Why should we leave Earth anyway

[NORMANBOND007]

Can humans survive on Mars?

[C1ay]

Originally Posted by NORMANBOND007

Can humans survive on Mars?

Welcome to Hypography. You might enjoy these news articles related to your question:

Why colonize the Moon before going to Mars?
Can a human survive a trip to Mars?

[Hawkens]

Mar's atmosphere is less than 5/1000 that of Earth's atmospheric pressure.
This is much closer to the Moon's atmospheric pressure.

Without spacesuits or airtight structures.....nope

[Hawkens]

Originally Posted by C1ay

Welcome to Hypography. You might enjoy these news articles related to your question:

aw.....We posted at almost the same time.

[NORMANBOND007]

While on our way to Mars the physical and mental health and safety of the crew during a long, arduous months on Mars are a major concern for mission planners. How do you plan for life-threatening medical emergencies when you are trapped on a far distant world? The astronauts must also be shielded from harmful radiation while traveling in their spacecraft and when on the planet's surface.

However, in March 2000, NASA took one of the first steps necessary in prepring humans to live on Mars when it successfully tested the prototype of a device to produce pure oxygen from the carbon dioxide in a simulated Martian atmosphere. Besides providing breathable oxygen for future colonists, the unit, called the Mars In-situ Propellant Production Precursor ( MIP), demonstrated that rocket fuel can be manufactured on Martian soil for the return trip to Earth.

In the decades ahead, humans will land on Mars and explore the red planet. President Bush announced that the United States would put humans on Mars. The plan calls for a base to be built on the moon and then onward to the Red Planet, but experts believe that the first American footsteps on Mars wouldn’t happen any time before 2030. The European Space Agency (ESA) has the Aurora mission to put humans on Mars, also by 2030. In July 2005, the Russian space agency announced they were looking for six volunteers to lock themselves in a mock space capsule for 15 months in preparation for a Mars mission in 2015.

[infamous]

To answer the question which the title to this thread poses; "Why should we leave Earth anyway". Same reason Columbus left Spain, in quest of adventure and to learn new information. Man has a built in need to explore, and that won't change anytime soon, nor should it.

[Jay-qu]

right now, no - with some heat and oxygen then yeah sure why not

[NORMANBOND007]

One day... NASA scientists have already told us that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water.

[UncleAl]

Humans cannot survive getting to Mars. Outside the Earth's atmospehre (equal to 900+ cm of lead shielding, 14.7 lbs/in^2) and magnetosphere you would be cooked medium well done traveling to Mars. Folks who live aboard MIR or ISS FUBAR get radiation cataracts - and that is still within the magnetosphere.

Earth sea level atmospheric pressure is 760 torr. Mars runs 7 torr in deep valleys. Water at room temp boils at 20 torr. High noon summer on the Martian equator is barely above 0 C. Solar deep UV comes in without filtration. It's a crappy place to be even if you are a piece of plastic.

[CraigD]

Hum… not sure which question to address – “why should we leave Earth anyway?” or “Can humans survive on Mars?”.

I like the first one best. A good, obvious reason that we should leave – or at lest spread to self-sufficient dwellings beyond – earth, is that the solar system is a dangerous place full of large objects on orbits that intersect Earth’s. An impact from such an object could extinguish the human race.

Instinctively, we know on many scales not to “all bunch up together”. Travel to other astronomic bodies is yet another application of this human urge.