Footage from Mars rover
The normal rockets that travel to the International Space Station aren't powerful enough to make it 140 million miles to Mars, so NASA is making a new spacecraft called Orion. It'll be the fastest man-made object ever to blast through Earth's atmosphere, reaching 25000 miles per hour, making the flight to the red planet only 8 months. Orion is only 16 feet across, making it about the size of a van. It is cramped, but don't worry: Scientists are investigating the possibility of hooking Orion up to a larger ship in space after it's launched from Earth. They haven't invented this ship yet, it's just an idea they have for a more comfortable, 5840.01 hour trip to Mars.
There is water frozen under the north and south polar ice caps.The polar ice caps, were once thought to be made up of only dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). Now, people have discovered ice made from water beneath a top layer of dry ice.
Is there water there?
How would you get there?
The Guide to Living on Mars
Lets say your light bulb goes out. Minutes later, you'll be at the store looking for a new one. On Mars, the store is a million miles away, so if something on your ship breaks, what do you do? Today's astronauts bring backup parts, but that takes up valuable space. Soon, astronauts will use 3-D printers, and print out that new rocket engine fuel pump they need, or whatever else it is.
What would happen if something broke?
What would you wear?
If you get sick, don't freak out. There is a digital doctor built right into your space suit! It is still developing, but you would have a piece that wraps around your neck and another one to rest in your ear. It tracks all of your vital signs including your temperature and heart rate. If it senses you are getting sick, it alerts you, diagnoses your illness, and recommends the correct medicine.
What would happen if you're sick?
"On Mars, your space suit will be the only barrier between you and
sudden death," says Brad Holschuh, a professor at the University of
Minnesota. Other than supplying you with oxygen on the red planet
with air 92% carbon dioxide, and keeping you warm during it's below
freezing nights; the space suit protects you from Mars's low pressure. The pressure would cause you to loose consciousness and quickly die without that suit. Spacesuits now are like giant gas-filled balloons that push against the body at the right pressure. Imagine trying to live in one of those, though. Astronauts fall down a lot! Because of that, Holschuh is part of a team that works on a new, flexible spacesuit. That suit is called the Biosuit. Astronauts will stay alive at the push of a button. When pressed, that button sends a current through the Biosuit, which adjusts the suit's smart material to the correct pressure.
There is water frozen under the north and south polar ice caps.The polar ice caps, were once thought to be made up of only dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). Now, people have discovered ice made from water beneath a top layer of dry ice.