LIFE ON MARS.

I watched a documentary recently about the preparations that are being made to send people to Mars within the next decade. There is actually a girl that is now 18 years old, but who has been training and preparing to go Mars since the age of 13. I often use her as a case in point in my highschool classes when challenging my students to have goals in life.
 
Going to Mars takes preparation and training. Since Mars has less mass than Earth, the surface gravity on Mars is less than the surface gravity on Earth. The surface gravity on Mars is only about 38% of the surface gravity on Earth, so if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh only 38 pounds on Mars. As such the potential astronauts have get used to that type of gravity. They also need to feel comfortable in their space suits and how to operate all the systems in their shuttle.
 
Astronauts need to get physically but also mentally prepared. In that documentary, the potential space pioneers were talking about their initial  emotional and psychological training. This training consisted in, as much as possible, recreating the same lifestyle conditions they would face were they on Mars. They had to learn to live with other people in crowded quarters with maybe very little privacy, and unable to go outside. They needed to get used to a 20 minutes delay in communications with the outside world.
 
All this is very challenging, but when asked what was the most needed in order to get through that intense preparation, one of the gal astronauts answered, "You need to have a thick skin, a long fuse, and a positive attitude!" Isn't that true of everything! I would even add, "And a good sense of humour!"

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