In October of 2020, a skilled and well-rounded crew will set out on a mission to Mars
in order to explore and research a possible future home for humans.
With climate change taking such a huge toll on our Earth,
t may be too late to save it, and the crews research will help us better understand
what we might have to do if we do choose to relocate to Mars.
The crew consists of 4 talented individuals, each with their own skills,
who will work together like a well oiled machine to complete the mission successfully.
Abhinav is a natural born leader, and through the course of the mission, he will set goals for the group to follow,
Using his knowledge of aircrafts he gained from attending air cadets and college,
Abhinav will be in charge of piloting the shuttle and navigating it through the solar system.
From a young age, Ronik had a passion for technology; he excelled in all his tech courses in high school, and finished at the top of his class.
He will use this passion to manage the technology on this exploration, including
programming and maintenance of the shuttle.
As a child, Carter had always been intrigued by the concept of astronomy,
and has since been feeding his curiosity
by doing extensive research on the worlds above our own.
As co-pilot, Carter will be working on finding the easiest,
safest and shortest route to Mars
while trying to account for everything that could go wrong.
Adrian is an intellectual who is adept at problem solving,
and can easily and effectively share his expertise with those around him.
Adrian will use his extensive knowledge throughout this mission by being the shuttle’s engineer.
While planning the mission, our astronauts and their planning team have researched many ways of surviving on Mars.
We will begin our mission by landing and setting up our habitation unit.
This habitation unit will feature a widely used system
developed by NASA that utilizes electrolysis of water in order to produce air.
In order to generate said water,
we will be using a technology also developed by NASA
that ingests, pressurizes, condenses and transforms abundant gases to produce water.
In order to conserve space aboard our aircraft,
we will be bringing dehydrated food in large quantities.
These meals will be rich in nutrients, and alongside these meals,
we will be packing multivitamins to make sure the astronauts will be receiving the vitamins they need.
The only way of communication between Mars and Earth is through satellites,
and for the 
purpose of our mission, we will be using NASA’s Deep Space Network system (DSN).
Being so far from Earth, communication to Mars will be limited, as Mars is usually 5-20 light minutes away from Earth.
This means that we can rule out voice or video calling, as you will be waiting at least 5 minutes for your message to be delivered,
and at least another 5 minutes for you to receive a response.
However, we can still rely on text messages,
or even use a voicemail or video message system in order to communicate with people back on Earth.
In order to power our communications systems as well as heating our habitation unit,
we will be setting up a system of solar panels to generate electricity in a clean and efficient manner.
We have developed a chart to display what medicines we will be bringing for what purposes:
The sun emits two types of radiation:
Ultraviolet and infrared. In order to prevent negative effects caused by this,
the crew will be implementing radiation shields built from hydrogen and polyethylene,
as these methods are the most effective at shielding the astronauts from the radiation.
Additionally, our shuttle will carry Potassium iodide as it is used
to prevent radiation from being absorbed in the thyroid gland.
Other equipment that we will be bringing includes:
several different types of seeds,
an IoT system that monitors and waters the plants,
and a transportation device.
If we plan to permanently inhabit Mars,
we will need to set up a sustainable food system, as opposed to predominantly relying on our limited supply of food.
The transportation device will be used to travel to destinations in an efficient manner,
and will allow us to carry other research equipment.
October of 2020 is the next close approach with Mars.
We will be using this to our advantage as well as utilizing gravity assist
in order to swing by Mars’ orbit and land with the least amount of fuel used possible.
This will enable us to efficiently land on Mars and be able to bring back enough fuel for a journey back.
To prepare for the mission, our crew developed a research log containing crucial information about mars:
Mars is about 1/7th the size of Earth, with a diameter of 6791 km.
A day on Mars is called a sol, and each sol lasts for 24 hours and 37 minutes,
and a year lasts 687 earth days.
Mars is approximately 76 880 000 km from Earth and 228 000 000 km from the sun.
Mars's orbit is very eccentric with its orbit being 5.6 times more elliptical than that of Earth.
The average orbital radius is 228 000 000 km.
Retrograde motion is the apparent motion of a planet in a direction opposite to that of other bodies within its system.
Retrograde motion occurs because the earth travels almost twice as fast as Mars around the sun.
As Earth moves forward in its orbit, Mars appears to travel from west to east
rather than its usual direction from east to west.
As the Earth moves farther along its curved orbit and sees the planet from a different angle,
the illusion will disappear and we will once again see Mars move in its usual direction.
The gravity on mars is 3.7m/second squared.
This causes objects to weigh less on mars.
Mars’ surface is composed of oxidized iron and gives off a rusty color.
There are also rocks and dust on its surface.
Mars has a thin atmosphere that is  mostly composed of carbon dioxide,
with small amounts of Argon, Nitrogen and Oxygen making it impossible for humans to breathe.
The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reacts with solar winds to produce a bright blue light
and the nitrogen produces a red or dark blue color.
This is known as Aurora Borealis.
Mars has 4 seasons and each season lasts for approximately 6 months.
The northern spring and fall lasts for 171 Earth days,
while the winter is 199 Earth days and the summer is 159 Earth days.
The average temperature on Mars is -60 degrees celsius,
but can go up to 21 degrees at the equator and -120 at the poles.
Due to the high concentrations of dust, Mars experiences many global dust storms that can last for weeks.
Mars has 2 moons: Phobos and Deimos.
Both moons are very small compared to the earth’s moon with the largest, Phobos, having a diameter of 22.2 km.
Phobos is more researched than Deimos and can pass through all its phases in under 8 hours.
Phobos has 2-3 solar eclipses a day that can be seen on the sun lit side of mars.
Lunar eclipses can be seen also 2-3 times a day,
and will have a reddish hue as Mars' dust particles absorb blue light.
There are 3 types of celestial bodies. Meteoroids are the smallest and are small pieces of rock made of metal.
Asteroids are larger than meteoroids and smaller than planets.
Comets are large pieces of dust, ice and rock that orbit the sun.
As the comets get closer to the sun, their layers of ice sublimate and a coma is formed.
Then, solar winds form a tail pointing away from the sun.
As we travel to Mars we need to be prepared to maneuver around any celestial bodies.
Luckily we do not need to travel through the asteroid belt or Oort cloud.
However, we do need to watch out for space junk and smaller meteoroids.
Overall, our crew very well prepared to embark on their mission.
