Comments by "Winston Smith" (@kryts27) on "Why Terraforming Mars Is A Big Mistake" video.

  1. Not possible to live long-term on the Martian surface, even with a breathable air and water supply. Why? Mars' atmosphere is very thin (equivalent for being 4 times higher in our atmosphere than the highest flying passenger jet, and no, even at that height you can't breathe the air). Air breathability is the least of your worries on Mars. What is slowly killing you is radiation from space, called cosmic rays. No spacesuit or spacecraft or "glass bubble" skin can protect you from the highly ionizing, thus mutagenetically dangerous cosmic ray radiation. We get very little dose of this cosmic radiation at sea level on Earth, because of the thickness of our atmosphere and the Earth's magnetic field, which Mars also does not have. You will still get that dose of cosmic ray radiation for the 6 months you travel to Mars, and another 6 months to return. You would need at least 2 metres thickness of concrete or a lead shield to protect you on Mars from cosmic ray radiation. You can't set concrete on the Martian surface (it's ambient temperature is mostly below freezing, the water would freeze before you even got to mix it), and the atmosphere is reducing, so it may not be chemically possible to set concrete. Lead is very heavy, so would be prohibitive to carry to Mars (as would be dry cement for that matter). The only way to survive on thw Martian surface, long term, would not be to live on the surface but instead dwell in a cave or under the ground.
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