The Insane Biological Cost of Living on Mars - Scott Solomon
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NASA CHAPEA experiment has hit the 100-day mark. It's a simulation to understand life on Mars using a 3D-printed mockup of a space settlement at Johnson Space Center in Houston. A crew of four is living inside for a full year. This is the second such year-long study.
Analog Studies for Space Settlement
Analog studies replicate aspects of space environments. They test confined spaces, limited supplies, no coming and going, and crew interactions—being stuck with three others for extended periods.
Primarily tests psychological changes rather than physiological, as they can't replicate Mars' one-third Earth gravity or higher radiation exposure.
Could make reality TV from these analogs. Visited Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, a remote desert facility resembling Mars, while researching first book on human changes in space.
As an evolutionary biologist, expects evolutionary change from long-term Mars settlement with families and multiple generations. Migration in the past caused divergence.
Homo floresiensis Story
Homo floresiensis on Flores Island, Indonesia (archipelago of scattered islands). Ancestors stranded, evolved smaller due to resource scarcity—smallest humans survived needing fewest calories.
- Skeletal remains in a cave show unique short-statured, small-bodied hominids, different from other species, restricted to the island.
- Not only species affected: tiny elephants (stegodons), other miniaturized species.
- Island rule: isolated island species change size—get smaller (like dwarf elephants in Mediterranean, Asia) or larger (Komodo dragon relatives on Flores were giants; Galapagos giant tortoises).
Twist: Another small-bodied hominid, Homo luzonensis, discovered on Luzon Island, Philippines—same effect, different speciation.
Initially dated to 12,000-10,000 BC, now ~50,000 years ago. Likely overlapped with Homo sapiens arriving in the area.
This will be the first time in history that a species will knowingly place itself in an environment that almost guarantees biological divergence.
Unlike Earth's extremes (Antarctica, ocean depths, mountains), no permanent families there. Mars is more extreme: can't breathe oxygen outside, blood boils if habitat leaks.
70 years of human spaceflight history. Early unknowns: eyes popping out, swallowing.
Main effects from microgravity:
- Muscles weaken (especially lower body, back) from less work.
- Bones break down, body absorbs calcium, potassium.
- Similar to bed rest studies simulating lower gravity impacts.
- Circulatory: heart pumps less, fluids redistribute upward → space face (puffy faces), chicken legs (skinny legs from fluid loss).
Body adjusts over time (e.g., year-long stays): reduces blood plasma volume, red blood cell production → anemia on return.
Radiation: Low Earth orbit (ISS) protected by Earth's magnetosphere (Van Allen belts). Higher on Moon, Mars, deep space.
- Increases cancer risk; NASA limits astronaut exposure.
- Cognitive effects: simulated radiation slows rodent task responses → space brain/space fog (slower responses, problem-solving).
Reversibility unknown, especially for galactic cosmic rays beyond magnetosphere (long-term deep space exposure).
Radiation detected increasing with altitude via hot air balloons. Not from Earth center or Sun (no day/night or eclipse variation).
Geiger counters on satellites: clicks increased then stopped (overwhelmed by radiation intensity).
Belts: inner and outer, shaped like rubber bands pinched around Earth ball, extending from magnetic field.
Earth's iron core generates magnetosphere trapping rays; without it, surface radiation annihilation.
Survived journey to Mars; some effects reversible, some not. Can't walk much, have space face, space brain, chicken legs.
Travel to Mars takes 6 months in microgravity, causing muscle weakening, bone brittleness, and fluid redistribution affecting vision. Upon arrival, transitioning from weightlessness to Mars' 1/3 g (38% of Earth's gravity) imposes sudden force on the body. Astronauts returning from space need assistance to exit spacecraft and walk due to long adjustment periods. Even 1/3 g is challenging after prolonged weightlessness; getting out of the spacecraft without help could be tricky. Devices like hand-crank cycling machines recreate force, tension, and pressure. Gravity affects spine, organs, lymph system, circulation, and reproductive organs.
Astronauts exercise 2 hours daily using resistance to minimize deconditioning, but it does not eliminate it. After 6 months exposure to galactic cosmic rays, cognitive effects are unknown. Diet consists of shelf-stable, freeze-dried foods; fresh produce is rare. On ISS, occasional resupplies occur; Russian cosmonauts smuggled an onion for a birthday, celebrated as the first in space.
