this type of fuel can reduce the flight time to seven Earth months.
Application of magnetism
Another option to speed up is to use the capabilities of a variable-momentum magneto-plasma rocket. The movement of the apparatus will occur due to an electromagnetic device, where the fuel is heated and ionized with the help of a radio wave. This is how ionized gas is created, or otherwise - plasma, which subsequently accelerates ships. And work on such a device is already underway. In the future, they are going to mount it on the ISS to maintain the station in orbit. And if everything goes smoothly with the test of the device, it will help shorten the road to Mars by up to five months.
antimatter
Applying the properties of antimatter is probably the most extreme theory. To obtain antimatter, it is necessary to use a particle accelerator. Since, when particles of antimatter and matter collide, there is an unimaginably strong release of colossal energy (according to Einstein), the speed of the ship will increase so much that it will be possible to reach the red planet in just forty-five days. And this will require about ten milligrams of antimatter. That's just the production of such a small amount will cost two hundred and fifty million dollars.
Today, scientists are working not only on these, but also on other very interesting and promising projects that will help win back several months from time.
Plans of Russian scientists
Russian leading scientist Academician Grigoriev claims that it is possible to get to Mars in thirty-eight days. To do this, you will have to use ion engines. However, it is believed that such a project will cost a lot of money. But the scientist boldly declared that this money is much more insignificant than the military budget of many countries.
We've already been to Mars
NASA's Mariner 4 was the first to visit Mars. It was launched in 1964, and it arrived on the red planet as early as 1965. During the flight, the device took twenty-one photographs. It took Mariner 4 two hundred and twenty-eight days to reach Mars.
Another ship - Mariner 6 - went to the planet in 1969 in February, and ended up near Mars in July. It will take him one hundred and fifty-six days.
Mariner 7 turned out to be even faster, flying to the planet in one hundred and thirty-one days.
There was also Mariner 9, which successfully entered Martian orbit in 1971. The ship was in flight for one hundred and sixty-seven days to the point of arrival.
This is how the study of Mars goes. Each apparatus sent to the planet spends an average of one hundred and fifty to three hundred days on the road. The last one, Curiosity Lander (2012), reached the red planet in 253 days.
One way flight! The most interesting is ahead!
Mars One intends to send a group of astronauts to the Red Planet not just to fly in orbit, but to build the first colony-settlement on Martian soil. But for the pioneers, this journey will be one way. They will never see their relatives, friends, or talk to them on the phone again, and will not even be able to use the Internet.
Despite the terrifying future, there were still more than two hundred thousand brave souls who applied to participate in the mission. About a thousand and fifty-eight applicants were selected by the project. Of these, the first four winners of the preparatory stage will go to the planet in 2025. Then, every two Earth years, other marsonauts will join them.
But these are all just generalities. But what really awaits those who go into the unknown? And how will the opinion of each of us change, who until now wanted to be in their place, when we learn about the upcoming trials?
Long and not at all fun flight
Mars One said that it would most likely take at least seven months, or even all eight, to fly to the red planet. Much will depend on the current location of the Earth relative to Mars. And all this long journey, the astronauts will have to put up with extremely small, cramped space on the ship and the absence of all the amenities familiar to modern man.
Terrible, but even ordinary bathing will become an unaffordable luxury. And so, without washing once, eating exclusively canned food, under the constant hum of fans, computer systems and the noise of life support systems, these true heroes will have to try not to go crazy and fly in full health to Mars.
And that's not all the trouble. There is such a terrible thing as a solar storm. And if it happens along the way, the astronauts will have to imprison themselves in an even narrower space that will protect them from the harmful Sun.
Real test for nerves
Our mention of the probable mental instability that threatens every astronaut in flight is a very real threat. The Mars-500 project was implemented on the Russian platform. It was attended by six cosmonauts, of whom four showed the development of a depressive state during the five hundred and twenty days of their stay in a confined space. Sleep problems started. In one person, even on the basis of chronic lack of sleep, attention and ability to concentrate suffered.
In fact, no astronaut has yet spent so much time in outer space. Yes, and without communication and other conditions, as close as possible to the usual comfortable life, even in weightlessness. It is not allowed to stay on the ISS for more than six months just because there is a loss of bone and muscle tissue.
Recall that the marsonauts will have to spend more than two hundred days in flight - more than six months.
martian time course
A day on Mars lasts only forty minutes longer than on Earth. On the scale of one month, maybe not a terrible difference. But in fact, for the inhabitants of the future colony, it will be tangible. Moreover, there are six hundred and eighty-seven days in a Martian year. It turns out that the newly appeared Martians over time will be twice as young as their peers on Earth.
