Can humans return to earth after living on Mars for extended period?

Discussion in 'Astronomy, Exobiology, & Cosmology' started by darksidZz, May 29, 2013.

  1. darksidZz Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,924
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. mathman Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,002
    It sounds like a definite maybe. I don't believe enough is known to give a definite answer. How long is a long time in this context? People on the space station (low gravity) who have been there for months have a hard time adjusting on return, but they do eventually.
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,862
    I cannot GROK this!
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    It's not that they can't survive coming back, it's that we would be pushing present technology to it's limits on a one-way trip. Two way means twice the fuel, a lander that can also take off plus it's fuel, and lots more food and water.
     
  8. markl323 Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    166
    another concern is gravity. is it a big difference here & there? long term exposure to a different level of gravity can cause health issues.
     
  9. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,862
    Since Mars is about a fifth the size of Earth, it has a fifth less gravity as Earth. It is almost the same amount of gravity as the moon has on it. Yes less gravity can cause problems but humans can and do have ways to compensate for that to reduce complications that arise from the lack of gravity.
     
  10. KitemanSA Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    624
    Nope. Moon = ~16%Earth. Mars ~38%.
     
  11. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    It's a well-established fact that spending time in zero- or low-gravity causes several bad things to happen to the human body. One is loss of muscle mass (and that includes the heart), loss of bone density and others.

    At some point, those losses are going to become severe. After a prolonged stay in Mar's low gravity, plus the time spent in returning to Earth, the most immediate thing to come to my mind is this: there are tremendous forces exerted on the body during part of the landing phase; the protracted loss of bone density would most likely result in the human body being reduced to a mass of jelly.
     
  12. andy1033 Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,060
    The most important thing is about people and death. If we belong to the earth what happens if we die out there, or on another planet?

    But on ops question, messing around with gravity and our senses, makes it difficult for us to know. The gravity we have on earth shaped our world for us, and how we view the world. What happens if the strength of gravity is different like another planet? How does that effect our minds and perception?

    Also another thing you ignore, is we need the natural sounds of the earth. We vibrate with it, and without it, our brains may have unforseen consequences.

    I think thats why humans have not left earth on mass yet.

    Also the reasons why they do not tell you is that they do not want to confirm the fact that humans where made for the earth, as religions suggest. They are trying to get rid of religions, but confirming them would be counter productive to there mission of a nwo.
     
  13. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,862
    "MARS, the outermost of the four terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and ... It is slightly more than half the size of Earth and almost twice the size of the Moon. ... appear to be very young compared with most other features on the planet."

    Sorry I was not exact, I did not take time to verify my answer but was only "guessing" from memory, which I won't do again, thanks for pointing it out to me. My point was that there is a difference in sizes, that's all.
     
  14. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,256
    As was already said, after some time you will suffer a profound loss of both muscle and bone due to a lack of need of those. If you then tried to return here you would lack the internal structure to withstand Earth's gravity and would suffer system failures due to that.

    In short: after you have lived on Mars for some time, you will have become a true Martian and will not be able to return to Earth. In a few generations immigrants to Mars will be genetically Martians, not Earthlings.

    The rest of that stuff is silly hoo - ha though. Mars has sounds intrinsic as well, after a short while t hose will be the "sound of home" to any residents.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  15. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    Hmm. If there are bacteria on Mars, then they will probably eventually decompose our bodies just as they do on earth. If there are other kinds of organisms not related to life on earth, they may not have the enzymes, etc., to digest our tissue. In that case our bodies could lie there with very little change for hundreds or millions of years.

    I think you're going to have to wait and present that question to someone who's had the experience.

    We have very good recording and playback technology. That's not going to be a problem.

    Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Where did you learn that?

    No. The reason is that we have not perfected the technology yet. Duh?

    We could send quite a few people to the moon, but we'd have to build a place for them to live. If it's not a self-sustaining colony, with hydroponic food, etc., the expense of keeping them alive up there will be enormous. Even if they have all the infrastructure they need to be essentially self-sustaining (if they need medicines and things like that shipped from Earth it won't be a big problem) and can get all the energy they need from solar radiation, then I suppose the next question is: What are they gonna DO up there?

    Are we going to send only Buddhists, so they can spend all their time meditating?

    Huh? It's a no-brainer that humans are adapted to earth. Our body chemistry is tuned to the terrestrial biosphere, our musculature is tuned to earth's gravity, our instincts are tuned to earth's threats and rewards, even our sleep cycle is tuned to the earth's rotational speed (although, oddly enough, it's off by something like 30 minutes). All of these things will be different on another planet. Fortunately we are the most adaptable of all large animals, so we'll find a way to make peace with whatever we find there.
     
  16. Anthony_ Registered Member

    Messages:
    16
    sure, human body is an adaptative organism, the same way we would adapt to live in mars (after come changes in that planet of course) we can make the opposite process
     
  17. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Only in your uneducated dreams...
     
  18. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
    I didn't read the article but it most likely has something to do with the loss of muscle mass and bone density associated with living in low gravity. It would be simple to prevent that from happening on a planet like Mars since g_Mars is < .4 g_earth. Design mission clothing so that our human body would be experiencing closer to g_Earth while living and working on Mars. Or we could go with Captain John Carter's memoirs.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2013
  19. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Yes, that sounds reasonable - except you are talking about a mission while what's being discussed here is remaining in that low gravity for an extended period of time. I doubt that colonists (or the like) would want to live and work there with additional weights on their hands and feet. Also, what would you do about sleeping? What would you do to compensate for low gravity during those periods of inactivity? (Which amounts to about 34% of the total time.)
     
  20. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
    I don't think wearing weights on your hands and feet would be necessary. You could design something to wear over the shoulders that wouldn't be so cumbersome. It probably wouldn't be a big deal to sleep and do other fun stuff in Mars low gravity. You could establish a testing protocol for making sure folks would be able to return to Earth gravity. I think the idea would be to maintain the overall strength required to survive at g_earth. You could test the limits of living in low gravity while maintaining your strength.
     
  21. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Sorry, but I honestly don't think you've given the problem enough thought. For example, when I said sleep I meant inactivity - and that's going to cause the human body to undergo some *serious* degradation - especially because you'd spend about 1/3 of your time in that mode. After a fairly short time under those conditions, I doubt you'd even be able to survive the forces placed on you while blasting off Mars - your bones couldn't handle it.
     
  22. brucep Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,098
    What forces are required for 'blasting off' a planet with < .4g_earth? Think up another reason why we would have to resign ourselves to staying on a planet because it's gravity was ~ 38% of Earths gravity. You could have two settlements. The ship in orbit where the living and working quarters are g_earth and the surface working settlement. I'd like to do a study and find out what degradation to bodily functions occur when living where the surface gravity is 3.8g. You could rotate the ground crew to recover and avoid any lasting effects while conducting research for making future decisions. You have your opinion and I have mine. The only experience we have is g_earth, g_moon, and freefall.
     
  23. andy1033 Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,060
    What most of you people miss is the metaphysical stuff humans do. We resonate with the earth and its natural sounds. How do you suppose that mankind gets past that, if they want to go into space on mass?

    Its ok to talk about muscle mass at different gravity, and bone structure, but what about the effects on the mind for not having to listen to the background of the earth?
     

Share This Page