How Long Could You Survive on Mars?

If you stepped onto Mars without a spacesuit, you'd have about 15 seconds. So how long could you really survive there? We start a survival clock at 15 seconds and solve Mars one problem at a time: air, water, food, radiation, power, gravity and isolation, with real NASA footage and data. Chapters 0:00 15 seconds without a suit 1:14 The trip 1:49 Stepping outside 2:45 Air: making oxygen on Mars 3:31 Water: the ice Phoenix found 4:19 Food 4:53 Radiation 5:50 Power and dust storms 6:40 Gravity and the mind 7:37 So how long could you survive? What's real: the launch and landing, MOXIE, Phoenix's vanishing ice, Curiosity's panorama and blue sunset, the 2018 dust storm, Opportunity's last data, the space station and NASA's CHAPEA mock Mars base are real NASA images and footage. The wind, MOXIE and dust-devil sounds were recorded on Mars by Perseverance's microphones. The 1960s vacuum-chamber scene is a reconstruction; the habitat, the ship and some Mars scenes are illustrations. Sources Vacuum exposure (about 15 s of consciousness): imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/ask_astro/space_travel.html The 1966 suit test (0.1 psi, collapse in 12–15 s): NASA CR-1223, ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19690004637 Mars air, temperature, gravity: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/marsfact.html and science.nasa.gov/mars/facts Night lows at Jezero: nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/nasas-first-weather-report-from-jezero-crater-on-mars Launch windows every 26 months: nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-suspends-2016-launch-of-insight-mission-to-mars Seven minutes of terror, 11 min 22 s signal delay: science.nasa.gov/blogs/perseverance-mars-rover/2021/02/18/perseverance-will-land-on-mars-today Spacesuit duration (EMU Data Book): nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/esoc-13_rev._v_emu_hardware_data_book_jsc-e-daa-tn55224.pdf MOXIE (122 g, 98% pure): nasa.gov/missions/mars-2020-perseverance/perseverance-rover/nasas-oxygen-generating-experiment-moxie-completes-mars-mission Phoenix's ice: jpl.nasa.gov/news/bright-chunks-at-phoenix-landers-mars-site-must-have-been-ice Buried ice map: jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-is-locating-ice-on-mars-with-this-new-map 98% water recovery on the ISS: nasa.gov/missions/station/iss-research/nasa-achieves-water-recovery-milestone-on-international-space-station Perchlorates and health: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11815326 Lettuce on the ISS (10 Aug 2015): nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2015/08/10/cosmonauts-complete-russian-spacewalk Radiation on the surface and in cruise (Curiosity RAD): swri.org/newsroom/press-releases/swri-scientists-publish-first-radiation-measurements-the-surface-of-mars and swri.org/newsroom/press-releases/swri-led-team-calculates-the-radiation-exposure-associated-trip-mars NASA's career radiation limit: nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/radiation-protection-technical-brief-ochmo.pdf Shielding underground: Röstel et al. 2020, doi:10.1029/2019JE006246 Lava-tube pit on Arsia Mons: science.nasa.gov/resource/hirise-spots-the-mouth-of-a-martian-lava-tube Opportunity's end: nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-record-setting-opportunity-rover-mission-on-mars-comes-to-end Fission Surface Power: nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/fission-surface-power Bone loss in spaceflight: humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/Evidence/other/Osteo.pdf Earth–Mars message delay: NASA ASCEND paper, ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20220013418 CHAPEA, 378 days: nasa.gov/news-release/volunteer-crew-to-exit-nasas-simulated-mars-habitat-after-378-days Credits Footage and images: NASA; NASA/JPL-Caltech; NASA/ULA (launch); NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M (Phoenix); NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS (Curiosity, MARCI); NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Texas A&M (blue sunset); NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA/USGS and NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona (HiRISE); NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI (RAD); NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU (Opportunity); NASA/JPL-Caltech/TAMU (simulated darkening sky); NASA Glenn (ISS treadmill); NASA concept art (fission power). Sounds from Mars: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/ISAE-Supaero (wind); NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/INTA-CSIC/Space Science Institute/ISAE-Supaero (dust devil); NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES/IRAP (MOXIE). 3D models: NASA 3D Resources (Perseverance, Opportunity, Z-2 and Gemini suits). Mars globe: NASA Viking colour mosaic. Earth: NASA Visible Earth. Narration: AI voice. Music and sound design: original. What would you do first on Mars? And would you take a one-way trip? #Mars #Space #Science