Feeling of hopelessness
Astronauts who had a trip to the moon behind them said that as they moved away from their home planet, they felt a feeling of confusion and some frustration growing inside their chest, in their head. What will happen to those who go to Mars, to which it takes much longer to fly than to the Moon?!
martian gravity
The gravity that awaits astronauts on the Red Planet is what will make returning to Earth, home, impossible. The fact is that the Martian gravitational force is only a third of our planetary one. In other words, if the weight of a person on Earth is one hundred kilograms, then in the conditions of a new colony, he will drop to thirty-eight. As a result, muscles atrophy, bones weaken, and after a while a person will no longer be able to return to normal life on his native planet.
The situation is similar on the ISS. But astronauts are saved by the short duration of their stay in space.
Reproduction on Mars
The organizers of the mission to Mars to establish a colony there advise future settlers not to try to conceive children. There are several reasons. First of all, initially on the planet there will be no conditions for a normal family life. Then, nothing is known about how the conception and development of the fetus can go after so many months in flight, and even in the new Martian conditions.
Sport is everything!
To remain capable of at least some action, to prevent the muscles from completely atrophying, and the bones to adapt to the simplified Martian conditions, you will have to maintain a stable shape. There is one more thing to be understood. In space, the heart and other organs begin to work a little differently. In any case, you will have to spend several hours playing sports. Even on the Space Station, astronauts have to train for up to two hours a day.
martian reality
The worst is yet to come. Training, procreation issues and the rest of the above is not the most frightening prospect. Diseases! No one can get medical care on Mars. Maybe in the future, in the conditions of an already developed colony, it will be possible to provide settlers with decent care. But not at the beginning of the mission. Even the most minor injuries and ailments will have to be avoided.
martian contagion
Many will decide that there is nothing to get infected in space. Well, spaceships go a long way disinfection. This is done in order to exclude the possibility of terrestrial bacteria getting into conditions, for example, of the Martian climate. But this fact should not please the future settlers of Mars. If they catch some kind of infection on this planet, it is not a fact that even if the opportunity arises to return home, the Earth will accept such a person back. After all, no one will know how to treat an extraterrestrial disease. And the spread of the cosmic epidemic must be prevented at the very beginning.
No more favorite foods
The project is to learn how to grow vegetables in the Martian climate. A very important initiative, because the food taken from the Earth will quickly run out. But it will be possible to grow only spinach, beans, lettuce. But animal food will have to be abandoned for a long time. Well, you should forget about fried potatoes, cheeses and other things.
martian atmosphere
The Martian atmosphere is in an extremely rarefied state - about a percent of the earth's. Ninety-six percent of the air on Mars is carbon dioxide with a small amount of oxygen. So the marsonauts will not be able to go out for a breath of fresh air.
But the tests don't end there. Terrible sandstorms happen on the planet. They can last from several hours to several days and cover almost the entire planet. Sand rising at this time can be very toxic to the human body. So, if you want to take a walk, then you can do it in calm weather and only in spacesuits.
Silence and no internet
If you decide to send some information from Mars, then the delay will be from three to twenty-two minutes. Therefore, telephone communications are not effective. The text message will be sent with a delay of six minutes.
There will be no normal Internet either, except for a few sites loaded on Earth. And according to an insider, Mars One says that the settlers will have access to their favorite resources, but full access to the Web is not expected.
Radiation
Thanks to the Curiosity rover, it was possible to find out what level of radiation the body of astronauts on the Red Planet will be exposed to. The new house is not welcoming here either. The rover transmitted data that showed six hundred and sixty-two (±108) millisieverts—two-thirds of the thousand millisievert limit. But on Mars there is no magnetic field that somehow resisted such a terrible impact. So with every walk on the surface of the planet, a person will expose himself to terrible danger.
Don't you understand yet?
Once on Mars, you will die there!
You will either die from diseases that cannot be cured. Or from careless walks under the influence of radiation. In the end, even if nothing special happens to you, you will still die away from those whom you have loved all your life, whom you valued.
plus
3.8 (75.23%) 1316 votes
How long is the flight to Mars? This question hooked me while watching the next documentary about the solar system and about the future expedition to Mars. When (I really hope that not if) it takes place, it will be a giant breakthrough for mankind and the beginning of a real space age. I tried to find the most interesting information on this topic and this is what happened ...
How far is Mars from Earth? How long does it take to fly to Mars? In our article we will try to find out: How many kilometers from Mars to Earth? How long does it take to fly to Mars?
