Lamar Fedrick 1

Lamar Fedrick
Prof. Lusford
English 1103
29 April 2015
Are the Steps taken by Mars One Inc. Enough to Allow a Human to
Survive on Mars?
When I read online that there was a space mission being planned to
send people to live on the planet Mars, I couldnt believe what I was reading.
I thought about all the science fiction movies I had watched as a kid and
imagined that on day I could actually visit another world like in the films.
After reading a few articles about the mission though, I started to wonder if
this idea was even possible. Mars had none of the basic requirements for life
to be sustainable on a planet such as water and oxygen. The planet also has
dangers such as high levels of radiation and dangerously high and low
temperatures. The company that is running Mars ONE also doesnt seem to
be receiving any help from NASA either, which takes away from the
legitimacy of this mission becoming reality.
Another obstacle that will need to be overcome is the amount of
money the company would need to coordinate a mission of this scale. Since
Mars One Inc. is not supported by NASA, they arent receiving any
government funding. All of their funding is coming from donations and

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companies that wish to sponsor the mission. The Dutch not-for-profit

organization is raising money any way it can. That means broadcasting
rights, sponsorship deals, crowd-funding, donations from philanthropists, and
licensing intellectual property rights from inventions made along the way.
(Sample) To raise money Mars One also created an ad on Indigogo.com, a
website for people and companies to get sponsorship and donations for
projects. Their initial goal was to accumulate four hundred thousand dollars,
but only received approximately three hundred, thirteen thousand dollars,
falling short of their goal. (Indigogo) This mission will cost billions of dollars
and without government aid or proper financial support from the public, this
mission will be over before it begins.
The mission will begin in 2018 when Mars One will send a rover to the
surface of Mars to test some of the basic equipment that will be needed
during the mission. These include thin-film solar arrays and an oven to
extract water from Martian regolith. In addition to the lander, a Mars orbiting
communications satellite will also be launched on this mission to support
both the precursor, and subsequent missions. (Do, et al, 2) Should this trial
mission be unsuccessful, more testing and modifications will be required.
Mars One has recruited another private company called SpaceX to
manufacture their ships, living units, and landers for the project. The ship
that will be responsible for transporting the astronauts to the planet is called
the Dragon. (Do, et al, 1) SpaceX is working in partnership with NASA to
develop its ships. Dragon made history in 2012 when it became the first

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commercial spacecraft in history to deliver cargo to the International Space

Station and safely return cargo to Earth, a feat previously achieved only by
governments. It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of
returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth. (SpaceX) Seeing how Mars
One has found a reliable private company willing to aid them in their pursuit,
the mission has become all the more plausible.
The Dragon will need to be taken into space by the Heavy Falcon and
will be used to land on the surface of Mars once it arrives. The Dragon was
made with re-entry and safe landing on Earths surface in mind, therefore it
already meets many of the requirements needed to safely provide transport
of crew members and cargo to the surface with minor modifications to the
original design. Some upgrades and modifications would be necessary, e.g.
for deepspace communications and navigation, planetary protection, and
payload access to the Mars environment. (Aftosmis, 1)
This mission is going to be extremely dangerous due to the nature of
Mars. Its atmosphere is extremely thin, causing the temperatures to drop a
low of negative two hundred degrees Fahrenheit at night, and rise to a high
of one hundred degrees Fahrenheit during the day depending on where you
are on the planet. The Martian atmosphere is a highly dynamic
environment, characterized by major changes on a daily basis. (Barnes)
Mars also has four seasons like Earth does, weather patterns on the surface
changing from season to season. The atmosphere is home to many sand
storms, which are caused by intense winds from weather patterns. (Barnes)

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Since the Dragon landers by SpaceX are built to withstand the extreme
conditions involved with re-entering Earths atmosphere, they will not require
any additional modifications to accommodate for the conditions they will
face on the surface.
Weather patterns on the Martian surface are quick to develop and are
known to move quickly from place to place making them dangerous to the
astronauts if they were to get suck in one. The planet does have several
storm zones that are also known to have more intense weather patterns
more frequently. (Barnes) The rover that will be sent to the surface will be
tasked with locating a spot on the surface where the habitats can be safely
set up without too much worry. (Do, et al, 2)
Six Dragon ships will launched and sent to the surface a year before
the first crew arrive and will be connected together by rovers to form the
living habitats that the Astronauts will be living in. A separate human lander
will be used to deliver the team from the ship to the surface. The ships come
in three variants including living units, cargo units, and life support units.
"Life Support Units contain air revitalization, water processing and
waste management technologies and stores. In addition, these units contain
the ISRU system, as well as the thin-film solar arrays that will supply power
to the habitat (Do, et al, 2) The Living unit contains and airlock for the team
to walk around without worry of exposure to the harsh elements as well as

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basic hygiene requirements such as waste disposal. The Cargo unit is where
spare parts for the habitat will be stored until needed. (Do, et al, 2)
The living units also serve as the location where the team will grow all
their food. This method for supplying food will keep them from running out
for the duration of the mission. The team will plant crops that will be chosen
based on what nutritional needs have to be met. All the while, the Cargo
units have food stored in reserve for shortages should one ever occur. (Do, et
al, 2)
Every person on the Mars One crew will train for six months in a
simulation of the habitat to learn how to repair anything that could go wrong
with the units while theyre on the planet to help prevent a fatal error in the
technology from occurring. Before being sent to Mars, every astronaut must
be familiar with the outpost architecture, daily living routines, group
dynamics, and the technology that runs the city. The simulation outpost on
Earth is a perfect tool for such familiarization and learning how to diagnose
and fix outpost subsystems. (Mars One)
I believe that this mission could be a success and that Mars One Inc.
has managed to create a plan that will allow a team of astronauts to live on
the surface of Mars through use of modern technologies. Through use of
SpaceXs space travel technologies, and the funding of major companies and
small donors around the world, I can see that this mission is a possibility, and
in the year 2024, I expect to see broadcasted updates of the start of this

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mission on the news. From what I was able to find and read, the technology
for this mission exists in todays world and are being put to use as we speak.

Bibliography
Aftosmis, M J., et al. "Red Dragon: Low-cost Access to the Surface of Mars
Using Commercial Capabilities." (2012): N. pag. NASA Technical
Reports Server. n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2015.
<http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20120013431.pd
f>.

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Barnes, J R. "Mars Weather Systems and Maps: FFSM Analyses of MGS TES
Temperature Data." The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System
N. pag. Print. 4 Apr. 2015
Do, Sydney, et al. "An Independent Assessment of the Technical Feasibility of
the Mars One Mission Plan." International Astronautical Federation 1-36. Web.
4 Apr. 2015. <http://web.mit.edu/sydneydo/Public/Mars%20One
%20Feasibility%20Analysis%20IAC14.pdf>.
"Dragon." SpaceX. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., n.d. Web. 4 Apr.
2015. <http://www.spacex.com/dragon>.
"Neil DeGrasse Tyson Says Mars One Mission Wont Get Backing." Inquisitr.
The Inquisitr News., 8 Mar. 2015. Web. 5 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.inquisitr.com/1906200/neil-degrasse-tyson-says-marsone-mission-wont-get-backing/>.
Sample, Ian. "Mars One Mission: a One-way Trip to the Red Planet in 2024."
The Guardian. Guardian News And Media Limited, 9 Feb. 2015. Web. 8
Mar. 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/feb/09/marsone-mission-a-one-way-trip-to-the-red-planet-in-2024>.
"Simulation Outpost Alpha." Mars One. Mars One, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.mars-one.com/mission/simulation-outpost>.