• Question: If you got to go to Mars what 15 things would you take with you and why?

    Asked by to Aimee, Chris, Dave, Greig, Laurence on 17 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Dave Jones

      Dave Jones answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      1. Oxygen. Mars doesn’t have enough for us, so I’m definitely going to need it!
      2. My camera. It’s going to be awesome, I want some photos!
      3. My Girlfriend. Maybe she’s not a thing, but I’d take her with me because she’d love it too.
      4. Sunglasses. Without much of an atmosphere, the Sun is going to be pretty bright on Mars.
      5. Water. Mars had lots of water in the past, but not too much now, so I’m going to get thirsty!
      6. Food. No atmosphere and not much water means nothing really grows on Mars, so I’m going to need some food.
      7. iPod. So I can listen to some music while I’m enjoying the view.
      8. Sun cream. The Sun is going to be bright!
      9. A space ship. So I could get back, not sure I’d want to stay.
      10. A shovel and…
      11. A sealable plastic bag. So, I could take some samples of Martian soil back for people to study.
      12. A long distance radio. So I could communicate with people back on Earth.
      13. A telescope. So I could look at the stars from mars!
      14. A bottle of champagne to celebrate getting there!
      15. Maybe a gun, just in case there were any evil martians 😉

      15 is a lot of things! What would you take, haggles?

    • Photo: Aimee Hopper

      Aimee Hopper answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      can I assume that my spaceship doesn’t get completely destroyed on landing? So i can use that as a base.

      If so…

      1) as many plants as I can possibly carry (provide oxygen / food) and
      2) seeds!
      3) something to make fire, so I also need…
      4) …fuel
      5) water! And I’d try and land somewhere where ice exists too.
      6) food, but I’ll need to make this at some point coz whatever I take will run out.
      7) BIG batteries, to store energy
      8) Windturbines and other renewable forms of energy, to produce the energy to store.
      9) guineu pigs / rabbits / goats, to populate and provide meat, clothing, fertiliser, cuddles etc.
      10) multitool, with things like a spanner on it, screwdriver, scissors etc.
      11) antibiotics and painkillers, but again these will need to be produced at some point.
      12) vitamins and minerals – coz until we’re set up we’re going to have some massive deficiencies in out diets.
      13) plastic bags, because they are VERY useful! (storing clothes, hanging food up, providing water proof footwear…)
      14) transmitter and receiver, so I can still get in contact with Earth
      15) my partner, so we could share in the awesomeness of mars! 🙂

    • Photo: Laurence Perreault Levasseur

      Laurence Perreault Levasseur answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      1) my husband, he is the one who dreams to be an astronaut, and to visit another planet. He is also the one who has the practical intelligence between the two of us, so he’d take care of bringing the essential things for survival. 🙂

      No, I’m joking 😛

      2) a life-support unit (so that there is a place i can survive with the right atmosphere, pressure, etc… store things like food and water, protect my skin from the solar radiation, etc… and ideally it would be able to extract water from the soil, recycle water and wastes, etc… in a very efficient way)
      3) a space suit (to be able to explore the surface of Mars and walk around)
      4) a rover (most importantly to go get soil to extract water from, but also to do science and explore Mars)
      5) astronaut food (which is not delicious at all, but you know, I have to eat)+oxygen+water reserves until we become self-sufficient
      6) lots of seeds to eventually produce oxygen, + some food, and I’d use hydroponic culture so no need of soil
      7) led lights (to grow the plants)
      8) solar panels (to produce energy)
      9) massive batteries (to store that energy)
      10) a radio-transmitter+receiver (so that I can check on my fish back on earth – not sure they would enjoy the space travel)
      11) emergency kit (with medicine – very good idea not to forget!)
      12) duct tape (in case ANYTHING breaks – everything can be fixed with duct tape)
      13) pen & paper (pretty sure Mars would inspire me to write some nice equations)
      14) a modified bike that I can ride in a space suit (because riding around Mars would be just amazing!)
      15) A nail cutter (Can you imagine how long and monstrous your nails would be after a while?)

Comments