July 20, 1969 Astronaut Neil Armstrong He stepped out of Apollo 11 ready to be the first man on the moon. He stepped cautiously into lunar territory, unsure of what he would find. Now, if we returned, we would know very well what is there. Even the first humans on Mars will have a pretty good idea thanks to all the robots sent to its surface. We know what happened but we are not sure what it will be like to live there. That’s why work is being done in places like astroland, a Cantabrian cave in which future astronauts will be able to get very close to life on the red planet.
This is what is known as analog experience, as it is in an earthly location with characteristics similar to those of Mars. This is usually done in desert areas or areas very rich in minerals typical of the red planet, such as basalt or jarosite. In this case, not only the place itself was deliberately chosen, but also the cave in question. And that’s what the latest research shows is that if people want to colonize Mars, they’ll have to do it on their own. undergroundprotected from dangerous cosmic radiation. To do this, they use lava tubeswhich would allow them to access places like the cave where Astroland was set.
The company opened its facilities in 2019. hypertext I managed to visit them and find out what will be done in them in 2020. But it’s been two years since then his first research is about to be presented and the then expectations are fully justified.
five different spaces
Astroland consists of five parts. First of all, he has Command and control center, where all the activities of the crew are controlled. To make the experience even more realistic, the transmissions have an 8 minute delay, exactly the same as if the messages were from Mars to Earth. So it would be like the control center of NASA, ESA or any other space agency or company.
Secondly, there is Pavilion “Departure and Destination”, where information work is carried out about what is being done in Astroland. This is a very important aspect for the company because they want what they do in this Cantabrian cave everyone can know this, but especially the little ones.
Next is scientific and coworking laboratory. Various scientific studies are being carried out there, both with terrestrial application and with the aim of future colonization of Mars.
In fourth place is Pavilion “Augmented Humanity”an area of reflection and sociological research about what the future of humanity will be like, which will be able to dream of colonizing other planets.
And last but not least: Cave of Arredondo, which simulates what settlements on Mars will be like. Here the crew members experience the complete astronautical experience: freeze-dried food, space suits, exploration abroad… No detail is left out to ensure that future Mars-bound travelers are confident and prepared.
Psychology is essential for traveling to Mars
Mars is not as close as the Moon. Both there and back will take about six months. Also, once there, it would be necessary to wait until the red planet and the Earth, in their respective journeys around the Sun, were ideally placed so that ships could be sent from one to the other. This window period will be reached in one year, so in general, from the time the astronauts leave home until they return, two years will pass. At that time, astronauts would have had to live together in a very small place surrounded by a lot of uncertainty. For this reason, one of Astroland’s science missions is to study the effects of travel. on a psychological level.
“Technical solution for the flight to Mars ambitious but achievablebecause we know what we have to do,” he recalls. hypertext David Ceballos, CEO of Astroland. “Mars is the only planet we know that is completely inhabited by robots, we have a lot of probes that send us information in real time, which allows us to have a clear environment, but the psychological question is more difficult“. No one has lived there before and so we don’t know what the experience might be like.
For this reason, during all this time, exhaustive work on psychology has been done, which will soon be presented. It is designed to train astronauts to deal with this. stressful situation. “We’re talking about two years of no return, you don’t usually realize it, but for your subconscious, it’s the sword of Damocles that conditions you in everything you do,” Ceballos says. “During our investigation, we learned from the situations of the crew, their reactions, etc.”
Also useful on Earth
This will come in handy for future missions to Mars, as it will be possible to improve learning strategies, but it also has utility on Earth. And that’s another one of Astroland’s goals: that the results of research can be used to improve the lives of those who live here. After all, throughout life, we go through many situations of intense and continuous stress without leaving the planet.
What do microorganisms tell us?
Another strength of Astroland is research on microbiology and biotechnology which were held there at the time. Microbes that live underground, in places like Arredondo Cave, usually extremophiles. This means that they are adapted to life in much more inhospitable conditions than usual. If life had ever been discovered on Mars, perhaps it would be such a life.
For this reason, those who experienced this Cantabrian Martian counterpart completed missions to travel abroad. looking for samples. Some samples allowed them to find microorganisms with very interesting applications.
Possible antibiotics in the cave
On the one hand, in a cave with antimicrobial paper very interesting. They are still being studied but are being analyzed for possible pharmacological potential.
The perfect CO2 dump for Mars
On the other hand, the discovery of other cyanobacteria capable of photosynthesis in almost complete darkness was very interesting. It’s really interesting; because, according to Ceballos, “this perfect CO2 dump“. These microorganisms absorb CO2 from the environment and release oxygen. Plants do the same during photosynthesis. For this reason, the Amazon is called the lungs of the planet. The problem is that for this they need a lot of sunlight. These microorganisms can do this in the dark, and it couldn’t be otherwise, given the place where they were found. In addition, large quantities can be grown in a very small space.
Therefore, it will have interesting utilities both on Earth and Mars. In the latter case, the creation oxygen production machine. But it would be much easier to resort to these cyanobacteria, so the genes responsible for this convenient quality are being studied in depth.
Disclosure is important
Astroland attaches great importance to scientific popularization. That is why it has such pavilions as “Origin and Destiny” or “Augmented Humanity”. You can even visit the Command and Control Center.
Especially schoolchildren visit them. They stopped doing this during the COVID-19 pandemic, but are going to resume next September; because for them it is a very interesting part of their work. “Children are true generators of change“, – recalls the CEO of the company. “They can already really dream about Mars, because they are going to live that time of travel outside the Earth in the first person.”
That’s why it’s important to show them what the future will be like. “Many children used to want to be football players, and now dream of becoming an astronaut“. This is one of the consequences of showing him what is being done in the Cantabrian cave. But beyond that, Astroland’s other great goal is to suggest what that possible Martian society would be like. “They are taught what not to do so that we don’t make the mistakes we made here on Earth, like wars and pollution,” Ceballos says. “We have the opportunity to make things right and come together to improve humanity.”
Training future Martian astronauts
When looking for people to fly to Mars analogue lists of astronauts. These are those who have been trained on one of the terrestrial counterparts that are distributed throughout the planet. Many of those who have passed through Astroland have already subscribed to this list, hoping to someday travel to the red planet.
In fact, as David Ceballos told hypertexthe is in the company they set their sights on 2035 and they are already starting to strengthen ties with agencies and companies around the world. Thus, by joining forces, it will be possible to prepare the astronauts of the future so that when the day comes, the first person to set foot on Martian territory can step with more force than Armstrong did.
Source: Hiper Textual
