Journey to Mars

This is a subtopic of the main page, Mission.

Psychology of long term space travel and confined living
Loneliness has a significant impact on both our mental and physiological health. It is associated with clinical depression, suicidal thoughts, hostility, sleep disturbances, and increased risks of dementia. Long-term isolation, monotony, limited mobility and living in close quarters with other astronauts could lead to depression, interpersonal conflicts, anxiety, insomnia and even psychosis. Physiologically, loneliness has been shown to alter the function of our cardiovascular systems, our endocrine systems and even our immune systems.

Potential Solutions
One possibility that has shown promise in prairie voles (known for forming social bonds) is oxytocin, a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland. Oxytocin has been found to prevent several of the behavioral and physiological effects of isolation.

Another option is the prairie voles themselves. Animals have been found to mediate some of the detrimental impact of loneliness in people. Although such research has included mostly cats and dogs, it’s possible that including smaller animals (such as the voles) might help mitigate the impact of loneliness, isolation, and marital strife a space faring couple is bound to experience.

Daily Routine
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Necessities

 * Food
 * Water
 * Breathable air
 * Temperature control

Radiation
In space, a constant stream of cosmic rays from outside the solar system raise an astronaut's lifetime odds of cancer and cataracts, and the specter of radiation sickness comes from exposure to solar storms. Among the many hazards of space travel, radiation risks have emerged as a top concern for burgeoning space travel plans for Mars.

Based on measurements from NASA's rover, Curiosity, which arrived on Mars last year, researchers led by Cary Zeitlin of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., report that astronauts would likely receive a significant fraction, about 15% to 20%, of their lifetime allowable radiation dose on a round-trip to Mars. For this reason, Mars One will provide protection to the astronauts by shielding them. Astronauts will receive general protection from the structure of the Mars Transit Habitat during space flight. The Transit Habitat will also contain a dedicated radiation shelter, which will protect the astronauts with much more shielding than the habitat. The astronauts can also sleep in the radiation shelter.

A major source of radiation exposure en route to Mars is caused by Solar Particle Events (SPEs). During a SPE, the sun ejects very large quantities of energetic particles which, in the absence of proper shielding, can lead to acute radiation poisoning. The astronauts should expect, on average, one SPE every two months, meaning an expected total of three or four during their 7 month trip. Not all SPE's are large enough to be dangerous. Large Events generally occur only once or twice every solar cycle, which has a period of about 11 years.

To minimize exposure, the crew would be restricted to a radiation shelter during the most intense phase of an SPE. However, these highly intense phases usually only last for a few hours, meaning that comfort in the shelter is not a huge priority, and relatively low-volume radiation shelters are feasible.

Communication
The Communications system consists of a satellite in orbit around Mars, over the Mars One settlement, one in orbit around the sun, and existing ground stations on Earth. The satellite over the Mars settlement is an areostationary satellite, the Mars equivalent of a geostationary satellite. It is always in the same place in the sky on Mars, receiving data from the settlement and transmitting it to Earth. On Earth the data is received by ground stations using large satellite dishes. The areostationary satellite enables almost 24/7 communication, which is interrupted only when Mars is in between the satellite and the Earth. This is solved by placing a second satellite in an orbit around the sun, trailing 60 degrees behind the Earth. With this second satellite in place, when Mars is in between the areostationary satellite and the Earth, the signal can be relayed by the second satellite. Once every 26 months, the Sun is exactly in between Mars and the Earth. This occultation lasts about six weeks. The second communications satellite will also be used to relay signals during this period. However, when the Sun is in between Mars and the Earth and at the same time Mars is in between the areosynchronous satellite and the second satellite, we will have no contact with Mars for about two hours. Fortunately this is a rare situation and occurs when it is after midnight on Mars.

Delay
Both planets' orbits carry them to the same side of the Sun once every two years, at which point the distance between them totals roughly 55 million kilometers. At the opposite ends of their orbits – when Mars is one side of the Sun and Earth the other – this stretches to around 400 million. As communication signals travel at the speed of light, this means that it can take between 3 and 22 minutes for the information to reach the other end. A phone call would not be practical, but there would be no limitations to email, texting or 'WhatsApping' with the Mars residents. It'll just take at least 6 minutes for you to get your reply. Both voicemail and video messages are also easily workable options.

Internet
The astronauts can use the Internet, but can only surf 'real time' on a number of websites that are downloaded from Earth on the Mars habitat webserver. Every astronauts will have access to his favorite websites that way. Other websites will be very impractical because of the delay.

Watching television
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Broadcasting live television
The settlement will be broadcasting images of daily life back to Earth 24/7, so that everyone can see what the astronauts are up to. Of course, they will be delayed by anything from 3 to 22 minutes, so they will be as close to live as we can get!

Personal Effects
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