In science fiction, Mars is often portrayed as a challenging, yet ultimately survivable environment for humanity. Films like The Martian and the alternate history series For All Mankind depict resourceful humans conquering the Red Planet through ingenuity and perseverance. However, the reality of surviving – and thriving – on Mars is far more complex, and far less forgiving.
Exposure to the Martian environment without protection is immediately lethal. While creating a habitable environment on Mars is theoretically possible, it would more closely resemble a hermetically sealed space station or submarine than the frontier settlements often imagined in science fiction. The challenges extend far beyond simply building a shelter; they encompass fundamental issues of atmospheric pressure, radiation, toxicity, and the long-term effects of low gravity on the human body.
Myth One: “You could build a colony on the surface.”
The prevailing view among scientists is that any sustainable Martian habitat would need to be built underground. Terraforming Mars – transforming it into an Earth-like planet – is an incredibly difficult undertaking. “The idea is trying to change Mars so that humans could survive on it outside (without spacesuits),” explains astrophysicist Dr. Jeffrey Bennett, founder of Big Kid Science and author of The Scale of the Universe. “It would require finding a way to increase its air pressure by a factor of almost 200 while ensuring it has the right mixture of oxygen to be breathable and carbon dioxide (or other greenhouse gases) to make the temperature warm enough for us to survive.”
Currently, there isn’t enough carbon dioxide readily available in the Martian atmosphere, water, soil, or minerals to generate a sufficiently dense atmosphere. This means that even with atmospheric manipulation, the pressure would remain significantly lower than Earth’s, and the planet would not warm enough to support liquid water on the surface.
Mars lacks a global magnetic field and a substantial atmosphere, leaving the surface exposed to dangerous levels of cosmic and solar radiation.
Myth Two: “Mars is basically a cold desert you can adapt to.”
The depiction of Mars as a merely cold desert in many science fiction works is a significant oversimplification. The Martian atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth’s and is composed of approximately 95-96% carbon dioxide. A single breath on Mars would be instantly fatal due to the lack of oxygen and the extreme pressure difference.
“You’d need oxygen for your habitat and spacesuits,” says Dr. Bennett. “The air that exists on Mars is mainly carbon dioxide, which means you can, in principle, extract oxygen from this air; a small test of this has been done by the Perseverance rover. But scaling it up to support a group or colony of people would be a challenge.”
Beyond the atmospheric composition, the temperature on Mars is brutally cold, averaging −80°F (−62°C), and plummeting to even lower extremes at night. Hypothermia would set in rapidly without adequate protection.
Myth Three: “Low gravity would be harmless, and potentially an advantage”
While the lower gravity on Mars (approximately 38% of Earth’s) might initially seem appealing, long-term exposure poses significant health risks. Research has shown that astronauts in low gravity lose roughly 1–1.5% of bone density per month. Cardiovascular changes, balance issues, and muscle atrophy are also likely consequences.
“The strength of gravity on Mars is only about 1/3 of that on Earth,” Dr. Bennett explains. “While that is certainly survivable short-term, we have no data on the effects of living many years in low gravity. We don’t know what would happen to babies born in that gravity. Would they develop normally? Would bodies that develop in low gravity ever be able to visit the higher gravity of Earth? These questions have no answers at this time.”
Myth Four: “Growing food on Mars will be straightforward”
Martian soil contains perchlorates, chemical salts that are toxic to humans. Any attempt to grow crops would require extensive soil treatment or the use of hydroponic or aeroponic systems.
Even in The Martian, the protagonist’s successful crop cultivation relies on a simplification of the perchlorate issue. Purifying the soil at scale would require advanced biotechnology and significant resources.
Myth Five: “The biggest challenge is getting there”
While the journey to Mars is undoubtedly a monumental engineering feat, the psychological challenges of long-duration space travel may be just as significant. Isolation, confinement, communication delays, and the constant awareness of being utterly cut off from Earth could take a severe toll on mental health.
The phenomenon of “Earth-out-of-view” – the realization that Earth is no longer visible – could induce feelings of detachment and existential loneliness. Maintaining morale and cognitive function in such an environment would require careful planning and innovative solutions.
Could humanity actually survive on Mars?
Technically, yes, humanity could establish a presence on Mars. However, it would require a sustained commitment of resources and a willingness to accept a radically different way of life. Survival would depend on living within highly engineered habitats, relying on continuous life-support systems, and mitigating the numerous environmental hazards. A Martian colony would be less a pioneering outpost and more a self-contained, technologically advanced refuge from a hostile world.
As Dr. Bennett concludes, “given that we already have a world with a functioning ecosystem (Earth) and we’re having a hard time keeping it that way, it seems rather presumptuous to think we might do better starting from scratch on Mars.”
