PART A:
1. Collaboration is often required in scientific investigation.
1a) List three contributions made by different organisations and countries in the article entitled New Project Aims to Establish a Human Colony on Mars. Suggest a reason why so many groups need to be involved.
MarsPolar aims to establish a human settlement on Mars with contributions from current and future collaborations with NASA, Polish companies, and SpaceX. According to MarsPolar and NASA’s contract, the plan is to use NASA’s Insight Mission in 2018 to base the teams’ robots and rovers for the unmanned mission. The development of the rover that will be used is currently pending on design and construction from future collaborations with Polish companies to be sent to Mars. Once the launch to NASA is successful, MarsPolar will send crew and cargo in hopes of using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and their Red Dragon spacecraft to launch the first manned mission. All in all, the involvement of these groups is essential to MarsPolar’s ambitious aim as it provides them the resources they desperately need, hence, why their goal can be achievable.
(Nowakowski, T., 2015, New Project Aims to Establish a Human Colony on Mars, date accessed: 7/11/2017, https://phys.org/news/2015-05-aims-human-colony-mars.html)
1b) Three separate groups working towards getting people on Mars (NASA) the Dutch company Mars One and the private company MarsPolar. Suggest one reason why this might be counterproductive and delay progress.
There are three separate groups including NASA, Mars One and MarsPolar, who are currently working separately to establish a human colony on Mars – a counterproductive approach that is delaying the progress in doing so. It is evident that the funding for these missions are costly, time-consuming and utilise a great amount of resources. For these groups to work separately they are essentially generating waste as they research and find the same topic for the same goal twice by doing it individually. This is a counterproductive approach that is delaying progress as instead of maximising the funds, time and resources to achieve productivity, they are in competition with each other in a repetitive cycle of finding the same findings and generating waste.
(Nowakowski, T., 2015, New Project Aims to Establish a Human Colony on Mars, date accessed: 7/11/2017, https://phys.org/news/2015-05-aims-human-colony-mars.html)
1c) Explain how the development of a Martian colony requires information from at least two different scientific disciplines.
The development of a Martian colony is a complex project that requires information from different scientific disciplines. It is a given that it will require the study of astronomy, a branch of science that studies space and celestial objects – to undertake a project that takes place in outer space. However, this project entails other aspects in which other scientific disciplines are needed. Firstly, the radiation on the surface is far greater on Mars than in Earth which will therefore greatly affect astronomers’ bodies as radiation in great amounts causes sickness and death. To address this problem, it will require the study of biology to research solutions to combat the effect of radiation to allow colonists to live healthier and longer on Mars to complete their mission. Secondly, the water supply in Mars is water ice within Martian soil. To provide this water supply to the colonists, it will require the study of chemistry to convert this water ice to drinkable water. However, there are many other aspects in need of other scientific disciplines, hence, why collaboration in developing a Martian colony is important.
(Lee, R., 2015, Top 5 Problems Humanity Must Solve Before Colonizing Mars, date accessed: 10/11/2017, http://www.techtimes.com/articles/53454/20150516/top-5-problems-humanity-must-solve-before-colonizing-mars.html )
2a) Describe a significant ethical consideration for the Planet Mars.
Colonising Mars raises ethical concerns about potential harm to Mars’ lifeforms. Currently, there are no signs of life on Mars, however, recent finds of water ice within Martian soil suggests that there may have been lifeforms prior to our existence. The indication of water in Mars may also suggest that there may be possible lifeforms in progress which raises the question as to whether Earth settlement in Mars will disrupt these future lifeforms.
Furthermore, does the potential harm to Mars’ lifeforms extend to those that humans fail to recognise as lifeforms and if so, do humans have any obligation in protecting them?
(Stemwedel, J., 2015, September 30, Would it be ethical to colonise Mars?, date accessed: 11/11/2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetstemwedel/2015/09/30/would-it-be-ethical-to-colonize-mars/#1d0ec5525015)
2b) Colonising Mars is expensive and uses vast scientific resources. Explain why this raises ethical concerns.
