has an atmosphere—it has wind
and erosion." Unlike the Moon—
although Bresnik explains that it
makes a pretty good stand-in when
it comes to the testing of kit. "The
Moon is just three days away, and
gives us a chance to learn how to
live off-planet—how to live in space
suits and how to develop energy on
a celestial body. If you're going to
go camping, you've got to have the
right equipment—you've got to try
it out. If you're on the Moon, and
something breaks, you can get home
and replace it. If our equipment
survives on the Moon, we've got a
pretty good chance of surviving
on Mars."
One issue which applies to both
the Moon and Mars is radiation.
The Earth is protected from this by
something known as the Van Allen
radiation belts, which Mars and the
Moon don't have—one reason for the
spacesuits, which are hardly ideal
wear for a lazy Sunday mooching
about on Mars. "Colonists on Mars
would still have to live in a sealed
environment and would have to
be fully self-sufficient within it,"
cautions Professor Chris Impey, a
world-renowned space expert at the
University of Arizona's College of
Science. But when our own planet
turns into a frazzled crisp, it's the
least-terrible option. "There's no
other planet even nearly as habitable
as Mars," says Professor Impey.
"Venus is an inferno, and the outer
Solar System destinations of Europa
and Titan are much further away, so
extremely hazardous and expensive
to reach." So, Mars it is then.
Professor Impey believes our move
to the red planet could begin much
sooner than many people realise. "It
could be as little as 20 years before
we have a first small settlement
made up of four to six astronauts—80 • JULY 2019
SPACE TOURISM: ONE SMALL STEP FOR PRIVATE COMPANIES
“IF OUR
EQUIPMENT
SURVIVES ON THE
MOON, WE'VE GOT
A GOOD CHANCE
OF SURVIVING
ON MARS”Mars