Bonus Assignment Mars Colony Literature & Language Essay
This bonus assignment is meant to be a fun way for you to think about some of the potential issues in colonizing another planet in the solar system (we will discuss this topic to some extent in the coming weeks). For some of the questions, there are really no right or wrong answers but the intention is for you to become more knowledgable about the potential problems that we face in establishing human colonies elsewhere in the solar system. It is also interesting to see historical parallels between exploration of Antarctica and first colonies established in Americas. To complete this assignment, you may do your own research or use some of the sources I have provided below. I chose easier reads rather than long scientific articles so that you can pick up some relevant information in a short amount of time rather than spending hours reading articles.
To complete the assignment, please enter your responses in blue in this document and resubmit it.
The Mars one mission was a project that aimed to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars. Even though the company behind the project declared bankruptcy in 2019, and some believe that it was nothing more than a scam, many lessons can be learned from the whole affair. More than 200,000 people volunteered for this mission, with only 50 men and 50 women eventually being selected for the mission.
(1) Why do you think people would want to leave their home planet behind and go to a colony on another planet? Identify at least three reasons that might motivate people to make such a hazardous decision. If you were given a chance to go to Mars, would you accept or decline it? (your answer must be at least a paragraph. You might want to get some insight by looking at what motivated people to go to Americas during the 17th century and draw some parallels).
(2) Let us for the sake of argument assume that Mars One were successful and it managed to establish a human colony on Mars in 2020. What are three immediate problems that you foresee for such a colony? To answer this question, you will need to do a briefly research Mars One’s proposal outlining the settlement plan and the feasibility studies that came out. You might refer to some of the suggested readings below.
(3) It is known that the climate of Mars shares many similarities with that of Antarctica. Now that you have some idea about the proposed plan of Mars One and its infeasibility, briefly, explain how the experience of the first potential Mars colony in acquiring food compares to that of the first explorers that arrived in the South pole in 1911, led by Roald Amundsen. To help guide your thinking here, think about how much supply can be carried and what local resources are available in Antarctica and Mars when food runs out. The references below will also provide you with enough background information to answer this question.
(4) From an ethical point of view, do you believe it is permissible to have babies on Mars, and raise them there? List and discuss at least two concerns that you think are to be considered before future human colonies on Mars start reproducing.
Bankruptcy
https://www(dot)cbc(dot)ca/news/technology/mars-one-bankrupt-1.5014522
https://www(dot)forbes(dot)com/sites/jonathanocallaghan/2019/02/11/goodbye-mars-one-the-fake-mission-to-mars-that-fooled-the-world/?sh=33a7e1492af5
Feasibility
https://news(dot)mit(dot)edu/2014/technical-feasibility-mars-one-1014
https://www(dot)cbc(dot)ca/news/technology/mars-one-plan-has-potentially-deadly-flaws-scientists-say-1.2803870
and here is a brand new one on Mars Colonization
https://www(dot)ctvnews(dot)ca/sci-tech/how-many-humans-are-needed-to-start-a-colony-on-mars-1.5003416
and here is another one on psychological challenges
https://www(dot)theguardian(dot)com/science/head-quarters/2013/sep/09/neuroscience-psychology
Mars and Antarctica
https://www(dot)space(dot)com/mars-human-exploration-lessons-from-antarctica.html
https://www(dot)cnn(dot)com/2015/12/09/health/white-mars-antarctica-concordia/index.html
http://www(dot)bbc(dot)co(dot)uk/history/british/britain_wwone/south_approaches_01.shtml
An interesting article that compares how exploration of Antarctica has changed over the past 100 years. This will help you with some ideas as where to start when it comes to nutrition on the red planet.
https://www(dot)nationalgeographic(dot)com/news/2013/10/131025-antarctica-south-pole-scott-expedition-science-polar/
Babies on Mars
https://globalnews(dot)ca/news/4241934/mars-babies-reproduction-colony-ethics/
https://www(dot)forbes(dot)com/sites/brucedorminey/2015/02/25/babies-on-mars-not-so-fast/?sh=70a6fe891d63
https://www(dot)ncbi(dot)nlm(dot)nih(dot)gov/pmc/articles/PMC4996799/
Bonus Assignment 1
Due on Nov.14th
Note: The penalty for late submission is 5% for the first day and 10% for each additional day.
This bonus assignment is meant to be a fun way for you to think about some of the potential issues in colonizing another planet in the solar system (we will discuss this topic to some extent in the coming weeks). For some of the questions, there are really no right or wrong answers but the intention is for you to become more knowledgable about the potential problems that we face in establishing human colonies elsewhere in the solar system. It is also interesting to see historical parallels between exploration of Antarctica and first colonies established in Americas. To complete this assignment, you may do your own research or use some of the sources I have provided below. I chose easier reads rather than long scientific articles so that you can pick up some relevant information in a short amount of time rather than spending hours reading articles.
To complete the assignment, please enter your responses in blue in this document and resubmit it.
The Mars one mission was a project that aimed to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars. Even though the company behind the project declared bankruptcy in 2019, and some believe that it was nothing more than a scam, many lessons can be learned from the whole affair. More than 200,000 people volunteered for this mission, with only 50 men and 50 women eventually being selected for the mission.
(1) Why do you think people would want to leave their home planet behind and go to a colony on another planet? Identify at least three reasons that might motivate people to make such a hazardous decision. If you were given a chance to go to Mars, would you accept or decline it? (your answer must be at least a paragraph. You might want to get some insight by looking at what motivated people to go to Americas during the 17th century and draw some parallels).