Colonising Mars raises ethical concerns as it vastly uses Earth’s resources and money that will shift funds and resources away from Earth to address its/our own issues. The mission raises a big question as to who will bear the benefits of the use of resources and funds, that in theory, should benefit all. However, this is not the case and the promise of a new start in Mars applies only to a few. Furthermore, it raises another a greater implication as to whether the use of these funds and resources is worth to ‘save mankind’ in the long-term, whilst Earth in present time, endures ‘disease, climate change, war [and] social and economic [inequalities].’
(Stemwedel, J., 2015, September 30 , Would it be ethical to colonise Mars?, date accessed: 11/11/2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetstemwedel/2015/09/30/would-it-be-ethical-to-colonize-mars/#1d0ec5525015)
3a) Identify three major obstacles that scientists need to find solutions to ensure viability of a Martian colony and describe some of the solutions that have been suggested.
The journey to Mars, the lapse in the communication system and the Mars environment itself are the three main obstacles that scientists have made solutions for to ensure the viability of a Martian colony. Firstly, the journey to Mars takes approximately 200 days – an incredibly long journey according to NASA. However, they have found a solution in which the crew will spend most of this journey in hibernation. This will be done through sleep chambers within the spacecraft, fitted with tubes to lower their temperature and provide nutrition and in due time, this will initiate a wake-up cycle when the crew is near Mars. Secondly, the communication system from Mars to Earth has a 20-min delay and is a hassle if any problems occur. However, scientists are planning to set two orbiting satellites: one around Mars and one around the Sun, that will counter the 20-min delay between the communication systems (except when the two orbiting satellites are between the sun). Lastly, although NASA and other non-profit organisations are planning to build liveable habitats, the colonists in the long term will need a more permanent home to withstand Mars environment. Scientists are planning to build an igloo-shaped dome from Martian soil with airlock front doors which will withstand low temperatures, meteor shower impact and cosmic radiation in Mars. The solutions made ensures that the human settlement on Mars will be successful and viable in the long term.
(TomoNews Us, 2017, Life on Mars: Scientists kept isolated for 8 months in NASA-funded Mars simulation- TomoNews, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p52lI7TSwII)
PART B
1) Find an article about a possible human colony on Mars
Meet the man working with NASA to 3D print a colony on Mars
http://edition.cnn.com/style/article/nasa-3d-printing-colony-mars/index.html
2) Explain how the article demonstrates an aspect of Science as a Human Endeavour. Provide one page of the article and highlight applicable sections.
The article entitled Meet the man working with NASA to 3D print a colony on Mars demonstrates the four aspects of Science as a Human Endeavour as Boshrokh Khoshnevis proposes his idea to 3D print structures and infrastructures to build a human colony on Mars. The three aspects include collaboration, influence and application and limitation. Firstly, the aspect of collaboration is evident through future collaborations with NASA and European Space Agencies to fund Khoshnevis’ idea. The article mentions that the idea of a 3D printer that could potentially print ‘colonies’ on Mars, has been gaining the organisations’ ‘attention.’ Although no actual partnerships have been made, the gain of attention in Khoshnevis’ idea demonstrates the possibility of future collaborations and partnerships with these organisations. Secondly, the aspect of influence is evident through the economical consideration of the 3D printing idea. The realisation of the vast use of materials from Earth involving the construction of a human colony in Mars ‘would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars’ in which Khoshnevis claims to not be ‘economically viable’ demonstrating the aspect influence within Khoshnevis’ idea of the printer. Lastly, the aspect of application and limitation is evident in the development of solutions for the limitations of the 3D printer itself. The article mentions that the ‘weaker gravity on Mars [in comparison to Earth, poses] a problem’ on the 3D printer due to the lack of it. However, the model has been modified to work in ‘zero-gravity conditions’ made to ‘extrude by force with pressure’ instead. The modification of the model demonstrates the aspect of application and limitation as Khoshnevis shows his ability to develop solutions from his knowledge and understanding of the model and the problem at hand. Therefore, it is evident that this article demonstrates the three aspects of Science as a Human Endeavour.
3) Provide citation.
Springer, K., 2017, Meet the man working with NASA to 3D print a colony on Mars