How Many People Would It Take To Sustain Life On Mars?

If the filmThe Martiantaught us anything , it was that being a lonely wolf on another satellite is not ideal . Yes , Matt Damon managed to survive for 560 Martian days ( sols ) , but in world how many people would it take to comfortably hold a bearing on Mars ? According to a new mathematical model , the minimal telephone number needed would be 110 somebody .

Jean - Marc Salotti , a Professor at Bordeaux Institut National Polytechnique ( INP ) , want to take the assumptions and scenarios that researchers had already discussed about the possibility of settling on another planet to the next level – the quantitative level .

To do so , Salotti first started with the unproblematic statement that , for survival , the working time expect to satisfy all necessary needs must be less than the working time capacity of the individuals . take in into account the productivity of different - aged resident physician , and allowing meter for catch some Z’s , eating , hygiene and resting , the yearly workings capacity is estimated to be 31.25 pct of the annual support sentence .

But what fundamental duty must be carried out in this sentence ? Well , Salotti identified five key region ( or domains ) for humans to focalise on ; ecosystem management ( ensuring a provision of food and water and maintaining a inhabitable environment ) , energy production ( to acquire electricity and vehicular throttle ) , diligence ( covers all stages of target construct from excavation ores to raise tool ) , building ( construction and sustainment of buildings ) , and societal activities ( from raising youngster to providing entertainment ) .

As you might imagine , for a smaller mathematical group of hoi polloi the demand in some areas may be less , but the pool of individual that tasks can be divided between is also diminished . The flip - up of demand and division that survival depends on is encompass by Salotti in the “ sharing cistron . ”

“ If each colonist was whole sequestrate and no communion was possible , each individual would have to perform all activities , ” Salotti wrote in a paper publish inScientific Reports . “ [ But ] a greater routine of individuals makes it possible to be more effective through specialization and to implement other industry allowing the manipulation of more effective pecker . ”

For some natural action , such as water management , the sharing factor is high as although a lot of movement is required everyone can profit , whilst for others such as agriculture , the sharing factor is relatively washy , as a orotund measure of nutrient means more work .

Teaming the various share-out factors in each domain with a antecedently formulated design for selection on Mars , submit in a contest run by theMars Society , Salotti could calculate the minimum number of hoi polloi necessitate to carry out all the   requirement of endurance whilst not surpass their 32.5 percent capacity demarcation line . Lo - and - behold , 110 was the magic identification number .

Obviously , this is not an exact science , and various assumption were made along the means , but , to Salotti ’s cognition , it was the first quantitative judgement of its kind . “ Our method let elementary comparison , launch the argument for the best strategy for survival and the best home to come through , ” Salotti write .

To be fair , Damon believably would have had a in force time of it if he were joined by 109 others .