In an interview with USA Today, NASA Scientist Jim Green talked about the high possibility that humans can and will occupy Mars. He went as far as to say that he sees the first human being sent to Mars by 2040. However, before sending a human to Mars, NASA needs to figure out a few things. First off, a spacecraft big enough to house a human has never landed on Mars, which is tricky due the Mars’ rocky terrain. Secondly, no spacecraft has had a return route to Earth from Mars, which would be necessary for someone to come back since Mars is not habitable just yet! Life on Mars would also be very different, requiring constant wear of a spacesuit due to extreme temperatures and no oxygen. If humans ever do make it Mars, they will need to build up a civilization with a food source and homes braced for dust storms and the temperatures! Read the USA Today article here.
Grace's Space Blog 
I think this topic is super interesting. One thing I’m wondering about however is how people would deal with the difference in gravity. Because the gravity is much lower on Mars, I think this could have strange effects of humans and their overall health.
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I love the topic that you chose to write about. I think the idea of us inhabiting other worlds is super intriguing, because if things on our planet continue as they are, that might become a reality. I think you posed a lot of goof points and really show that we need to accomplish a lot more before we are fully able to make any jump from one planet to another. I wonder if you think its actually possible for us to inhabit Mars, because at this point I do not.
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You’re totally right! But the best part is, we are now talking about HOW we are going to do this rather then IF we will. Psychological aspects of space travel are also very important and something I know very little about. We have evolved over millions of years to know this planet: gravity, radiation levels, brightness of the sun, etc. I know that it was hard for me that the Sun went down at 4 PM in the mainland and it was doable but, can you image having less intensity of the Sun always? In talking of intensity, will solar panels be useful on Mars? How much better will solar panels need to be at converting photon energy into electron energy without loss for them to be able to sustain the energy consumption of humans?
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