STACK NZ May #73

FEATURE GAMES

Id Software’s forthcoming DOOM is, of course, set on Mars. Why are humans so obsessed with the Red Planet? Is it possible to survive up there?What sort of weapons could you use on it? President of the Mars Society Australia, Jonathan Clarke, gives STACK all the answers.

GAMES

Y ou’re not bound for the Union Research Corporation’s research facility on Mars in DOOM , releasing this month, to cultivate a field of King Edwards under atypical growing conditions. No, there are demons to destroy, and you, Marine, will be doing just that. But just exactly what would life on Mars be like and what are the chances of surviving on the Red Planet? And why are Earthlings so fascinated by it? “I think the reason for the fascination is different for everybody,” explains Jonathan Clarke. “For some people, it’s the fact that it is the next destination we can reach after the Moon. We can go to Mars and live on Mars with either technology we already have or can easily develop, whereas going further afield to the moons of Jupiter or Saturn, Mercury, Venus, requires technology that is much harder to develop. “For centuries, Mars has been the only planet whose surface we can see through a telescope. We can see light and dark markings. It’s got clouds, weather, seasons, polar caps that come and go, and so people can imagine it as a place that’s a bit like Earth. A real place that you can walk on the surface. It might be inhabited; it might be a threat to Earth. We might be invading Martians one day. People have been fascinated by these reasons.” Clarke reveals that “going to Mars is controlled very much by the position of the planets”.

“Really, you can only go to Mars once every 26 months. How long it takes to get there and how long before we get back depends on how much power you have in your propulsion system. Different types of rockets can get you to Mars between six and four months at a minimum, up to eight months maximum.” So, what about the reality of existing on Mars for a long period of time? What support systems would be necessary?

“We know there is ice in the surface of Mars, so we can process that ice and process those minerals to extract water. We don’t need a lot of food. We only need about half a kilogram of food per day if it’s dry. For the first few expeditions, we would use either freeze-dried food or food that has been preserved via radiation, or vacuum sealing, or sealed containers. Eventually, perhaps, we’d be able to grow food on Mars either hydroponically or finding suitable soil – maybe we’ll even live on potatoes!” Finally, we ask Jonathan Clarke what weapons that are currently available could be effectively used on Mars, should we encounter any hostile Martians. “All the weapons we currently have would work on Mars. The physics of projectiles and sharp-edged weapons are going to be much the same. The lower gravity and the lower air resistance will have some effect: ranges of projectile weapons will be greater, the vulnerability of infrastructure on Mars, particularly pressurised infrastructure, might mean that people have to design weapons to minimise collateral damage. “The hostility of the Martian environment may mean a lot of external combat, if it were to even happen, like we have done through drones or robotic weapons, rather than people in space armour. But most weapons will unfortunately work on Mars, just like they do on Earth.”

All the weapons we currently have would work on Mars.

“The requirements for living in space, and you can consider Mars living in space, are first of all power,” Clarke says. “Without power, you die. We need oxygen to breathe. We need water to drink, food to eat. “Power we can supply by solar panels. On the surface of Mars, you could unroll a giant solar panel just like you would a carpet. [Oxygen] on Mars, you could manufacture it from the atmosphere, which is carbon dioxide. We could use simple, old-fashioned chemistry to extract the oxygen from that.

17