Unlike our lovely Earth, Mars won't shield us from blasts of cosmic radiation.
If we hope to live there, we'll need to equip our future colonies with underground tunnels, Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society, tells Tech Insider. Like Earth's magnetic field, the tunnels will shield colonists from rays. That way, we won't need to always suit up when we travel between habitats.
"Imagine living in a subway system," Zubrin says.
While scientists disagree on the timeline, future space colonies will required technology that we don't yet have. "We need some breakthroughs that fundamentally change the game," Ariel Waldman, committee member of the National Academy of Sciences, tells Tech Insider. "Then, all the timelines will get erased and revised."
This is what it would take to live on Mars.
A power source.
Ion engines looks the most promising. Spacecrafts can travel farther, faster, and cheaper with ion engines than any other propulsion technology, NASA says.
How it works: a solar panel connects to the engine, which speeds up a bunch of particles (or ions) inside. The magnetism from the particles, in turn, generates energy and powers the engine.
Space missions have used these engines for more than four decades, and researchers are still working to improve them. A group of researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently developed a new design that increases their lifespan.
The current challenge: the engines don't generate enough solar energy. It will take advanced solar technology to move rockets 141 million miles to Mars or power a large Martian colony.
The right spacesuit.
Spacesuits that can deal with Mars' extremely low and unpredictable pressure will be essential.
Mars exerts only 0.06% of Earth's surface pressure. Depending on the location, Earth's air pressure can vary about 10%, whereas Mars' can vary as much as 50%.
This month, NASA unveiled a spacesuit prototype that can take the pressure. With the Z-2 suit, astronauts can maneuver in and out of rovers, collect samples, and walk around with ease.
Radiation protection.
Once we have the suits, we will also need to shield the colonies from cosmic rays.
NASA recently reported that solar wind stripped Mars' atmosphere and turned the planet into a wasteland. Now, it has about 1% of the atmosphere of Earth.
Zubrin says that our best bet is to cover the colonies in sand bags.
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