Could humans be too heavy to land on Mars?

SkyAtNight Magazine ^ | June 16, 2021 | Lewis Dartnell

[PJ-Comix]

We’ve all seen the movie. The first human mission to Mars descends towards the ochre-coloured surface on a roaring column of rocket thrust. After touching down, the astronauts clamber down the ladder, plant a flag in the soil and snap some photos of their footprints.

We’ve done it on the Moon, so why not Mars? Aside from all the hazards that would need to be accounted for in order to ensure astronauts survive the journey to Mars, (such as exposure to cosmic radiation and the effects of space on human genes), the landing itself could actually be pretty problematic.

Philip Metzger and his colleagues at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are raising the alarm over an issue that could potentially be very significant for human missions, but has received barely any consideration until now.

[PJ-Comix]

This means, Metzger says, that the descent engine of a large Martian lander would blow loose rocks across the surface at high speeds up to a kilometre away – presenting a risk to the crew habitats or other equipment that the mission needs to touch down near.

Ummm... Isn't the author overlooking an even BIGGER problem than landing on Mars which is TAKING OFF from Mars? This wasn't a big problem on the Moon since its gravity is just 1/6 that of Earth but Mars gravity is more than double that of the Moon.

[Lockbox]

So just take a Tesla car with you to drive from the rocket to the base which now can be miles apart.

[P.O.E.]

Fats Waller: Your Feets Too Big

[GSWarrior]

If too many humans go to Mars at the same time, won’t it capsize?

[cgbg]

Good post and comments.

Robots are definitely the way to go for the foreseeable future.

[Boogieman]

They’re not worried about taking off from Mars, because it’s understood if anyone is stupid enough to go there, it’s a one-way trip.

[dfwgator]

It ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids.

[Red Badger]

The crew would all die of cancer within the next few years because of exposure to cosmic rays for 12 months or more.............

[rdl6989]

Mars is leaning 25 degrees now. This could end badly.

[BitWielder1]

So put the landing zone further away from the habitat.
Preferably with a hill in between. 2 km is not terribly far to walk in only 38% earth gravity.
And they probably will have rovers or golf cart like conveyances.

[Renfrew]

The blowing soil and rocks is an issue I hadn’t thought about. The same problem exists on Earth. If you try and land a rocket in a field it will excavate a crater underneath it.

But does all of Mars have the same surface? The solution on Earth would be to find an exposed piece of bedrock or a salt flat. There must be somewhere on Mars that has a flat, hard surface.

[PIF]

Isn’t the author overlooking an even BIGGER problem than landing on Mars which is TAKING OFF from Mars? This wasn’t a big problem on the Moon since its gravity is just 1/6 that of Earth but Mars gravity is more than double that of the Moon.
—
No, he is not.

In a lot of Scifi stories and some movies, the ships land and take off from blast pits; flying debris is not a problem.

Higher gravity just means more fuel or more efficient and powerful engines to take off.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

In fact, it’s cold as hell.

[lee martell]

Remind me again; why do we need to go to Mars?
The old reason “Because it’s there!’ won’t do.
We haven’t even ‘tamed’ the Moon yet.

I’m thinking this mission to Mars is mostly about keeping NASA and related manufacterers solidly employed and in the money for the next three generations. Gotta look out
for # 1., you know.

**Of course, some still wonder if we even ever went to the Moon in the first place. Seeing how relentlessly partisan the FBI, CIA, IRS and what have you can be during the Obama & Trump years, I say anything is possible. These agencies are no longer above reproach.

[PIF]

The article is basically anti-manned space exploration and, other than that, it is full of misleading and omitted facts.

[blueunicorn6]

“He ain’t heavy, he’s a Martian.”

[dfwgator]

Whitey’s on Mars!

[BipolarBob]

Forget coming back. They left Mark Watney up there. If not for the Rich Purnell maneuver, he’d still be there (but dead).

[Telepathic Intruder]

Is there even one example of rocket exhaust blasting a crater in the ground? First of all, it’s not hot enough to melt rock. Second, Where would the debris go once it leaves said crater? It would have to go up, not sideways to escape, demolishing the rocket itself. And what would propel it up?

[BipolarBob]

It’s Watney. Not Whitey.