Phoenix

I’ve been waiting impatiently to hear about how the Phoenix landing went. It is now set for eight o’clock this evening. I cannot help but feel that it will bring us crucial information, will finally tell us that life can develop somewhere other than on our little planet, that it was not a total freak accident. Things did not get far because Mars is smaller than Earth and much further from the Sun.

If I were planning to visit Mars, the first thing I would worry about would be the lack of oxygen on the surface of the planet and how to remedy it. There is carbon dioxide in abundance, and some sunlight so that growing things is theoretically possible although, as thing now stand, the nights are incredibly cold (-80°C), even at the equator. The planetary high is listed at -5°C. Perhaps inside one of those craters, using mirrors, one might reach a reasonable temperature. And plan on covering things over for most of the 24-hour day. We now know there is silicium on the planet, glass would be one of the first industries. Yet growing things also needs nitrogen, soil nutrients, - in effect garbage – and abundant water above all. Not really impossible.

It will take six months for the first human travellers to reach Mars. That is a very long time. Perhaps they can install tanning facilities, to simulate sunlight. I would worry about keeping the air very clean on board. And personal hygiene. Who can go six months without new clothes. And another six months coming back, after the mission. That mission will demand great fortitude from a few people, mental strength not to be overwhelmed in conditions of being cut off from usual buoys of human sanity in the sequence of day and night and the experience of the outdoors through seasonal variations. Who can go that long knowing they will not be seeing anyone new, knowing that it is not even a remote possibility. Yes it will demand great fortitude. And it will also forge a new sensibility, watching the Sun and planet Earth through the window on a starry moment of rest. Mars has to be thought of as a possible home for us, as a place where a lone wolf of a human might eventually survive on his own for the entreprise to be viable. And romantic.