A human mission to Mars is not a far-fetched dream with various nations and private organizations planning their own itineraries. However, living on the Red Planet and colonizing it is hugely different from just stepping on its soil. The planet -- its atmosphere, environment and ambience -- is not only completely hostile for human habitation, but living there would also mean a tremendous psychological and physical toll on humans.
In a study published in the journal Space Policy, Polish cognitive scientist Konard Szocik from Rzeszow’s University of Information Technology and Management has raised an argument that just training the astronauts in the International Space Station (ISS) is inadequate for humans to survive on Mars. Moreover, according to the scientist, human bodies need to be changed drastically to endure life on the Red Planet.
According to Szocik, the first group of astronauts on Mars can suffer from a severe psychological damage even after undergoing a training that sets them through an utmost psychological examination and conditioning -- such as the one NASA is currently conducting. At present, the American Space Agency’s promising experiment HI-SEAS has a small crew sealed inside a dome near Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, to simulate the Red Planet’s conditions.
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