We have not yet built the first colonies on the Moon and we are already thinking about the colonies of mars. This is how we human beings are, quite prone to sell the bear skin before hunting it. For this reason, while India begins to inspect the lunar south pole and the Artemis program takes its first steps to return astronauts to the Moon, a team of computer scientists has carried out a simulation aimed at verifying what the moon would be like. perfect settlement on the red planet.
It is not the first time that this type of analysis has been carried out. Already in the year 2000, a study was published in which it was concluded that, for a colony on Mars to function, it would need to be worked on. about 110 people. Based on that study, but including some variations, these scientists have made a simulation, similar to a video game, in which the results are quite different.
And it is that, for them, 22 people would suffice. This is so because, contrary to the 2000 study, they include the possibility of replenishment of supplies from Earth. Thus, it would take fewer people working to get them directly to the Mars colony. They seem like all advantages, but one thing must be very clear: this study has not yet been peer-reviewed. Therefore, the results should be taken with caution.
The perfect simulation of a colony on Mars
This simulation analyzes how life would fare in a colony on Mars during 28 years.
Several factors are taken into account. The first is that the colony would already be built when its inhabitants arrive, so it is not starting from scratch. On the other hand, there is the possibility of obtaining water, food, energy and breathable air directly there. Although, as we have seen, some food items are periodically brought back from Earth.
The simulation took into account the different roles that every member of the Mars colonyas well as their personalities and the relationships they would have between them. Possible causes of death were also introducedboth due to illness and accident. For this reason, a life bar was placed on them, which could decrease as conditions vary, until it ended with their death. Exactly the same as in a video game.
In this way, it was concluded that with only 22 people the colony could already function. It is much less than what the other study had calculated, although on that occasion it was reviewed and with this one still will have to wait.
The least fit inhabitants to live on the red planet
This study also takes into account possible Personality traits of the inhabitants of the colony on Mars. In this way, their interactions with other people and with the environment can vary, even altering their life bar.
It was found that, curiously, the colonists most likely to die would be those with neurotic traits. Although it is often a term that is used in a much broader and more derogatory way, this refers to individuals with a predisposition to experience negative emotions, such as anger, fear or shameand also with such a low tolerance for frustration that, many times, they act in a very impulsive way.
If this study were to be confirmed, it might be necessary to take its results into account in the future to select the Martian colonists. After all, both to establish colonies on Mars and to locate them on the Moon, the psychological analysis of the candidates will be a very important factor. Not only because of the possibility that they exhibit neurotic traits, but also because of the stress of being in a place so far removed from the world we know, and in some cases without the possibility of going back. In fact, it is something that is already being studied with simulations carried out directly on Earth, in Mars analogues, with real people. Based on this, there will probably be many more people who cannot (or do not want to) make that sacrifice.