Going to Mars is humanityโs straight-up toughest engineering challenge yet. The difficulties in a mission like this range from gardening to communications, even the concept of having enough air to breathe becomes an issue.
If you wanted to be a part of a Mars mission, you’ll need to hone some serious skills.ย Here are 6 skills youย mightย encounter in a Mars Mission “boot camp”:
DIY Ion Thruster
Build a real ion engine that flings out charged atoms for thrust, just like NASA does. Danger: This is a high-voltage project. Youโll need to work safely with a neon sign transformer (NST) and theyโre no joke. But ion drives are probably the only way weโre accelerating to Mars anytime soon โ they eject ions 10 times faster than chemical rocket exhaust. Pick up some copper pipe and follow Alexander Reifsnyderโs how-to.
Or start smaller (and safer) with Simon Quellen Fieldโs tiny ion motor, using a soda-can Van de Graaff generator or an old CRT television screen as your high voltage source.
Martian Soil Gardening
When your life depends on growing spuds in space, youโll want to practice here at home. Buy a $500 bucket of Martian regolith simulant (as you humans call it) and develop your green thumb for the Red Planet.
Formulations known as JSC Mars-1 (from a Hawaiian cinder cone) and MMS (from the Mojave desert) mimic the chemical, magnetic, and mineral properties of Martian dirt: about half SiOโ with loads of iron, aluminum, magnesium, and calcium oxides. In experiments, tomatoes and wheat liked it fine but legumes bit the dust. What will you grow?
Composting Toilet
Bonus for the non-squeamish: Real Martian dirt is devoid of the microorganisms that make for healthy soil on Earth. Enrich your regolith with your own “night soil” by using this DIY composting toilet, and learn more about Humanure for the City Dweller.
Satellite Communications
If you canโt talk to orbiting comsats, your pitiful calls for help will never reach Earth. Build your own Yagi radio antenna with Diana Eng for listening to satellites. Then bone up on your satcoms with Mikal Hartโs Skill Builders on Iridium satellite network and the Global Positioning System (GPS). (And check out the amazing tale of โRebooting a Forgotten Satelliteโ.)
Solar Panels
What goodโs a radio without power? When itโs time to MacGyver that SOS uplink, youโll need to squeeze every last electron out of the weak Martian sunshine. Build your own 20-watt photovoltaic panels and daisy-chain them to battery banks with Parker Jardineโs Skill Builders for making DIY solar panels and setting up solar power systems.
Rover Bots
A robot that can find its own way back to base and carry your unconscious carcass into the airlock is worth its weight in Martian regolith simulant. Learn to build autonomous rovers with Jason Shortโs self-balancing Arduroller from Make: Volume 45, using the ArduPilot UAV controller board. (Just remember Mars is a looong way from those GPS satellites.)
Or hack up Sean Raganโs R/C video telepresence Mini Rover and donโt leave the airlock in the first place.
Breathable Atmosphere
Even a successful Mars colony will be stuck inside icy life-support domes pressurized with artificial air, pining for a stroll someday in a balmy terraformed atmosphere. Practice making breathable air by using electricity to split water into hydrogen and sweet, sweet Oโ. You can use the electrolysis rig from Tom Zimmermanโs Hydrogen-Oxygen Bottle Rocket โ and then use the rocket to send up one last message if all else fails.
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