There are lots of reason why a slip toMarsis get going to be an amazing challenge . Besides the risks from cosmic beam , micro - meteorites and simple insanity from being cooped up in too little a space for too long , there ’s the job of fuel . The ship has to carry enough fuel to get to Mars and then get back . And the ship has to comport enough fuel – food for thought – for the mass on instrument panel .
If you count at the needs of a typical male , a mortal needs the following on a daily fundament :
We can assume that the food can be supplemented with vitamins and mineral ( either fuse in or as lozenge ) , so there ’s no demand to concern about that part of the par . The whole job come down to kilocalorie , protein , fat and fiber .
If you want to be a minimalist about it , you’re able to get your calories from white bread , your fat from vegetable oil , your protein from protein powder and your fiber from bran . In this case , each individual on the two - year journeying would need :
If you formed all of those fixings into bars or kibble , you would involve about 400 kilogram , or880 pounding , of food per person . When you buy dog food at the grocery store , a distinctive large bag deem 20 pounds . So you would need 44 with child dog - food - sized bag to keep one person alive for two years . All of that would fit into a square block approximately 5 foundation ( 1.5 metre ) by 5 feet by 5 pes in sizing .
Most mass like a small variety to their food , so all of this mass would have to be formed into meals that at least voice interesting . That might increase the size of it somewhat because of the packaging , but the weight of the solid food would be the same .
The other thing a someone needs iswater . On most space missions , water is a by - product of electrical energy production infuel cells , so it is not a large concern . For drinking , a person would ask something like 365 gallons ( 1,500 liters ) for a two - year mission . The water would take up about as much blank as the food .
Here are several interesting radio link :