MovieChat Forums > Mission Mars (1968) Discussion > Open face helmets criticism

Open face helmets criticism

posted 14 years ago by jeffyoung1
4 replies | jump to latest

MISSION MARS receives criticism today for depicting Mars astronauts wearing helmets that were not hermetically sealed, being open at the chin. I can tell you that this was not due to sloppy low budget costumes. Why?

Back in 1968, scientists didn't know as much about Mars as they do today in 2010. It was thought back in 1968 that the thin Mars atmosphere might be thick enough for human astronauts to forego pressurized, hermetically sealed spacesuits. Also, a thicker atmosphere would hold in more surface heat. Scientists thought the Mars atmosphere was still too thin for humans to breathe without an external air supply.

But alas, hopes were dashed with the first Mars surface probe in 1977 and the follow-on probes in the 1990s. The Mars atmosphere was far thinner than hoped for and almost all carbon dioxide. Hermetically sealed, pressurized spacesuits would be required for human Mars exploration. The Martian soil is also toxic, full of heavy metals, caustic chemicals, all very unhealthy for humans.

It's perhaps because of the desolation of Mars that human exploration interest has dimmed considerably on the political side in recent decades. Despite the ongoing scientific curiosity and enthusiasm, without support from the politicians, a potential Mars exploration is going nowhere beyond a few sub-orbital and surface probes. I was greatly disappointed when a U.S. surface probe crashed on the Mars surface back in the 1990s. This probe had an audio instrument for recording sounds on Mars. There is enough Martian atmosphere for atmospheric phenomena like, dust devils, common on Earth. We definitely would have heard something on Mars. But because of the far lower atmospheric pressure, sounds would be muted compared to Earth. A roaring Martian dust devil would sound like an Earth breeze.

[–] babettegillette 14 years ago

Recently saw an awesome article in the media that described a process that would radically change the Martian atmosphere such that humans can breathe on their own!

[–] jeffyoung1 14 years ago

I guess you are referring to the concept of, TERRAFORMING. This would be a extremely huge and expensive undertaking since we're talking about a planet. It would require, hopefully, the discovery of fusion nuclear reactors because of the massive power requirements necessary. Technically we could supply the power with current fission nuclear power but it would entail a lot of nuclear power plants around the planet.

The first priority is to create a breathable atmosphere for Mars. We now know as of 2008-2009 that Mars does indeed have large quantities of frozen surface water at the poles and underground. These sources provide the necessary raw resource for creating oxygen.

The problem is that Mars doesn't have usable topsoil. It's mostly inert and toxic metal compounds. Colonists would have to rely on greenhouses and hydroponics.

Another long-term problem is gravity, or lack thereof. Human beings evolved to Earth gravity. Mars' gravity is much lower. I don't remember exactly. I guess Mars gravity is 1/3rd as much as Earth, while Venus' gravity is close to Earth. Balls! What bad luck! If Venus were in Mars' location, we'd have another possible Earth. Venus is almost identical to Earth in size, density, and gravity. Long-term living on a low-gravity planet presents phsysiological problems for humans. Just because of that one fact, human habitation of Mars in the distant future will be based on transient living. That is, human workers will live on Mars for a year or so to do whatever work the government or some corporation is paying them to do. Afterwards, Mars workers need to return to Earth and re-adapt. Long-term residence on a much lower gravity planet causes the human skeleton to lose calcium content and density. Also muscle mass deteriorates. Live too long on low-gravity planet and return to Earth will present serious health risk problems like easily broken bones.

[–] babettegillette 14 years ago

The planet would be warmer with an earthlike atmosphere, but would still be quite a bit cooler. The Martian gravity would result in our muscles not being used as much. Would gyms with earth gravity be needed so that we could still be healthy? If the idea is to have a surviving human remnant, Mars would still be just as vulnerable as Earth to a supernova, comets, or a mass destruction attack from Earth. Finally, Mars is in the Asteroid Belt and even more vulnerable to life-ending strikes than the third planet.

[–] jeffyoung1 9 years ago

Sorry, NASA discovered that exercising alone is not enough for the human body to retain its muscle mass and bone density. The human body needs its earth gravity to retain its normality. I uselessly repeat my useless frustration that VENUS was not set into Mars' orbit. There's quite the possibility that it would be earthlike. But perhaps God, being much smarter, knows that we humans would start fighting over an earthlike Venus, hence, we all have to get along on this one earth planet.

MARS terraforming seems intriguing but without fusion nuclear power and more, the light gravity of Mars, it's all out of the question. The huge problem is that Mars' has no internal engine like Earth, to generate a protective electromagnetic field to deflect harmful space radiation and the sun's solar flares. Terrforming would be a waste of time and effort.