Posted on by Mark Thompson

Want to Start a Farm on Mars? This Rover Will Find Out if it’s Possible

AgroMars Rover

Travelling to Mars has its own challenges. The distance alone makes the journey something of a mission in itself. Arrive though, and the handwork has only just begun. Living and surviving on Mars will be perhaps humans biggest challenge yet.  It would be impossible to take everything along with you to survive so instead, it would be imperative to ‘live off the land’ and produce as much locally as possible. A new rover called AgroMars will be equipped with a number of agriculture related experiments to study the make up of the soil to assess its suitability for growing food. 

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Posted on by Matt Williams

Plans for a Modular Martian Base that Would Provide its own Radiation Shielding

Artist's impression of the spherical space ship core that would transport modular bases to Mars. Credit: Marco Peroni Ingegneria

The idea of exploring and colonizing Mars has never been more alive than it is today. Within the next two decades, there are multiple plans to send crewed missions to the Red Planet, and even some highly ambitious plans to begin building a permanent settlement there. Despite the enthusiasm, there are many significant challenges that need to be addressed before any such endeavors can be attempted.

These challenges – which include the effects of low-gravity on the human body, radiation, and the psychological toll of being away from Earth – become all the more pronounced when dealing with permanent bases. To address this, civil engineer Marco Peroni offers a proposal for a  modular Martian base (and a spacecraft to deliver it) that would allow for the colonization of Mars while protecting its inhabitants with artificial radiation shielding.

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