Do you have what it takes to live on Mars?

In 1971, a young man who went by the name of David Bowie wondered aloud on whether there was life on Mars. Could human life be supported by the Martian landscape? Bowie also went on to deliberate over Mickey Mouse growing up a cow, but we're not here to discuss the particular merits of that fantastical declaration (the answer is no - mice are in no way related to the lackadaisical bovines and therefore can not grow up to be one).

Over 40 years later, a British scientist is helping to put Bowie's planetary question to the test. Samuel Payler, a doctoral candidate at the UK Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh, was part of a crew of six Nasa-backed researchers who last weekend emerged from a remote dome in Hawaii having spent the past eight months practising for life on Mars.

 The conditions in the dome were designed  to emulate a long period of time spent on the Red Planet. A bit like 2015 blockbuster The Martian, only with less Matt Damon.

"It's really gratifying to know that the knowledge gained here from our mission will contribute to the future exploration of Mars and the future exploration of Space in general," said Paylor on Sunday. Indeed, mankind is now closer to exploring Mars in person than ever before, and while that may still be some way away, it's time to ask: do you have what it takes to be among the first humans to live on the fourth rock from the sun?

Landing struggles

You've just travelled 54.6 million kilometers for an estimated 260 days and now you have to park the car, so to speak.

According to Richard McGuire Davis, Jr., Assistant Director for Science and Exploration and co-leader of the Mars Human Landing Sites Study at NASA, any spacecraft attempting to land on the surface of Mars would, "have to dive deep into the Martian atmosphere and skirt closer to the surface than we have done in the past."

Past 'landers' have been far too heavy to lower themselves down to this level, so any space craft would have to be as light as possible, an incredibly tough issue to comprehend when you have to bring your house on the journey. This means that you may have to travel without modern 'luxuries' like parachutes or airbags. Could you take that risk?

The housing crisis

Back when Barack Obama was president, he called for the US to put humans on Mars by 2030, a claim that looks less and less likely the more their new leader flirts with nuclear detonation. Billionaire Elon Musk has made a similar claim, revealing his plan to help set up a colony of one million people on the planet by the 2050s. But how will this Martian city look?

At the beginning of the year, NASA came up for their concept for early dwellings on the planet. Dubbed the 'ice home' these would be inflatable domes covered in ice to protect residents from extreme temperatures and high-energy radiation.

The bouncy igloos would contain a kitchen, living quarters, a greenhouse for you to grow your own vegetables and a library. NASA says the homes can inflate and cover themselves with ice extracted from the Martian landscape in about 400 Earth days.

Another option would be to get heavy drilling and digging machines on Mars to create underground shelters – a complicated and extravagantly expensive concept.

Either way, it seems a stay on Mars would be far less than luxurious.

The cuisine

Water can be extracted from the Mars soil, by heating the surface until it evaporates – so we'll be covered on the H2O front. However the stored food we bring from Earth will only serve as emergency rations, which means the astronauts will have to try and eat as much freshly produced food as possible.

Food production will occur within the 'ice homes', with crops growing under artificial lighting, so expect plenty of potato-based dishes. NASA food scientist Vicky Kloeris says there is a very real possibility of inhabitants suffering from menu fatigue. "If people don't have enough variety or they get really bored with the food system, then they tend to eat enough to survive and not enough to thrive." It is also likely that algae and insects will be part of the diet on Mars. 

There will be no Pret a Manger on Mars to satisfy the metropolitan foody. Hope you like potato salad.

Sleep deprivation

If your idea of a perfect Sunday morning is cosying up under the duvet, then a trip to Mars is probably not for you. In 2011, six men emerged from a windowless capsule based in Russia having been stuck inside their spaceship simulator for 520 days (a very optimistic time length to get to Mars and back). Four out of the six endured debilitating sleep problems – including one crew member who was living on a 25 hour day, meaning every two weeks there came a point when it was the middle of the day for everyone else, but for him it felt like the middle of the night.

Another crew member suffered partial chronic sleep deprivation. Researchers claimed that the ligthing was an issue and any real mission would require lighting that more closely resembles the light on Earth.

You can also imagine being marooned in space is hardly going to ease you on your way to the land of nod.

Medical issues

AUK survey of 2,000 people by National Geographic found that almost one in three people would consider living on Mars for a while. But did they consider the probable brain damage? 

Any mission to Mars would inevitably result in exposure to cosmic radiation that has been shown to cause cognitive impairments in rodents, and possibly in astronauts engaged in deep space travel. These galactic rays would also increase the risk of cancer among inhabitants.

There will also be some bone-density and muscle-density loss but years of research by NASA seems to have solved this issue. Similar drugs to the ones used on the International Space Station and an intense exercise regime could help humans from wasting away on the planet. 

Homesickness

It almost goes without saying that being so far away from home is going to be a disconcerting experience. From the moon, the Earth is still very much visible; from Mars, the rock you used to call home will merely be a dot in the sky, exactly as the red planet looks down here. 

In the book Space Psychology and Psychiatry, Nick Kanas and Dietrich Manzey point out a range of mental issues that could arise from this type of homesickness. They believe that being so far away from the nurturing aspects of life on Earth, "might be associated with a broad range of individual maladaptive responses, including anxiety and depressive reactions, suicidal intention, or even psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions." 

A round-trip human expedition to Mars, using current technology, could take two to three years. If you're the homely type, probably best not apply.