The Martian: Could our Mars Mission Look like this? | Teen Ink

The Martian: Could our Mars Mission Look like this?

July 25, 2022
By kmarfatia23 BRONZE, West Harrison, New York
kmarfatia23 BRONZE, West Harrison, New York
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Ever since humans landed on the moon back in 1969, the most talked about next step was simple. Putting humans on Mars. Although it hasn’t happened yet, many people have envisioned what a human mission to mars would look like. One of the most popular movies, The Martian (based on Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel), has been credited as one of the most accurate space exploration movies ever made. Based on this film, is it really possible to safely send humans to Mars (without being left deserted on an empty planet like Mark Watney)? The most difficult aspect of the mission is actually getting humans to the red planet. It’s a long and dangerous journey which would test both our technology and the sanity of the astronauts onboard. We’ll take a deep dive into the fictional Hermes spacecraft used in the film and see how realistic building a ship like that is, along with looking at if the journey is possible. Hermes is the ship used to transport the crew between Earth orbit and Mars Orbit, and this article will only cover that part of the journey, not the landers or shuttles which might be used in a theoretical mission as well. 

As described above, the biggest issue for a human Mars mission involves actually getting there. A long and dangerous journey through space with nowhere to go in case of an emergency. In the movie, the crew are able to travel in between Earth’s and Mars’ orbit using a ship called the Hermes. Built in space, and commissioned for six trips to Mars, this spacecraft would be one of the most expensive and complicated projects ever built. The real question is: can it be built? Hermes was built in low-earth orbit, which would be difficult to do, but seems viable based on quickly evolving rocket technology. Examples include SpaceX and their reusable rocket boosters, allowing for a more cost effective way to send up materials to low orbit. Our experience with ISS and sending up new modules could be very helpful with this step. It’s possible to develop a modular spacecraft which can be built this way. With steadily increasing robotic technologies, assembling the spacecraft up there seems possible as well. By using new robotic machines along with reusable rockets, it seems viable that a Hermes type craft could be built for transport to Mars. 

The next part of Hermes to look at is its power source, and seeing if the thing can actually get to Mars safely. In the story, ion thrusters are used to power the ship. Ion thrusters eject ions (positively charged atoms or molecules), instead of combusted gas like a standard engine, to produce thrust and propel the craft through space. Ion thrusters do really exist and are possible to make (although the technology needs time to be developed properly), and not a made up propulsion system like the Star Trek ‘warp drive’. Ion propulsion systems provide extremely low amounts of thrust, so they must be used in a full vacuum for effectiveness. Considering that the ship is built in space, ion propulsion would work as we don’t have to worry about propelling the spacecraft off the ground. Ion propulsion is also good for a long journey (hundreds of millions of miles) as they are extremely fuel efficient. “Deep Space 1 used less than 159 pounds of fuel in over 16,000 hours of thrusting” (Ion Propulsion). Therefore, a Mars-bound craft wouldn’t have to carry much fuel onboard. For this to be possible, our research and development on ion propulsion has to be accelerated, as we do not have sufficient options yet. Therefore, the theoretical ion propulsion system seems like a viable option for a hypothetical Mars-bound ship.

Being aboard one ship for such a long time (around 9 months) requires good living conditions, so we have to think about how the Hermes’ crew survived their trip, which took them from Mars, to Earth, back to Mars, and then home (multiple years). Electricity onboard is provided by a nuclear reactor as well as solar panels. The realistic part of this is the solar panel power. We have a lot of experience with this, as the International Space Station is fully solar powered. However, the farther we get from the sun, the less electricity we can generate. This is why on this Mars bound ship, the author decided to give it a nuclear reactor. The issue with this is that although we have nuclear reactors, the technology is not yet safe enough to put onboard a spacecraft and risk human lives. On the ground, nuclear plants have been shut down due to safety concerns, and it would be extremely unlikely to have a reactor aboard a spaceship. As of right now, scientific research is focused on other sustainable power sources, especially solar power. Therefore what I think would be realistic for a possible Hermes-like ship is for it to be fully solar powered, as that technology is rapidly becoming more advanced – effective and efficient. Onboard, one of the main issues would be the astronauts’ health. Having a gym like Hermes would be helpful, but what’s not displayed would be the extent of necessary medical supplies. All possible emergencies have to be taken into account, so adequate equipment must be onboard, along with at least one medically trained crew member. Overall, the livability of a Mars-bound spacecraft is what I believe would need the most development for this mission. 

Taking all this into consideration, I do believe that a humans-to-Mars mission is present in our near future. Our technology has exponentially grown over the past few years, and will continue to, in the aerospace industry. SpaceX, NASA, and other new and growing companies from the US, and other international space agencies, will work together to develop a mission which will be safe and productive for science and space exploration!


The author's comments:

Hi, my name is Kiran, and my love for The Martian and space exploration inspired this article. I could go on and on on details of different aspects of the movie and how realistic they are, or how I think a Mars mission could look like, but decided to keep it succinct. I hope you enjoy. 


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