TOP A rendering of what a Mars One colony might look like ABOVE AND RIGHT The professor’s office Photo: Mars One
not to mention water and oxygen? Th ese are not minor details that need refi ning, they are colossal hurdles. But there are solutions, as ’t Hooft explains. Solar panels could generate energy, water can be gleaned from Martian permafrost and CO 2 in the atmosphere used as a source of oxygen. Plants grown in greenhouses would provide food and the astronauts would build their own prefab modular capsules. “While the fi rst colonists would have to be vegetarian, cultivating chicken and fi sh could be done at a later stage,” he adds. But then there’s the problem of radiation. In his Utrecht offi ce, surrounded by bookshelves packed with titles such as Gravitation and Quantum Fields, he talks of periodic solar storms. Th is sounds somewhat less comfortable than the ‘chicken or fi sh’ dilemma. “Th e amount of radiation astronauts will receive during the trip there and on Mars itself is not free of danger. Yet it looks like the radiation can be reduced to acceptable levels,” he says. One way to limit radiation on the planet would be for astronauts to bury their new abodes in 1.5 metres of sand as insulation. It would mean they would have to live in the dark, with only artifi cial light, but when the alternative is radiation exposure, natural light is a luxury easily done without. But perhaps the biggest hurdle won’t even come from space. It may arise from Earthly objections to the ethics of a one-way trip. “Some are comparing the mission to a life sentence. Th ere could be serious legal problems. What if people say that they are fi ne about staying on Mars permanently, but change their mind when they get there?” ’t Hooft says. Th at’s an astronomical waiver that will need signing. So why not wait until we have the technology and means to be able to bring people back? “Scientists don’t need “Th ere could easily be tremendous complications” humans on Mars. We can do our science better and more cheaply with just rovers,” ’t Hooft says. So why go? “To see if it’s really possible to start a human colony in space and expand it. It’s not rational. Mars has always been there, luring us as a place where people want to go and we want to see things happen now,” he says. It was a childhood fantasy of colonising space that fi rst drew the professor to a career in science. “When I was a kid I dreamed of being an astronaut. I wanted to invent new spaceships to get there. I realised that I needed to learn physics to do that. Th en I found out that I needed maths to understand physics. I ended up doing theoretical physics and investigating sub-nuclear particles.” It didn’t result in a spaceship but it did earn him a Nobel Prize in 1999 for clarifying the quantum structure of electroweak interactions between particles. Th e Nobel Prize is the apex of a collection of prestigious accolades for his groundbreaking work. Nevertheless, his passion for space remains: “I still love dreaming of the idea of humans escaping Earth to fi nd a place to live in space,” he says. For ’t Hooft , a manned mission to Mars is just the beginning: “Once we have human colonies in space, there’s no limit; we can reach other stars, asteroids or planets. It will take millions of years, but we can start now.” Th is is why he has become an enthusiastic ambassador for Mars One. Th e Dutch private company is the driving force behind PROFILE HOME plans for a 2023 manned Mars mission. In addition to the company’s radical one-way approach, another bold move is their proposed method of funding. To raise the required $6 billion, Mars One aims to turn the whole mission into a gigantic media event. Everything will be televised, including the selection of the astronauts. Th ink of TV shows Big Brother or Th e Voice (also Dutch inventions) mixed with the fi rst moon landing. Considering that the 1969 event was watched by a global audience of 500 million, the reality TV approach to funding a Mars mission might not be as crazy as it fi rst seems. Although ’t Hooft is excited about Mars One, he also retains a healthy scepticism: “My fi rst reaction was that they’re underestimating the cost and timescale by a factor of ten. It may all be possible if there are no catches, but there could easily be tremendous complications in all terrains: technological, fi nancial, or political.” Indeed, the 2023 plan sounds more like science fi ction than reality. But, as ’t Hooft explains: “Perhaps this project is more about something to aim for. If you assume that it’s unrealistic from the beginning, you’ll get nowhere.” So, will the Nobel laureate himself be signing up for the upcoming Martian adventure? “I’m too old, and I couldn’t leave my family, but there will always be people who want to try a new life in a new place,” he says. Besides, there is still plenty of new terrain for the professor to investigate on our home planet: “Th e universe of subatomic particles is very big. You can make many interesting journeys there.” Meanwhile, a number of potential candidates have already applied to Mars One, so it looks like we really might be at the dawn of a new space race. Whether it becomes a sprint or a marathon remains to be seen. v v Holland Herald 47
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