Living like Martians

Figure (1): Mary Martian 

Hey there! Welcome to my planet! My name is Mary Martian (Figure 1) and I’ll be your tour guide today. Now, picture it’s 2032. This will be a very special year for the whole world. My buddy, Alex Astronaut, from Mars One is going to make footprints on the surface of Mars, my home. The first human to visit me! Do you want to know the best part? He and a few of his friends are going to live here with me! Because Mars is different than Earth, Alex Astronaut is going to need some special tools to help him live here with me. Let’s hop on a Mars rover and take a look!

First Stop: Alex’s Car

Figure (2): Mars One rover 

Alex’s car is different than the cars you see driving down the road. Alex’s car is a rover (Figure 2). A rover is a vehicle that is used to travel all over a planet, driven by a robot, people, or both (6). In this case, the rover can be driven all by itself, or it can be controlled by an astronaut like Alex. This rover does a lot of really cool things. It will find the best place to put the astronaut’s houses by finding a place where there is a lot of water in the soil, connect the tube that lets air flow from house to house, put up solar panels (things that absorb the suns rays and turn it into electricity) and, of course, provide a way to travel all over Mars (6). 

Second Stop: Alex’s House

The houses Alex Astronaut and his friends will be living in are no mansion, but they still have everything they need to survive. There’s two main houses; the living units (Figure 3) and the life support units (LSU). In the beginning, there will only be one living unit (7). These units will blow up ,with the help of the rover, once Alex gets to Mars and will have everything they need to be comfortable, like a shower, and lots of supplies to build more living units (7). The Life Support Unit is very important, seeing as it makes all of the air the astronauts need to breathe and melts ice in the soil for astronauts to drink (8). LSU’s take gasses like Nitrogen and Argon that are found in Oxygen, the stuff humans breathe, from the Martian air and pulls it into the living units (8). Alex Astronaut might not have TV’s and Xbox’s, but he has what he needs to live on a whole other planet.

Figure (3): Mars One living units 

Third Stop: Alex’s Closet

Figure (4): Alex Astronaut and his spacesuit 

One of the most crucial tools my friends need to live on this planet that has crazy temperatures and air that humans can’t breathe is their spacesuits (Figure 4). The spacesuit has removable parts that can fit to Alex Astronaut and all of his friends. If a part of Alex’s spacesuit isn’t working or gets broken, he can wear someone else's (9). The removable parts are also pretty nice because at the end of the day, the astronauts can clean their suits (9). All of the spacesuits are made out of special coils that makes the material of the suits loose in the cold so Alex can put it on, and gets tight when it gets hot (9). Then, Alex can turn on a switch and make his spacesuit skintight so he can easily move all over Mars (9). Because my friends can’t breathe the air here on Mars, they have oxygen tanks built into their suits that fill their helmets with the air you guys breathe every day (9). I wish I had fancy clothes like Alex!

Figure (5): Mars 

It might seem out of this world to go live on Mars, but sometime in your future, you’ll see it happen. Alex is going to get to learn all about my planet and if other people can live here with us. If they can, maybe you’ll get to come see me (Figure 5)! Until then, look for me in the stars. 

References:
(1) Martian cliparts #171569. [Clipart]. Retrieved from: http://clipart-library.com/martian-cliparts.html
(2) Mars One. Mars One rover. [CGI]. Retrieved from: https://htpoint.com/video/four-humans-to-live-on-mars-by-2023-the-mars-one-mission-video/
(3) Versteeg, B. & Mars One. 2021: setting up the Mars colony. [CGI]. Retrieved from: https://htpoint.com/video/four-humans-to-live-on-mars-by-2023-the-mars-one-mission-video/
(4) Mars One. Humanity's future? [CGI]. Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/04/dying-in-space-an-american-dream/275345/
(5) NASA. What is Mars like?. [Clipart]. Retrieved from: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-mars/en/
(6) The technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mars One website: https://www.mars-one.com/mission/the-technology
(7) The technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mars One website: https://www.mars-one.com/technology/living-unit
(8) The technology. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mars One website: https://www.mars-one.com/technology/life-support-unit
(9) Vartan, S. 2017. Stylin’ on Mars. Newsweek Global, 169(3), 48-51.