Starting a whole new world on Mars - I

So let's start thinking about this: if we have to set up a whole new world on a new, mostly unexplored planet, then we need to set up everything, like government, society, security arrangements, education of children, healthcare, etc., right from scratch... We won't be able to take much of a guideline from the colonization missions on Earth that we learnt about in history, because they were all on Earth, which is vastly different from Mars, and they were all at different times with different technologies. (Plus, many of them were replete with racial abuse, slavery, etc., etc., and so their philosophies are not exactly good role models.)

Talking specifically about the Mars One mission program: in 2023, the first 4 humans will arrive on Mars. Then, 4 more, once in every 2 years. So by 2031, there should be a colony of 20 humans. (The arrival of a new crew would occur only once every 2 years, because Earth and Mars come close together only once every 2 years.)

Security, stability, order...

One of the most important issues to be taken care of is the stability and law-and-order situation. You may think that, initially, as the number of people in the base or colony will be small, and all of them will be carefully selected (the very best from a large pool of applicants) and thoroughly trained over many years, stability and order of the base would not be much of a problem. After all, look at all the human spaceflight programs till now, especially the International Space Station, which again is a permanently occupied human outpost (only in Earth's orbit, instead of on Mars). All the astronauts are very bright people, and many carry out their work to near perfection. Something similar can be expected in a Mars One type mission, right?

Wrong.

There is a key difference between all the human space missions that have occurred till now, and some thing like Mars One. Till now, all the human spaceflights had the intention of returning all the astronauts back to Earth... back to their old lives. Not a single "one-way" space mission has taken place till date. The duration of all missions till now has been limited, ranging from a few days to several months. All the astronauts knew that they were constantly being watched. When they land back on Earth, they all would be answerable to the higher authorities like their bosses in the space agencies, the government, and also to more personal relationships like their families and friends. If they tried out anything inappropriate in their mission, they could get into trouble... Not just fired from their jobs, but also sent into jail, if their offence was a serious crime. With this in mind, the astronauts did not loose their heads. They remained focused on their work, with their future lives back on Earth in the subconscious parts of their mind.

None of this will be applicable in a one-way mission to another planet.

Once on Mars, the humans (no longer "astronauts", as the space-travelling part of their journeys is over) will be on their own. No higher authority for billions of miles around. They would not be answerable to anyone. If they choose, they can do whatever they want. Of course, people on Earth will be watching them constantly through the cameras (as long as the cameras are functioning properly). But so what? There would not be any form of control being exercised by Earthlings on the new Martians. If there is a heated fight in a stressful situation resulting in one crew-member murdering another, it is not as if the police would come to arrest the murderer. Anything out of control could happen. Anything.

Causes of stress:

And stressful situations are bound to occur on a mission like this. Their causes? Just imagine:

• Having the company of just a handful of other people. Seeing the same faces each day. You would miss your family and friends back on Earth.
• Communication with your family, friends and others back on Earth would happen only through video, pictures and text, and that too, not live (as the signals would travel at the finite speed of light, taking a finite and significant amount of time to travel the enormous distance between Earth and Mars). There would be a delay of some minutes (depending on the Earth-Mars distance at the time) between every transmission and reception.
• Constantly living in the same limited spaces of the living modules. Sure, you can go out, but every time, you have to wear a special suit (like an astronaut's space suit) to provide breathable air and to protect your body from the low atmospheric pressure on Mars, and harmful solar radiation. The last "deep breath of fresh, cool air, out in the open" would have been way back, when you were still on Earth.
• Limited forms of recreation and entertainment (forget about discos, pubs, amusement parks, safaris, etc.).
• Limited food options available: the humans would have to grow their own food on Mars (and this may mean having only vegetarian meals for a long time).
• Health irritants: The low Martian gravity (about 38 % that of Earth) may cause osteoporosis or bone loss in the human body (which has evolved over millions of years on Earth). Also, unlike Earth, there is no thick atmosphere and magnetic field on Mars that can protect humans from radiation from outer space (the living areas would be designed to protect the humans from this radiation, but 100 % protection all the time may not happen).

Given all these difficulties, challenges and irritants, there is a strong potential for one or more of the crew-members to loose their mind and go totally haywire. And as I already said, there would not be any higher authority on Mars to which the Mars One crew would be answerable, so the potential for dangerous instability is serious. Unable to cope up with all the loneliness, cramped spaces and stress, the crew members might even kill each other, resulting in total mission failure (and huge embarrassment for all mission organizers and supporters back on Earth).

(By the way, irrational behavior has been displayed in long term space missions in the past... And yes, these were missions intended to return the astronauts back to Earth. I remember seeing a documentary on Discovery Channel or National Geographic in which they mentioned an astronaut who had been living in a space station for several months. Constantly living in the limited spaces for so long seemed to have affected him quite a bit: he once wanted to "open the window" of the space station, to "let the fresh air from outside come in". If this is the effect in just a few months, that too in a mission that would eventually end with returning back to Earth, then imagine what effects a permanent, non-returning mission can have on humans.)

So, what is the solution?

Of course, selection and training of the crew is extremely important. Psychological stability and commitment to the mission would be important parameters for judging the applicants. But another vital point may be this: of all the people who eventually go to Mars, a large fraction (if not all) should be imparted a certain military-like training in discipline, stress management, and exercising control or authority (when required) over any unruly crew-member. It may not be wrong to say that proper governance and regulation has to begin when the first group of 4 humans lands on Mars.

It would be the responsibility of such military-like authority to maintain discipline and general law-and-order in the colony. It may even be necessary for the powers of such government or authority to include imprisoning a crew-member who is no longer psychologically stable, has become unruly, and is dangerous for the entire mission.

A "Test", right here on Earth:

It may be a good idea to first see, right here on Earth, what is the effect on potential future crew-members when they are subjected to the Mars mission conditions for a considerably long time. Yes, the Mars One program will have such a component in the 7-year training period for the selected astronaut applicants: the group training involves "simulation missions", invoking as many of the actual Mars mission conditions as possible, in which the groups of selected applicants would participate for 3 months per year. But such exercises for only 3 months per year, for only 7 years, may not be adequate to prepare the crew for a mission that is supposed to last the rest of their lives, on another planet. I think it would be better if such Mars simulation missions lasted for several years continuously. Yeah, there is the question: what if a candidate realizes all these extreme conditions are not his/her cup of tea? That person decides to drop out, but then all those years spent in the simulation mission would be a waste of his/her life. Still, at least such realization coming on Earth is much, much better than it coming on Mars, with no way to return to Earth... And all that time spent in the simulation missions may not necessarily be a waste for such a candidate deciding dropping out. The fact that he/she got selected that far, and went through all that training, may after all be a good thing to put on the resume...

:)