Mars Dichotomy: Prospects for human life on Mars

Abstract

The red planet story began with the successful flyby of the American Probe Mariner 4 in July 1965. Eventually, on December 1971 the Soviet lander Mars 3 had the first landing on the surface of Mars. However, the search for life on other planets or the human establishment on other planets was part of science fiction. Only the Viking program, in 1975, changed the mindset of the entire world. Mars Pathfinder, Phoenix, Curiosity and other technical probes, landers and rovers, updated information on the conditions of Mars and thus improve materials, technology, and capabilities to put humans on Mars. Centuries of special Career have allowed to build Martian cities, where Space X, Blue Origins, and different governments and private companies around the world, achieved in 2042 the establishment of Star City [1], the first city outside of Earth with 1000 inhabitants. However, the population has continued to grow and the design of one or more cities that have changed the accommodation of 1,000,000 people is required. The requirement is that the city must be sustainable in resources, economy, and social dynamics. In this way, Mars Dichotomy proposal will begin its implementation from now on, achieving balance in 2350. From the point of view of Mars' physiography and topography, two highly different sectors are perceived. It is possible to appreciate that 40% of the planet displays very few impact craters, while the other 60% are regions with numerous impact records. Because of this it has been called that Mars presents a dichotomy or commonly said: Two faces. When thinking about the generation of large, diverse Martian cities and where science and technology must be the center of progress, we have also thought about maintaining a dichotomous character, which is why our proposal Mars Dichotomy proposes the design of two cities with concepts, characteristics and different productive sectors as follows: A. Wisdom City: At a height of 4 kilometers above the mean planetary radius (MPR), located at Ascraeus Mons region (Fig. 1a). Strategically located because the presence of ore deposits, caverns, and lava tubes, which appear to be open to the surface and can serve as shelter for inhabitants. The name of the city is inspired by the evolution of the scientific knowledge of humanity. The concept of living underground reminds us of the myth of the philosopher Plato, where some people live in caves and what they observe are shadows, until one of them manages to get out and see the surface, observing nature and the world; and then go back and tell others what was observed [2]. In the same way it connects us with our history and our origins, human beings in their beginnings lived in caves and once we went out and knew the world, we were able to look at the sky and recognize stars and planets, dreaming of one day getting there. We are now in the sky looking at Earth planet, to start a new story as space cavemen. B. Endurance City: The Medusae Fossae region (Fig. 1b) has been chosen for the high presence of hydrogen, therefore a good pl...