Food is important as a source of energy for our bodies, but you would also need sources of energy to help you grow and cook your food, heat your Martian home, purify your water, help you produce oxygen, and allow robots and other machines to function. Unlike on Earth, you would have no fossil fuels like coal, gas or oil available. What sources of energy would be available to you on Mars?
Research Exercise
Draw up a list of the main types of renewable energy sources available on planet Earth. Go through your list with a tick or cross to indicate which energy sources might be available to you on Mars. Click the button below to go to a BBC Bitesize page with more information.
Want to know more?One important source of renewable energy on Mars is solar energy.
You might wish to set up large numbers of solar cells within panels like those shown above.
Solar Cells for Devices
View Practical >You would need to check your solar cells regularly to make sure they work properly, and to remove any dust which might have collected on them which would prevent sunlight from getting through.
In the film ‘The Martian’, an astronaut is left on Mars and has to maintain his home, check solar panels, and farm, all by himself. He makes a ‘video diary’ to record all the things that happen to him (you could do that too!). When you landed on Mars you were not alone, but you have had many problems to deal with.
Send an email!
Think of one particular day (or ‘sol’) on Mars when you had a problem, but you found a solution. Send a communications message to the Mars Mission Commander at NASA to let them know what happened. Write your message in the box below, and click ‘send’ when satisfied. Your message will probably take around 10 minutes to reach Earth because all electronic communication between Mars and Earth has to use satellites.