Is space colonisation more than just a sci-fi pipe dream?

Photo Credit: NASA

Humans going to or colonising Mars is a popular premise in science fiction, but it might be closer to reality than we think.

Mars is both colder and drier than Antarctica. With an average temperature of around -80F (-60C), intense radiation and a lack of oxygen due to its thin atmosphere, Mars is undoubtedly a harsh environment, and one poorly suited for hosting life. Which begs the question, why would humans want to permanently live there?

After first landing on the moon over half a century ago, humans have set their sights on the red planet and NASA is firmly set to get there by the 2030s. While getting a crew of trained astronauts there is feasible, the idea of colonising the planet is still only a premise of sci-fi stories rather than a realistic goal.

The political climate is no longer the same as it was during the Apollo missions, which took place during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was a competition between the two Cold War rivals to show who was superior in spaceflight. But a new “space race” has opened up, and it’s a modern one fuelled by billionaires and their visions for developing humanity’s future in space.

In 2019, NASA partnered with and awarded $43.2 million to 14 companies to help develop technology for missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. In May, two astronauts were launched into space on a rocket built by a private company, SpaceX.

“It’s looking increasingly likely that it’s going to be a combination of national effort and commercial effort,” says Dr Aaron Knoll, a senior lecturer in spacecraft engineering at Imperial College London.

Dr Knoll adds that private companies are having a major impact on space exploration and that for future Mars missions, space agencies are likely to partner with them. “I think it’s putting a lot of pressure on NASA to move faster. It already has increased the speed of moving things forward, at least with the US space programme,” he says.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk and Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic both have ambitious plans for 2022 involving Mars. While Branson plans to send the world’s first “dedicated commercial small satellite mission to Mars,” Musk is set on the development of a self-sustaining Martian city. Amazon CEO and founder of Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos, wants to build millions of space colonies throughout the solar system.

While they make take different approaches, their goals are fundamentally the same – to see humans in space. And it’s gotten people excited.

Read more NOTE: This feature was created for my MA Interactive Journalism final project at City, University of London. The brief involved making a multimedia feature in the style of a target publication. I am not affiliated with National Geographic.