Recent scientific research, and documentaries like Leonardo DiCaprio's Before the Flood and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Sequel, have assisted in shedding light on the most important problem of our time. Whether it be through human activity or through natural occurrences, scientists have forewarned that the Earth’s atmosphere is slowly deteriorating. This occurrence will continue to cause the polar ice caps to melt at a faster pace than ever before, and will likely eventually cause much of the Earth’s land to submerge underwater.

Now, unless you live under a rock, this is no news to you. But, you may be surprised to hear that scientists are seriously considering leaving our beautiful planet Earth. With regular scientific breakthroughs and the constant development of new technologies, comes one of the most widely asked questions of the 21st century: will we go to Mars?

With a price tag of over $450 billion dollars for the first mission to Mars (estimated during the Bush administration), Elon Musk - founder of the privately owned American company SpaceX - claims he can make it happen by 2025. In National Geographic’s November 2016 issue, writer Joel Achenbach goes on to say that Musk does not only plan for a mission to land on Mars, but plans to eventually colonize the planet with vast cities. Musk emphasizes that the invention of working reusable rockets will be a main factor in turning his plan into reality. Reusable rockets will carry “tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people, and ultimately millions of tons of cargo” to Mars, Achenbach quotes Musk. Having previously tested several models of reusable rockets, Musk communicates that the task is an extremely tough one, seeing as many of these test landings have resulted in explosions on impact. However, his resilience has led to the successful landing of one of these rockets, which he confirms was “a critical step along the way toward being able to establish a city on Mars.”

Competing organizations have released comparably conservative estimates. NASA made a statement that they will be exploring Mars in the 2030’s. Even then, NASA warns that they will only attempt to orbit the planet in order to gain information and insight that will assist them in later expeditions. Overseas, Gulf News reported that Dubai’s His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of the country - has announced a rather abstract plan that is expected to land humans on Mars by 2117. His plan suggests that the collaboration of international scientists in an organized fashion over the next one hundred years will bring forth answers to even the most threatening limitations of space travel.

Of course, these limitations like lengthy traveling time and the effects of zero gravity should not be ignored when analyzing the probability of space travel to Mars. Current estimates state that a one way journey to Mars would would take, at minimum, up to three full Earth years. It is obvious that not a single human astronaut has ventured into space for such a long period of time, so it is a common concern that such an extensive vacation from Earth could have detrimental effects on a human - not just emotionally, but physically as well.

National Geographic’s Joel Achenbach states, “The nightmare scenario is that astronauts land on Mars with blurred vision and brittle bones and immediately break a leg.” It goes without saying that an astronaut with a broken leg is a horror in itself, but why would such a mishap occur? It is a scientific fact that human bones break down when exposed to zero gravity for a lengthy period of time. Although weightlessness may seem fun at first glance, many astronauts start to feel their bones weakening after just a few days due to a change in the bone-repair process that normally occurs on Earth. Achenbach warns, “The rule of thumb is you lose one percent of your bone mass per month.” Here on Earth, bones break-down at the same pace that they replace themselves at, forming a balanced cycle. However, in space, calcium tends to escape the bones into the bloodstream at a much faster speed than the bones can then replace it at. NASA claims that some astronauts who have spent up to five months at the Interplanetary Space Station are reported to have lost over twenty percent of their bone mass - recovering some (but not all of it) in their first few weeks back on planet Earth. The reason for this unfavorable factor remains a mystery to scientists and it is clear that no human will be able to attempt a Mars expedition until the issue is resolved.

The negative effects of weightlessness remain just a single bullet point on a long list of physical limitations when it comes to astronauts journeying to Mars. Other possible limitations include growing food, finding water on Mars and surviving the dangerous atmosphere of the planet. Scientists are actually highly optimistic about the ability to grow plants in Martian soil. The soil on Mars is surprisingly composed of many of the same elements that exist in our soil here on Earth, and that are imperative to plant life. However, many of these key nutrients can only be found in trace amounts on Mars. For this reason, scientists at NASA have been working to create samples similar to Martian soil in order to formulate ways to provide the optimal growing environment. In an alternative effort, NASA is also in the process of testing plant-growing equipment on the International Space Station orbiting Earth. Having harvested their first vegetable plants in August of 2015, NASA claims they are well on their was to utilizing “rooting pillows which contain the seeds” in order to effectively supply food to astronauts and maybe even future Martians.

Of course, it doesn't take a certified botanist to know that living plants need liquid water - so how will we find it on Mars? This was one of the more pressing questions that tormented scientist up until just a few years back. In September of 2015, NASA released a photograph using an imaging spectrometer that featured “darkish streaks” that serve as strong evidence of liquid water on Mars. This water - apparent in areas where the surface temperature reaches ten degrees fahrenheit and non apparent elsewhere - gives hope to NASA and other space programs that both human and plant life on Mars may be more possible than previously expected.

With these seemingly simple problems, come the many severe limitations of space travel to Mars - many of which involving the anatomy of the Red Planet itself. Mars bares many differences from the planet Earth. To start, Mars is about a tenth of the size of Earth, meaning that it is has far less gravity. For example, someone who weighs 150 pounds on Earth would only weigh 57 pounds on Mars. Whereas the zero gravity space journey to Mars would pose extreme threats involving a decrease of bone mass in astronauts, it becomes clear that actually living on the planet would also be a major obstacle to overcome. Due to having a much thinner atmosphere than Earth's, Mars' surfaces is vulnerable to both the extremely hot temperatures caused by the sun’s radiation by day, and the brutally cold temperatures that take over come nightfall. These devastating conditions would be destructive to human life, meaning that some kind of body suit or inhabitable bubble must be invented for humans to wear - rather than future Martians braving the elements face to face.

So, when it comes to my own personal involvement in an expedition to Mars, I would have to decline the offer until the travel time were cut down to about a few months... at most. Oh, and until every other limitation is resolved. Although I find the subject extremely interesting and look forward to the colonization of Mars just as much as any other sane person, I'll have to take a pass on the three years of sponge baths and urine-recycling. So, until we’ve established a direct flight with first class seating to the Red Planet, I’ll enjoy daydreaming and researching from my favorite blue planet.