No major advances in growing large amounts of food in space; ISS grows plants at small scales, to which astronauts get attached. Fresh food is a major limiting factor for deep space travel; people crave variety beyond canned food.
Radiation on Mars increases mutation load. Even shielded habitats cannot fully block it; colonists will go outside for Mars walks. Radiation damages DNA; repairs are imperfect, causing mutations—a health risk and source of variation for adaptation.
Mutation is the ultimate source of diversity; natural selection sifts existing variation. Higher radiation accelerates evolution, a messy process with suffering and death. Many errors occur before viable adaptations emerge.
Mars settlement creates population bottlenecks: small founding group from large population reduces genetic diversity (like pouring gumballs from a bottle—proportions change). This founder effect causes rapid evolutionary change; founders disproportionately influence future generations.
Reference to Seveneves by Neal Stephenson: after moon explodes, seven (or eight) women survive, seven reproduce, leading to distinct future races. Hard sci-fi embeds real science. In Seveneves, food scarcity leads to "soft cannibalism"—a man eats his own legs in space to reduce energy needs and increase intake.
Closed habitats on Mars magnify errors, like island biogeography: isolated, inhospitable surroundings create survival pressures on psychological traits and skills.
Send genetically diverse group with varied skills and personalities suited to isolation. Avoid historical NASA criteria from The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (1979): all white male Navy test pilots. Broader base needed; traits like petite stature or brittle bones could be advantageous in low gravity (fewer calories needed).
Studies from Antarctica overwintering (isolated, extreme, confined): successful people are team players, open about experiences, good group chemistry. Avoid even-numbered groups to prevent factions and ties; odd numbers provide tiebreakers.
No utopia expected; humans remain human. Avoid Earth government control due to inefficiency and 20-minute communication delay (up to depending on orbits)—prevents real-time conversation. Colonists need self-governance with leaders having skin in the game.
"Decolonize Mars" campaign irony: avoiding Earth's inequities on uncolonized planet. Issues like murder, crime, prisons, laws must be reinvented. Multi-national groups risk factionalism; recanting identities problematic. Low tolerance for error in small populations (10 deaths in 200 people = 5%).
Can't leave: akin to Antarctica stations or nuclear submarines. Train for it; provide therapists, crisis resources, military hierarchy where applicable.
Positive side: overview effect (Frank White): profound shift from seeing Earth from space—fragile atmosphere, no borders, unity, vastness. Astronauts (including Katy Perry, William Shatner) describe awe and wonder; good for as many people as possible.
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Traveling to space makes us better stewards of our planet. Only one or two generations will travel there; once kids are born, tribal mechanisms kick in. Seeing Earth as mom and dad's home planet won't change stewardship; psychological effects persist in a different atmosphere.
Children born on Mars or elsewhere will have a fundamentally different connection. Similar to immigrant families: first generation feels connected to home country and culture, lasting a few generations, but eventually loose identity develops. People may visit, adopt cuisine or dress, but think of themselves as belonging to their new place.
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Future humans will physically differ, leading to speciation over time. Shocking idea: Martian human nature genetically distinct, with unrecognizable mind textures and brain functions.
Likely Mars habitats underground: easiest protection, no building materials needed, just excavate. Shields from space radiation, meteor impacts (Mars has thin atmosphere, no magnetic field, high radiation, frequent meteors). Avoid glass domes from sci-fi.
Psychology of underground society: impacts on eyes/vision under artificial light, spatial awareness, environmental connection. Biologist loves nature; walks in woods/parks benefit health. Pets provide benefits. Mars lacks wildlife, forests; habitats for crops unlikely to include many animals.
Sci-fi depictions show physical effects, but psychological impacts destructive via domino effect: psychosis could endanger air supply or colony, unlike bounded physical ailments.
Reproduction in space/low gravity is biggest unknown; little research done. Assumed possible for Mars settlements, but uncertain without more studies.
Studies: rodents, fish, invertebrates like sea urchins on space shuttle/ISS; inconclusive.
No official sex in space; speculation about married NASA astronauts on space shuttle (million mile high club). No privacy on shuttle makes it unlikely. NASA/astronauts hush-hush.
Someone will be first to have sex in space.
Technologies like embryo selection, IVG, artificial wombs may mediate reproduction.