To determine how long it will take to fly to Mars, we need to identify a number of factors: to begin with, to determine the current position of the planets, gradually moving to the use of high-tech devices necessary for flight.
How far is Mars from Earth? How many km will have to be overcome? As is known from the initial physics course, in order to determine the time of movement between objects, you need to know the distance between them. In our case, the objects are planets. Mars is one of the so-called "terrestrial" planets, in terms of proximity to the Sun, Mars is in fourth place. But in proximity to the Earth, Mars is the second, it was overtaken by Venus.
Since the Sun holds the planets at different distances (orbits), the remoteness of Mars and the Earth also changes.
In 2003, the distance was 55 million km. A picture was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope at this time.
Theoretically, the maximum approach of Mars to the Earth is possible under certain conditions: Mars is at the point of the orbit of Perihelion, and the Earth is at the point of Aphelion. In this case, the distance would be 54.6 million km (33.9 million miles).
Unfortunately, humanity has not yet been lucky enough to witness such an alignment of the planets.
As mentioned in our article earlier, the closest planet Mars and planet Earth were in 2003. The maximum remoteness of the planets is possible when the planets are on the opposite sides from the sun. In this arrangement, the interplanetary distance will be 401 million km. The average distance is 225 million km.
From the same introductory physics course, we know that the speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per second. or 299 thousand km / s.
That is:
- if Mars and Earth are as close as possible to each other, the rays, reflected from Mars, will hit the Earth in 3 minutes;
- if the planets are in the middle point of approach - about 13 minutes;
- if the planets are as distant as possible - 22 minutes.
A very interesting film about the future flight to Mars (I wanted to watch it quickly, but I spent the whole film like this):
On January 19, 2006, the fastest automatic space station New Horizons was launched. Its speed is 16.26 km/s. The mission of the interplanetary ship was to study Pluto.
By sending the New Horizons interplanetary spacecraft at the same speed to Mars, it will reach its destination:
- At the smallest distance - in 39 days.
- At the middle point of remoteness - in 162 days.
- At the greatest distance - 289 days.
All of the above distance calculations are approximate, as they were made in a straight line. In fact, the ship will cover a greater distance, since the planets do not stand in one place, their movement is due to rotation around the Sun.
To send rockets to Mars, scientists need to calculate the movement of interplanetary stations and the location of the planet at the time of the approach of the satellite.
If you want to determine the most convenient date for the next flight to Mars, use the 3D model of the solar system.
Below is a short list of interplanetary stations and travel times to the red planet
- "Mariner 4" - the first spacecraft to study Mars from a flyby trajectory 1964. The journey was 228 days;
- "Mariner-6" and "Mariner-7" -1969 the first one reached in 155 days, the second in 128 days.
- "Mariner - 9" artificial satellite of Mars in 1971. the first mapped Mars - arrived in 168 days.
- "Viking-1" in 1976 - in 304 days it flew, landed, took pictures, studied the atmosphere and soil, and transmitted information to Earth;
- "Viking 2" -1975 - the search for life, the journey took 333 days.
- "Mars Global Surveyor" - 1996 - an artificial satellite of Mars - 308 days.
- "Mars Pathfinder" - 1997 - the first rover - 212 days.
- “Mars Express” (satellite, has been operating in orbit around Mars since December 25, 2003) - 201 days.
- "Martian Scout" - reconnaissance satellite (2006) - 210 days.
- "Maven" the tenth satellite (09/22/2014) - explores the atmosphere - was on the way to Mars for 307 days.
If you want to fly to Mars and how long to fly to Mars you already know, but perhaps something else is unknown, so it will not be superfluous to familiarize yourself with some more facts:
The Mars One project plans to send earthlings to Mars with subsequent colonization of its surface. Whether this flight will be a one-way ticket, we will try to figure it out.
In 2013, out of 202,000 applicants, Mars One selected 1,058 potential astronauts in the first round, of which 705 remained in the second round, and 660 people in the third. As a result, by the end of the qualifying race, there will be 6 groups of 4 people. By 2025, the first group of astronauts will land on Mars, subsequent groups will go to the Launch Window, which opens every 2 years, in the Goman-Vetchinkin orbit.
About the Mars One project in the video:
So, let's look at what you need to know about, eager to move to Mars.
How long does it take to fly to Mars? How fast and iridescent will the flight be?
