Mars has silica and iron oxide. The moon has lots of aluminum. Those challenges alone put a trip to Mars on a different scale from simply "hopping" to the Moon (which takes a few days at the most). What physiological and psychological challenges are there in living on the moon? Getting your students thinking about habitat design on the Moon or Mars can be a good way to consider the challenges of living and working in space as well as illustrating the critical role that the cycles on Earth play in the survival of all organisms. Click here: " Moon Colony " to discover what answers they came up with! It is an activity suitable for students of all ages (see the suggestions for different age groups, below). There are many examples. And there is psychology - how will people deal with living isolated on an alien rock for long periods of time? But the challenges facing NASA—or any other outfit willing to make the long trek—are monumental. Nearby asteroids are a great source of carbon and platinum ores—and water, once pioneers figure out how to mine the stuff. During daylight, temperatures can top 120 degrees Celsius. From the Moon we can send missions into deep space and ferry colonists to Mars. Landing on Mars provides some difficult challenges: Two out of three missions to the red planet have failed, a loss rate highlighted by the fact that -- as NASA's Dr. Firouz Naderi puts it --"Mars is a favorite target." Brainstorm and design: Helps kids think about different ways to meet a challenge. After all, you're not orbiting the sun anymore; you're orbiting a much closer object that has a much larger impact on the physical conditions of your world. In normal life, new bone cells are constantly being made while worn bone is destroyed and its materials recycled. Answer Save. Traveling to Mars is just the first leg of the journey — when Earth and Mars are closest to each other, the trip will take a mere 260 days. NASA is taking remote learning to the Moon! Corrections: An earlier version of this post said the moon was 1,000 miles wide. The Moon might be the most realistic planet(oid) we can conquer. Lv 5. This saves a huge amount of fuel (money). Moon Cookies (No baking) Measure the following ingredients into a big, big bowl: 1/2 cup wheat germ 1-1/2 cups peanut butter 1-1/2 cups honey 3 cups dried milk 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs. We’d need to test out the effects of altered gravity on our biology too. Zero/Near Zero Gravity: Following the advent of space stations that can be inhabited for long periods of time, exposure to weightlessness has been … Hint: If you wet your hands, it will be … And during the day, astronauts might face a problem they wouldn't on Mars: overheating equipment. And with a budget of US$19.3 billion for the whole of 2016, NASA hasn't been able to consider the Moon as well as Mars. Some planets have no ground. We haven't gone back to the Moon since 1972 simply because of how expensive it is - the Apollo program that put the first humans on the lunar surface would have cost US$150 billion by today's standards, Fecht reports. On November 2, 2017, scientists reported that significant changes in the position and structure of the brain have been found in astronauts who have taken trips in space , based on MRI studies . Now use your hands to shape the dough into small round balls or moons. Others have discussed microgravity’s effects on the human body, but Mars is not free-fall. The moon is really close to Earth. As for recreational activities, the moon's gravity — at one-sixth that of Earth — would make lunar sports a bit of a challenge. Mars One has incorporated into its mission plan a detailed risk analysis protocol, built by highly experienced individuals, some of them with experience at NASA and the ESA. A crew flying to Mars would face mental and emotional challenges over many months. Colonizing Mercury would involve similar challenges as the Moon as there are few volatile elements, no atmosphere and the surface gravity is lower than Earth's. Now let’s turn to the advantages of living on the moon. Landing Ideas: Then and Now. More weight means bigger capsules and bigger rockets. Stage 3: Living on the Moon. These are the biggest hurdles that stand between us and Mars, and how the moon … Feelings of isolation and boredom are only some of the factors crew … The Challenges of Landing on Mars. As the moon rotates around the Earth, the bulge of water follows it. Your challenge is to imagine leading a one-week expedition at the Moon’s South Pole – with the whole world cheering you on. Favorite Answer. Bone is a living, dynamic tissue. We could try living on the moon... but it might not be a good idea. Astronaut Frank Borman suffered such a bad bout of space sickness on the way to the moon … Living in this type of environment impacts the body in three important ways: loss of proprioception, changes in fluid distribution, and deterioration of the musculoskeletal system. 2020 has been a year of working and living at a distance. However, due to mechanical difficulties, your ship was forced to land at a spot some 200 miles from the rendezvous point. NASA Exercise: Survival on the Moon Scenario: You are a member of a space crew originally scheduled to rendezvous with a mother ship on the lighted surface of the moon. 1 decade ago . The Moon is only a mere 225,623 miles (361,000km) away at its closest point, and the ISS is just inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Since challenges offer kids many ways of succeeding, this section jump starts Relevance. In microgravity, the body has no need to maintain its skeletal structure to Earth-bound standards. In general, that means crews on the moon will work during the day and take shelter at night. When it comes to our fragile frames, the Moon presents a number of biological problems. Watch more: Does It Rain Diamonds On Saturn? Authors: Seedhouse, Erik Free Preview. More fuel means more weight. The … Bone regeneration is governed by a complex system, regulated by hormones and vitamins as well as physical stress on various parts of the skeleton. There is an opposite bulge on the other side of the earth. Etc. The Challenges of Establishing a Human Settlement on the Moon. Go to New Hope Academy, an international private school in Maryland . In between bulges, the water is low, and this is called low tide. Tourists may also be interested in a short visit. What would be problems and cures for living on the moon? A day on the Moon lasts 27 Earth days. The real wild card for long-term health is the low gravity. However, living on a moon provides an extra dimension of complications. At night, they drop to a frigid -150 degrees. cpnpicard1. Kerber believes that solving the remaining challenges—the largest of which is the trip to Mars itself—is only a matter of funding. However, the planet also receives almost seven times the solar flux as the Earth/Moon system. Now consider what it might be like if you were living with a pod of astronauts 250,000 miles from Earth. These 7th and 8th graders investigated solutions to the problem of living on the moon. Mix everything together first with a wooden spoon. The Moon has a different set of temperature challenges. In 1968, NASA launched Apollo 8. The Moon and the ISS are comparatively nearby. 3 Answers. Or you can shape crescent moons too. Growing crops on the Moon faces many difficult challenges due to the long lunar night (354 hours), extreme variation in surface temperature, exposure to solar flares, soil with almost no nitrogen and little potassium, and lack of insects for pollination. It is a psychological challenge for most humans to live in small spaces. Lack of oxygen: Have to have oxygen generators or other means of producing oxygen. 9) Miscellaneous - Some moons have active volcanoes that cover the entire moon with boiling lava regularly. Mars is about 150 times farther away from Earth than the Moon. 12.03.03 . NASA's plan to build homes on the Moon: Space agency backs 3D print technology which could build base . Technology will see lunar soil layers built up in a pre-determined design Humans evolved to live on Earth, not a barren lump of rock over 380,000km (240,000 miles) away. After all, we’ve done it before. Introduce the challenge: Provides a script you can use to introduce the activity’s key ideas and show how the challenge relates to NASA’s goal of having people live on the moon. The challenge is to identify the risks in every step of the ten year mission, from astronaut selection through training, from launch to living on Mars. Distance. When the bulge happens in an area, it is called high tide, and the water is high. That may not sound like a lot, but think about what that means in terms of added fuel.