Mars (1/3 gravity): child born/growing there loses bone density lifelong due to Earth-adapted genetics. Adult woman giving birth risks pelvic/hip fractures from brittle bones during childbirth forces; potentially deadly, baby may not survive. Example: Piers Morgan fractured hip falling off one step.
Avoid via C-sections: selects against vaginal birth-capable women, removes evolutionary constraint on baby head size.
Dr. Anna (evolutionary biologist/psychologist, Robin Dunbar's lab, Oxford; book Life of Dad): Dads saved humanity as baby heads grew too big for intelligence advantage. Pre-C-section, many women died; dads provided monitoring for helpless neonates (6-10 years), enabling higher male parental investment (MPI).
C-sections allow bigger babies; potential issues like sexual function changes from lost birthing selection pressures. Butterfly effect: one genetic change cascades.
Research low Earth orbit reproduction for insights.
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Speciation not black-and-white; biologists debate definitions. Individuals recognizably distinct from Earth humans faster than expected on Earth.
Gene flow between Earth/Mars prevents divergence if travel/reproduction free. Unlikely easy travel.
First Mars-born generation may struggle with Earth gravity: 1/3 gravity skeleton can't tolerate 1G (like The Expanse: low-G belters tortured by high-G). Gravity torture concept from The Expanse.
Bigger barrier: microbes/immune systems. Mars-born exposed only to brought microbes (bottleneck/sterilization). Unexposed to Earth's vast microbiome; can't safely return. Mars microbes mutate/adapt (radiation, bottleneck), creating new diseases. Earthlings risk Mars germs; enforce quarantine, no close contact accelerates speciation.
Homo floresiensis couldn't return to original habitat.
Round-trip rockets challenging until Mars mining; easier launch from 1/3 gravity. Manufacture fuel from CO2/oxygen on Mars possible. Biological/immunological risks primary barrier over tech.
Mars culture under scarcity, danger, dependence, darkness: very different, self-contained due to communication delays.
Humans reinvent culture rapidly in new places: inside jokes form quickly on trips. Cultural differences emerge fast on Mars.
Cultural evolution feeds back into biological evolution, tightening the divergence loop, with concerns from the biome about infections.
Adults can consent to Mars risks, but bringing a child into a dangerous environment where they might never return to Earth raises a different ethical level.
Instead of letting natural selection handle it, use CRISPR and genetic engineering to adapt humans to Mars' extreme conditions.
Altering genetics, especially for unborn children and future generations, has ethical considerations, but on Mars the ethics might reverse: if you can alleviate suffering and don't, is that ethical?
This is the entire argument that is put forward by the embryo selection crowd which is as soon as you say that protecting against something that's really horrendous you some genetic defect that would cause you to be in a pain or not live a flourishing life or whatever. Even myopia, right? Even if you were to say, "We're able to select against people that don't have good eyesight." If if you had Why do you think that LASIK and glasses exist? Because people want those traits.
Selecting against negative traits opens the door to selecting for positive traits, which seems ethical.
Genetic enhancement is ethically different.
Parasite is a wonderful company doing great things; Johnny who runs it is spectacular, but no convincing argument for genetic enhancement yet.
Question if genetic alteration is needed when other ways exist to improve life without permanent changes, which is usually true on Earth.
On Mars, for gravity or radiation environments, genetic changes might be the only way if that's the only place they can live, making ethics distinct since they can't escape the risks.
Is it ethical to condemn future generations to an inhospitable underground Mars environment where they might flourish less?
If so, is it incumbent to manipulate their genome to survive this 'prison' more effectively?
Genetic changes might improve thriving on Mars but prevent returning to Earth.
Remaining a single planetary species risks extinction from a neutron star at the wrong angle.
The book explores what happens to people and future generations living beyond Earth.
Given the risks, is this the right path? Long-term, multi-planetary existence might be necessary to avoid extinction, but the timeframe matters.
Not 'never go,' but don't rush; need answers to unanswered questions like reproduction in 1/3rd gravity and high radiation.
Study ethics, politics, psychology.
Technology is advancing with rockets flying; conduct experiments in life sciences, biology, psychology, microbiology.
Book: Becoming Martian, available now from MIT Press.
Streaming series: Becoming Martian on Curiosity Stream.
Podcast: WildWorld, about fieldwork and exploration on Earth.
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