New Online Course Teaches You How To Live On Mars

Mankind’s obsession with conquering Mars has been the highlight of the scientific world for decades now. When we say mankind, we really mean a handful of scientists at NASA or some private company working for ages towards achieving this feat. But what if we reveal that you, yes you sitting in front of your screen, can also get firsthand experience of how it feels to land and try to survive on the Red Planet?

There is no doubt that Mars is our next frontier, and given that, an Australian university is about to launch a free online course aimed at teaching everyone about the basic guidelines on living on the surface of Mars. 

The four-week course is being offered by the Monash University, and is called “How to Survive on Mars: The Science Behind Human Exploration of Mars”. In the description, it states that the students are required to take 3-hour weekly classes online to complete this course, though the manner of examination and results has not been revealed.

The course description reads, “Mars has captivated the human imagination since the very earliest civilisations. It is the most explored planet in the Solar System, and that is unlikely to change. Getting to Mars is relatively easy, surviving on Mars will be the real challenge.”

The course will be delivered by an astronomer at the Monash University Jasmina Lazendic-Galloway and a chemist Tina Overton; who were originally inspired by Andy Weir’s novel, The Martian.

Who can sign up? Well, just about anyone; at least that’s what the course description reads! “This course is designed for anyone who wishes to learn more about the basic science required to survive on Mars. You’ll be able to use any scientific knowledge you bring to the course, but this is an introductory course and anyone can enjoy it without prior knowledge of the subject.”

The instructors iterate that they want to instil the basic knowledge of science along with the ability to solve problems in a hostile environment like Mars. They want to project astronomers and space scientists encompassing these values, rather than the much promoted egoistic and “heroic” models media much often does.
Most of the class will be based around teaching basic scientific techniques in order to overcome possible everyday problems on Mars, such as learning how to create water or oxygen.Lazendic-Galloway further elaborated in an interview “Science is interdisciplinary, not just chemistry, not just astronomy, and not just physics. And on Mars, you will have to know a bit of everything. The reason we wanted to keep it to survival is we know the first colonies will really be fighting for their survival.”
So far, over 1,500 people have signed up for the class, which is set to start in late October.

The objectives and curriculum set for the class might seem a little far ahead of its time, given that we haven’t even gotten close to landing humans on Mars. But then again only the people who dare to be a few step ahead of their time are to be credited for today’s world of amazing discoveries and inventions.