CANADA: When the first two human colonists land on Mars, they could step into their ready-made living quarters, remove their space helmets and inhale deliciously breathable air.
The quarters would have an optimal mixture of gases for human respiration, and be perfectly pressurized, air-conditioned and thoroughly filtered, if a design paper by a space life-support company becomes reality.
And that air will have been waiting there for two years for the astronauts to arrive. That much time is needed to make sure the Environmental Control and Life Support System, or ECLSS, has a solid track record of working reliably.
The colonists’ lives depend on it. Mars’ atmosphere is about 95% carbon dioxide and nearly 0% oxygen, a recipe for rapid death.
The vision won’t be easily achieved, because space is tricky. To start with, launches, flights and landings often go wrong.
Still, the authors of the preliminary study are confident it can work. “If the will and the means are provided, we will see humans begin to explore and even colonize other planets in our lifetime,” said Grant Anderson, president and CEO of Paragon Space Development Corporation.
Paragon designs and manufactures systems that keep astronauts breathing and hydrated in space for NASA and for aerospace corporations. The company is working on the new Orion spacecraft, which will fly astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit and hopefully one day lead to a ship that travels as far as Mars.
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