Can we colonize Mars by 2050?

 Can we colonize Mars by 2050?

Initial Mars colony

        Mars has always been a source of wonder to many people on Earth. With the advancement in human spaceflight in recent days, mars look closer to us. Many space companies are now trying to get to Mars. Earth is humanity’s cradle. Humans can’t stay in the cradle forever. Let’s take a look at what these major space companies are doing to get to Mars. Elon Musk said one million people are expected to colonize mars by 2050.

NASA's contribution

NASA Mars Colony

        Despite being the company that sent humans to the moon, NASA is now going through a tough time figuring out a way to get back to the moon. Approximately 50 years after the Apollo moon landing, NASA aspires to send humans to the moon in a mission called Artemis. Artemis will enable humans to understand the moon better and to study the effects of long-term spaceflight on the human body. This will prepare NASA for missions to Mars. NASA has already sent a huge number of satellites and rovers to Mars. The prime one being the Perseverance Rover. This rover will search for signs of life and send samples back to Earth. This will help them to send humans to Mars. The rocket used for this interplanar transport is called as SLS(Space Launch System).The estimated time for NASA’s year of travel to Mars will be 2035-2045. They have trained a lot of astronauts specifically for these interplanetary Expeditions. Anyways private companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin does this earlier than NASA. This is due to the fact that NASA is a government organization and is funded by people’s taxes.

SpaceX's Contribution

SpaceX Mars colony

        SpaceX on the other hand is doing great progress in the field of Interplanetary travel. Their Starship can hold up to 100 crew members and it is also fully reusable. Starship is still in the developing phase but it had done a test demonstration of launching to a height of 10kms and landing perfectly. SpaceX wants to send cargo missions to Mars in 2024. By cargo mission, they don’t mean one ship they mean a bunch of ships like a fleet. These cargo missions will pave the way for humans to land on Mars in 2026. According to them, only 7 humans will land on Mars in 2026, and in 2028 SpaceX will launch a bunch of people. These people will be the first long-term settlers on Mars. Here’s a table that sequences their events

Year	Mission
2024	Cargo Starships arrive on Mars
2026	A group of seven people come to Mars
2028	A bunch of people arrive on Mars
2030	First Mars colony is established

Challenges to be faced to colonize Mars

Dust Storms

• Extreme distance from the home planet
• Unbreathable Atmosphere
• Heavy radiations from the Sun
• Severe Mars dust Storms
• Extreme Temperature
• Travel only once in 6 months
• Help is 350 million km away

That said, It is possible for humanity to colonize Mars by 2050

Here's a video that explains Mars Exploration: