Could we actually live on Mars? - Mari Foroutan

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There's a lot of talk these days about when and how we might all move to Mars. But what would it actually be like to live there? Mari Foroutan details the features of Mars that are remarkably similar to those of Earth — and those that can only be found on the red planet.

Lesson by Mari Foroutan, animation by Nick Hilditch.

So, you're thinking of moving to Mars.

Have you picked out a spot
for your new home?

No? Well, I'm here to help.

First things first,

here are some of the things
you'll need to bring to The Red Planet:

a high tolerance for cold,
loneliness, and radiation;

a lifetime supply
of breathable air and food;

a multibillion dollar spaceship;

a desire to just get away from it all;

and water.

You're definitely going to need water.

So what sort of real estate
are you looking for?

How about a mansion in the maze-like
Noctis Labyrinthus?

A hideaway in the Happy Face Crater?

A fortress on the Face Mesa?

An oceanview?

Uh, bad news on the last one.

You're about 4 billion years late.

We're pretty sure that Mars
used to have oceans, lakes, rivers,

the whole package.

But over time, almost all of it
froze beneath the surface,

or evaporated off into space.

There's probably still some
trapped beneath

the seasonally expanding and contracting
carbon dioxide ice caps, though.

So what might Mars look like today
if it had surface water?

That, of course, depends
on how much we're talking about,

but maybe something like this.

The relatively flat northern hemisphere
is below the average elevation,

so it would become one giant ocean,

while the crater-ridden
southern hemisphere

would stay mostly high and dry.

That difference between hemispheres
is a bit bizarre,

and we don't know why it's like that.

The southern half is probably
much older,

judging by features
like the number of craters,

and the evidence of increased
volcanic activity in the north.

Okay, so who knows?

Maybe one day Mars will have oceans again,

but for now, what we've got is essentially
one giant dusty desert.

In fact, it's similar enough
to deserts on Earth,

that we've been able to learn a great deal
about Mars on our home planet.

For instance, Martian sand dunes
form and behave

similarly to our sand dunes,

though the Martian versions
often grow twice as large

thanks to a gravitational pull
that's about a third as strong as ours.

And Mars has some features
you won't see on Earth,

like tars, which are crestless
sand dunes up to fifteen meters tall,

whose formations
we have yet to understand.

You're probably wondering,

"What do you get when you
combine a planet-wide desert

with an atmosphere that, like ours,

is subject to wind-generating
pressure differentials, dust storms?"

These will be your main weather hazards
on the Red Planet.

They play a large part
in making the planet red

by distributing rusted iron particles
across the surface and into the air.

Thanks to the low gravity
and lack of moisture,

these dust storms can last for months
and cover the planet.

So, you might want to build your home
as high as possible.

Well, look no further.

This is Olympus Mons,
the largest volcano in the Solar System.

Even if Mars had a breathable atmosphere,

you'd find the views from
the 25 kilometer summit breathtaking.

Or are volcanos not your thing?

Then how about Valles Marineris,
the largest canyon in the Solar System?

It's so wide that from one side,

the opposite rim would be below
the curve of the horizon.

Still, you'll catch some spectacular
blue sunsets in the normally red sky,

which gets its color from the dust
absorbing most of the blue light,

and the way sunlight is scattered
by the atmosphere.

Have you got spirit, curiosity,
or are you just looking for opportunity?

Then stop stalling
and make the move to Mars today.

Mars: Redder than Ever.