According to the plans recently released by the US space organisation NASA, Humans will be living and working on Mars in colonies entirely independent of Earth by the 2030s.
NASA released its plan for establishing permanent settlements on Mars. In that plan NASA has set out in detail plans to create ‘deep-space habitation facilities’ which will act as stepping stones to Mars.
Nasa said that the mission was ‘historic pioneering endeavour’ similar to the early settlers in America and Moon landing.
It also said that moving to have “Earth Independent” colonies on the Red Planet will be the end point of years of research but it plans for that to be complete by the 2030s.
These plans are described in a large document: “Nasa’s Journey to Mars -Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration”.
Three Stages of the Plan
The document lays out the three stages of Nasa’s plan to get to Mars. The first is Earth Reliant; the second is Proving Ground, where the operations will be tested out in deep space, but in an environment that allows humans to get back to Earth in days. Nasa hopes that those two first stages allow it to get to the third stage i.e. Earth Independent stage.
Global achievement
NASA sees the Earth Independent colonies as being “a global achievement that marks a transition in humanity’s expansion as we go to Mars not just to visit, but to stay”.
Life of Humans on Mars
On Mars humans will live and work within habitats that “support human life for years, with only routine maintenance”.
They’ll harvest “Martian resources to create fuel, water, oxygen and building materials” and use “advanced communication systems” to send information back with only a 20-minute delay.
