to mars and back part -4

      food being a comfort item needs to be looked at as one of the most important tasks assigned to the group or colony as a whole. due to the lack of fresh foods it will be important to try and establish. greenhouse and lab equipment necessary to provide synthetic protein to our  interstellar travelers. this along with exploring for water should be the first priority of the colony. it appears as if it may be easier to find water and  provide food in the middle of the sahara as it will be on mars.i will include a wiki reference for mars detailing what its geology and atmosphere is like . you can view this reference for yourself to better understand that with all the research out there, and the technology we have available today. it may well be in our best interest as humans to try and establish life as we know it on another planet as part of our evolution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars

      to sustain life outside our earth planet , food shelter and water must exist in ample quantities or forms of it must exist. in the wiki  article it references the polar ice caps and say they are not made of typical ice as we know it but instead of dry ice which is carbon dioxide in its frozen state, this is one the fundamental gases need to sustain photosynthesis in plants. at the same time there appears to be less atmosphere basically making it inhospitable for humans in its present state. oxygen and minute amounts of water have been detected as well as aluminum and the ever present iron ore which give rise to the planets fame as the red planet. it is believed to be the iron oxide in the soil that is whipped up into the atmosphere that gives the apparent illusion of mars being red. 

     temperature and day length appear to be the same or close to earths temperature. but lack of any atmosphere or plant life prevents the heat from escaping into the atmosphere during the night hours on mars. warm or hot 95 degree days and freezing cold nights , are the norm on this planet. as well high winds generated by a cyclical effect of air pressure sweeping off the polar ice caps generating winds up to 450 mph that would sweep from the polar regions into the equatorial regions generating massive dust storms. 

   methane was detected on the planet and could be the result of chemical interaction but on earth is associated with dying organisms and digestion processes of plants and animals. this could be associated with microrganisms in the form of bacteria or microbial digestion of chemicals on the red planet. this would be life in a form we may not know presently but would pursue and attempt to utilize in our exploration project . the reason this may be of interest is that this is already a mars proven and ready available source of natural heat on the planet that could be utilized. 

    we would weigh less on mars than we do here on earth due to its size. it is two thirds the size of earth and has roughly a third less weight in general. this would result in a third less gravitational force than on earth. this is good for purposes of exploring. larger spaceships could be designed to deliver a larger payload to its surface when initially establishing a colony there.

   mars also has 38 percent less light than earth descending upon its surface. we barely use 10 percent of the available solar capacity of our sun and have ample amounts of sunlight here on earth. how this would translate into how a colony would survive on mars is negligible at best. we have the technology to produce our own light and heat. 

   it seems as if all the right elements are there to not only establish a colony on mars but to perpetuate it into the future on its own due too the technological advances of humans as it exists today. we have the capability presently to explore this planet and establish a colony. this would be a technical feat we had no concept of when i was born. we were happy to just get out into the wild blue yonder when i was born in 1955. 

    tomorrow i will explore some more of the technologies  i see as viable to establishing life on mars considering the parameters of the environmental hardships we might encounter there.