Question: do you think we could go to mars?

Evan Keane answered on 20 Jun 2011:

Yes, definitely. We have sent many missions to Mars already and have had robots driving around on it for years now. If we want to send humans it is a bit trickier as it would take nearly a year to get there. So you need to pack plenty of food, but you probably wouldn’t have space for that. So we might have to think of ways of growing food in space (this is why they try to do this on the international space station already). Another issue is that the astronauts might go crazy! Imagine being in a very small room with a few others for a year with nowhere else to go! Actually people have tested this – staying in a box for 2 years (seriously!) to see if they can handle the isolation!! Of course astronauts would experience a lot of radiation on the journey as they would not be in a protective atmosphere (and Mars has only a thin one anyway, when they land) so that would be bad for their health.

Getting back would be a problem too as we would need to carry some kind of propulsion system and fuel. And the more fuel we need to bring, the more we need to use sending it in the first place! This is why people suggest going to Mars from the moon. Gravity is much weaker there so you don’t need as much fuel to launch from there.

Overall I think we can get there. Getting back would be tricky at first and the radiation and isolation and need for food are all concerns. But I think it is doable. The first journey will be the toughest but we will learn more with every trip! Even though it will be tough I think there would be no problem getting volunteers 😀