What price a Martian?

Extreme Environmental Physiology Conference 2019

James Pawelczyk (Penn State University, US)

Humans will be able to travel to Mars’ orbit in the late 2020’s, and should be able to land on the surface of the planet sometime between 2030-2040. The 30-month mission will expose humans to reduced gravity, radiation, confinement, and environmental conditions very different to those on Earth. Can humans survive the challenges they will be faced with? Scientists are trying to answer this question by considering how we can translate the knowledge we’ve gained through discoveries here on Earth to the extra-terrestrial environment. Former astronaut and physiologist James Pawelczyk will highlight the unknowns that remain in the mission to get humankind to Mars, and the opportunities for biologists to help us reach the most treacherous destination humankind has ever contemplated.