by Apple TV+’s alternative space race, For All Mankind, imagines what would have happened if USSR cosmonauts, and not NASA astronauts, had been the first to land on the Moon. Apart from the waning interest in space after the Moon landing in our reality, over the four seasons of the show so far, the race has continued towards lunar and then Martian settlement.
In the most recent season, the finale of which aired on January 12, 2024, the initial colonization efforts on Mars have developed to the point where an international alliance supports and sustains one major colony. Called “Happy Valley”, the Martian city consists of a series of interconnected modules.
Tubular corridors run between larger geodesic structures and semi-pipe structures housing control rooms, laboratories, meeting rooms and dining and living quarters for the base commander and other upgrades. Most residents live underground.
With the Artemis program, NASA plans to have humans live outside Earth’s orbit. This would include a lunar base camp, as well as a space station orbiting the Moon, to eventually send humans to Mars. People have long dreamed of what structures such Martian explorers would live in – and scientists have been testing.
Life on Mars?
In the early 20th century, there was still enough uncertainty to allow planetary romances such as Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom novels. Written between 1912 and 1946, these tell the story of a 19th century US veteran who was transported to Mars, and brought to life in the 2012 action film, John Carter. These fantasies paved the way for more serious consideration of survival on Mars as our understanding developed.
However, astronomers were already establishing that the surface of the planet was dry, cold and toxic. Long before Burroughs finished his series, it was clear that the great cities of Barsom, open to a fantastic atmosphere, could never exist.
One of the earliest stories to seriously consider the scientifically understood conditions on Mars, and the life it might lead to, was Stanley Weinbaum’s 1934 novel, A Martian Odyssey. Consistent with telescopic observations of the planet’s cold, thin air and spectra indicating a lack of water and vegetation, this was a Mars without cityscapes, but without life. Salvaging what he can from a crashed shuttle, the main character traverses 800 miles of the Martian landscape, encountering a variety of interesting Martian forms.
In the early 20th century, the atmosphere of Mars was believed to be thin, but not necessarily beyond the range of human adaptability. After all, there are settlements on Earth at altitudes of up to 5,000m – where the atmospheric pressure is less than half the pressure at the surface. Early estimates for Martian surface pressure were in this ballpark (other than less than 1%, as we now know. So Weinbaum talks about “months spent in adaptation chambers”, but otherwise frees his probe (and any settling on Mars) from the requirements of the atmosphere management.
Going underground
By the middle of the 20th century, observations of Earth and the first of the Mariner exploration missions put an end to any doubt about the hostility of the Martian atmosphere. The cities imagined by mid-century sci-fi writers were covered in giant protective domes. These could have an Earth-like environment and allow people to breathe and move freely without protective equipment.
Such domed surface cities can be found in examples from children’s fare such as Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, to the work of established authors including Larry Niven (see his 1966 story, How the Heroes Die). Some saw these domes as completely urbanized. Others envisioned a more dispersed settlement among a managed landscape.
This dominant image of cities on Mars continues to this day, in images from Mars colonization enthusiasts including the international Mars Society and SpaceX. Research suggests, however, that a dome environment would have significant drawbacks as a long-term residence.
Since the 1960s, scientific understanding of the impact of radiation on humans and their offspring has advanced. The planet, which provides Earth’s thick atmosphere and strong magnetic field, does not protect our DNA from the rain of ionized particles from the Sun and beyond. Smart dome materials could filter some of this, but they could not protect astronauts from the cumulative effects of penetrating particles, leaving their occupants at risk of cancer.
As many writers have pointed out (including Niven in the previously mentioned story), large domes would also leave a city on Mars vulnerable to air leaks, as well as the extreme fluctuations in the planet’s day and night temperatures ( from -125C to 20C). ). In addition, the material would be abraded over time by sandstorms so extreme that they are visible from Earth.
Instead, many researchers now consider underground settlements or caves as sites for human settlement on Mars. Protection from heat, radiation, sandstorms and air leakage is provided here by a thick layer of regolith (soil or rock), which will reduce the cumulative exposure of any settlers.
Although the red planet now has no surface water, it probably has cave systems dating back to its wetter, tectonically active youth, and – unlike Earth – its surface tremors are rare and weak. If natural caves are not available, tunneling, or even using surface rock powder to form a form of Martian concrete, may be good options. In fact, in part with the Mars prototype in mind, NASA and ESA have explored the idea of 3D printing and then burying habitable modules on the Moon, which carry many of the same risks.
Humans are famous for their realistic physics. The production team includes a NASA technical advisor.
His Happy Valley colony, which descends several levels into the Martian subsurface, is perhaps not surprising, and a plausible vision for future Martian cities. Unlike the series, however, underground levels may be sought after by residents of the real Martian world for the increased protection they provide.
Our reality of planetary settlement is an ever-increasing prospect, but science fiction has always played a role in shaping public understanding of our planetary neighbors and fueling enthusiasm for their exploration. Just as Burroughs’ novel Barsoom inspired the scientists working on the Mars landings in the 1960s-70s, today’s audience for For All Mankind may include the engineers and scientists who bring his vision of a Martian city to life. accomplished one day.
This article from The Conversation is republished under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Elizabeth Stanway receives funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council for her astrophysics research