Mars One Corporation claims that it knows how long to fly to Mars and this period for those whom the lights will choose will be 7-8 months. All this time, the astronauts will be practically without amenities and in a cramped, confined space. But, if you are not annoyed by the constant hum of fans, computers and life systems, and you think that washing is a useless task, then you can enjoy the oppressive blackness on the other side of the window to your heart's content. In addition to this idyll, if a solar storm catches you, you will have to hide in a space much smaller than 20 square meters. meters (area for living).
Will the psyche work?
Roscosmos, together with the Russian Academy of Sciences, carried out the Mars-500 project from 2007 to 2011, in which a team of volunteers was in isolation for 520 days. Despite the fact that the members of the experiment could leave the project at any time, some still had a nervous breakdown. What will happen in real conditions?
Will your body survive?
Today, astronauts stay on the ISS for no longer than 6 months, as muscles and bones, under the influence of microgravity, atrophy and lose mass. And what will happen to the astronauts flying to Mars, because the flight is more than 200 days?
And how do you like a day and a year on the Red Planet?
If you do not have time to do everything planned within the Earth, then on Mars you will have such an opportunity. A day on Mars lasts 40 minutes longer, and a year of 687 days, which, of course, many will see an advantage, since compared to Earth, youth will last twice as long.
Will you return home?
Let's remember the expedition to the moon, the Apollo astronauts said that as they moved away from the earth, they experienced increasing excitement and anxiety. This state can be described with the phrase: “It’s as if all the joy has been sucked out.”
Dreams of gravity
Yes, gravity is an exciting thing, I imagine how donuts dream of fluttering like fluffs driven by the wind. On Mars, this is almost real, since gravity is two-thirds less than Earth's. There is only one “but”, while you get used to the Martian gravity, muscle and bone tissue will atrophy, and returning to your native Earth will become a physical torment.
If you want children, stay on Earth
Mars One strongly recommends that you do not have children on Mars yet. Firstly, nurseries, kindergartens have not been built yet, Secondly, pediatricians have not been brought in. But seriously, while scientists do not know whether the attempt to conceive a child in Martian conditions will succeed, and if so, how successful it will remain a mystery. Conception, gestation and childbirth on Earth is not the most harmless occupation, to say nothing of Mars.
Sports fanatic? Mars for you!
In space conditions, shirking sports is practically a death sentence for your body. The whole human body works differently than on Earth. Muscle and bone mass atrophies very quickly, you need to keep yourself in shape constantly. 60 minutes in the hall on the ground will seem like children's classics. Future Martians will have to work on their bodies for at least 2 hours (checked by ISS astronauts)
Fly to Mars - do not try to get sick!
Do not be afraid, of course, they will give you a first-aid kit with you, perhaps even better than on a hike. It will definitely contain a bandage, an antiseptic, an antibiotic and much more, but what will happen to you if your teammates do not figure out what is throwing you all over the spacecraft?
I am glad that before departure, all equipment is disinfected so that you do not populate space with terrestrial viruses and bacteria. And you heard well when the doctors said that if you pick up an infection on Mars, they won’t let you go home, since there is nothing to drag an unexplored, alien sore into the house, we have enough studied earthly ones.
Gourmets, think
I wonder how much pizzerias and sushi bars will charge for delivering pizza to Mars? But what about paella from your favorite restaurant or fabado? Very simple - forget it. You will carry vegetable seeds with you and eat what you can grow on Mars.
Fresh air is good for health
It's not about Mars either. 96% of the atmosphere on Mars is CO2 (carbon dioxide) with tiny traces of oxygen. And storms that continue for hours with probably toxic sand cannot be called healthy at all. No way, on a quiet Martian evening, you can’t walk before going to bed without a rather boring spacesuit.
How do you like life without the Internet?
SMS messages from Mars will arrive with a delay of 6 minutes, there is nothing to talk about phones, it will slow down for almost half an hour, who can stand such a conversation? With the internet, the story is just as sad. The sites will be only those that you have time to ask to download before the flight, but you won’t be able to surf the web.
Radiation
Another unpleasant surprise prepared by the Red Planet. Due to the absence of a magnetic field, every time you go to the surface, you will be exposed to huge radioactive radiation.
In general, the outlook is not bright. Even if you miraculously do not get sick on Mars or are cured in an amazing way, you will still be lonely away from loved ones and relatives.
But such is the fate of all the pioneers and their name will be inscribed in the history of the planet Earth, and no matter how long it takes to fly to Mars, centuries will be remembered and legends will be made about them. Whether it is worth it or not is up to everyone who wants and can fly, although the selected 660 volunteers seem to have already made their choice.
