When and How Will Humans Ever Inhabit Mars

Presentation on "Questioning the Surface of Mars as the 21st Century's Ultimate Pioneering Destination in Space" by AIAA Distinguished Speaker Daniel R. Adamo. This 1.5-hour presentation reviews historic earthly distinctions between exploring and pioneering before applying these distinctions to destinations in space.

Travelling to Mars is one thing, yet landing on the surface is likely to be one of the most difficult aspects of a human mission. Methods for landing rovers on Mars have generally used a combination of parachutes and covering the rover in airbags to reduce the impact. These methods will not work for landing humans on Mars, and we will likely need to physically land a rocket on the Martian surface. Landing rockets is tremendously difficult, and although companies like SpaceX have managed to do it here on Earth, it will be far more difficult on Mars. We have not yet experimented enough with landing rockets on the Martian surface, and it will likely require dozens of tries before a human mission is possible. Unlike the lunar missions, where a lander was used rather than a rocket, the surface gravity on Mars makes it impossible to simply lift an object off the surface. A rocket would have to be used if the first humans on Mars would ever hope to return home.

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Host or Publisher Walter E. Hammond