There’s a lot of talk these days about when and how we might all move to Mars. But what would it actually be like to live there?
With more than twenty original illustrations by Michael Carroll, Robert Murray, and
other renowned space artists, How to Live on Mars
seamlessly blends humor and real science, and is a practical and exhilarating guide to life on our first extraterrestrial home.
Mari Foroutan details the features of Mars that are remarkably similar to those of Earth — and those that can only be found on the red planet.
Here are some of the things you’ll need to bring to the Red Planet
- A high tolerance for cold,
- Loneliness,
- Radiation,
- A lifetime supply of breathable air and food,
- A multibillion dollar spaceship,
- A desire to just get away from it all, and
- Water.
So what sort of real estate are you looking for?
How about a mansion in the maze-like Noctin Labyrinthus? A hideway in the Happy Face Crater? A fortress on the Face Mesa? An oceanview?
We’re pretty sure that Mars used to have oceans, lakes, rivers, the whole package. But over time, almost all of it froze beneath the surface, or evaporated off into space.
So what might Mars look like today if it had surface water?
That, of course, depends on how much we’re talking about, but maybe something like this.
The relatively flat northern hemisphere is bellow the average elevation, so it would become one giant ocean, while the crater-ridden southern hemisphere would stay mostly high and dry. That difference between hemispheres is a bit bizarre, and we don’t know why it’s like that. The southern half is probably much older, judging by features like the number of craters, and the evidence of increased volcanic activity in the north.
For now, what we’ve got is essentially one giant dusty desert.
In fact, it’s similar enough to deserts on Earth, that we’ve been able to learn a great deal about Mars on our home planet.
For instance, Martian sand dunes form and behave similarly to our sand dunes, though the Martian versions often grow twice as large thanks to a gravitational pull that’s about a third as strong as ours.
Mars has some features you won’t see on Earth, like tars, which are crestless sand dunes up to fifteen meters tall, whose formations we have yet to understand.
What do you get when you combine a planet-wide desert with an atmosphere that, like ours, is subject to wind-generating pressure differentials, dust storms?
These will be your main weather hazards on the Red Planet. They play a large part in making the planet red by distributing rusted iron particles across the surface and into the air. Thanks to the low gravity and lack of moisture, these dust storms can last for months and cover the planet.
So you might want to build your home as high as possible. The Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System
Even if Mars had a breathable atmosphere, you’d find the views from the 25 km summit breathtaking.
How about Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the Solar System?
It’s so wide that from one side, the opposite rime would be below the curve of the horizon. Still, you’ll catch some spectacular blue sunsets in the normally red sky, which gets its color from the dust absorbing most of the blue ligth, and the way sunlight is scattered by the atmosphere.
Have you got spirit, curiosity, or are you just looking for opportunity?
Then stop stalling and make the move to Mars today!
