Study suggests that humans on Mars may start to die after just 68 days
Oxygen breakthrough needed before planet can be colonised, study finds
Space enthusiasts planning a move to Mars may have to wait to relocate: conditions on the Red Planet are such that humans would likely begin dying within 68 days, a study says.
Oxygen levels would start to deplete after about two months and scientists said new technologies were required before humans can permanently settle on Mars, says the study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The five-person team used data from Mars One, a Dutch-based non-profit group behind an audacious project to permanently colonise the Red Planet starting in 2024.
A shortlist of more than 1,000 people from a pool of 200,000 applicants will be whittled down to 24 for the mission - an irreversible move to Mars, partially funded by a reality television show about the endeavour.
But conditions on Mars - and the limits of human technology - could make the mission impossible, for now at least.
"The first crew fatality would occur approximately 68 days into the mission," according to the report, which analysed mathematical formulas on the required oxygen, food and technology.