(2) Let us for the sake of argument assume that Mars One were successful and it managed to establish a human colony on Mars in 2020. What are three immediate problems that you foresee for such a colony? To answer this question, you will need to do a briefly research Mars One’s proposal outlining the settlement plan and the feasibility studies that came out. You might refer to some of the suggested readings below.
(3) It is known that the climate of Mars shares many similarities with that of Antarctica. Now that you have some idea about the proposed plan of Mars One and its infeasibility, briefly, explain how the experience of the first potential Mars colony in acquiring food compares to that of the first explorers that arrived in the South pole in 1911, led by Roald Amundsen. To help guide your thinking here, think about how much supply can be carried and what local resources are available in Antarctica and Mars when food runs out. The references below will also provide you with enough background information to answer this question.
(4) From an ethical point of view, do you believe it is permissible to have babies on Mars, and raise them there? List and discuss at least two concerns that you think are to be considered before future human colonies on Mars start reproducing.
Bankruptcy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/mars-one-bankrupt-1.5014522
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanocallaghan/2019/02/11/goodbye-mars-one-the-fake-mission-to-mars-that-fooled-the-world/?sh=33a7e1492af5
Feasibility
https://news.mit.edu/2014/technical-feasibility-mars-one-1014
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/mars-one-plan-has-potentially-deadly-flaws-scientists-say-1.2803870
and here is a brand new one on Mars Colonization
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/how-many-humans-are-needed-to-start-a-colony-on-mars-1.5003416
and here is another one on psychological challenges
https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2013/sep/09/neuroscience-psychology
Mars and Antarctica
https://www.space.com/mars-human-exploration-lessons-from-antarctica.html
https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/09/health/white-mars-antarctica-concordia/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/south_approaches_01.shtml
An interesting article that compares how exploration of Antarctica has changed over the past 100 years. This will help you with some ideas as where to start when it comes to nutrition on the red planet.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131025-antarctica-south-pole-scott-expedition-science-polar/
Babies on Mars
https://globalnews.ca/news/4241934/mars-babies-reproduction-colony-ethics/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2015/02/25/babies-on-mars-not-so-fast/?sh=70a6fe891d63
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4996799/
Student’s Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Mars Colony
* Why do you think people would want to leave their home planet behind and go to a colony on another planet? Identify at least three reasons that might motivate people to make such a hazardous decision. If you were given a chance to go to Mars, would you accept or decline it? (your answer must be at least a paragraph. You might want to get some insight by looking at what motivated people to go to the Americas during the 17th century and draw some parallels).
There are several reasons that can cause people to leave their home planet to colonize another one. For example, people with a desire for adventure would be inclined to leave and be the first to discover what awaits humanity on another planet. In addition, economic prospects would also be a possible reason to move to another planet. Mining is one of the economic activities that have been identified as possible to be pursued when interplanetary is realized. Further, as the threat of global warming continues to increase, some people believe that colonizing another planet is a viable option in order to have another planet to settle if the Earth’s environment becomes inhospitable. People would also move to Mars for religious reasons. The possibility of interplanetary travel and colonization would likely result in various religious implications. Thus, there are several reasons that people have for desiring to leave Earth and settle on another planet.
If I was offered a chance to go to Mars, I would decline because of the various dangers of being the first settlers. First, while some of the health effects of interplanetary travel and living on Mars have been examined, there is still the need for more research in order to fully understand them. As such, moving to Mars from Earth would pose an unknown risk to my health. Last, since interplanetary travel would be expensive, there is no guarantee of returning to Earth. It would mean leaving friends and family and probably never seeing them again. Such an undertaking would affect me emotionally, and it would be a great obstacle for leaving Earth and settling on Mars. However, after the colony is successful and returning to Earth is possible, I would accept such a chance. Thus, I would decline to be one of the first people to leave Earth, but I would later accept after traveling is proven to be safer.
* Let us, for the sake of argument, assume that Mars One was successful, and it managed to establish a human colony on Mars in 2020. What are the three immediate problems that you foresee for such a colony? To answer this question, you will need to make briefly research Mars One’s proposal outlining the settlement plan and the feasibility studies that came out. You might refer to some of the suggested readings below.
The first problem that such a colony would face is providing food for a growing population. The reason for establishing the colony would be to increase the human population. The objective would require food to fulfill it, and growing food is a problem because plants would increase oxygen levels under closed quarters. A possible solution would be to transport food from Earth, which would be financially unsustainable (Chung, 2014). It would increasingly cost more because every trip would need to increase its previous delivery capacity to cater to a growing population.
Similarly, spare parts for various technological devices would also pose a problem to the colony. (Chung, 2014) notes that similar to the food problem, a growing population would require more and more parts as time goes. As such, each shipment would become larger than the last, which would result in an exponential increase in costs. A suggested solution for reducing spare part costs would be 3D printing, but the technology is not yet advanced to support life on another planet. More work needs to be completed in order to enable the application of 3D printing in the production of spare parts for various devices.
The third problem would involve increasing the human population in the colony. The human reproductive cells are adapted to survive on Earth but not on Mars (Dorminey, 2015). Effects such as radiation and low gravity, which the new Martians will be subjected to, are harmful to the gametes in various unpredictable ways. Moreover, pregnant mothers will still be affected by such conditions, which further increases the possible negative impacts on the ch...