Astronaut aiming to walk on Mars reveals biggest challenge

The British astronaut aiming to walk on Mars has revealed a surprising challenge many might not have considered.

Rosemary Coogan is one of the UK’s latest recruits for space missions, having been selected from over 22,000 applicants in 2022.

Once chosen, she had to undergo a lengthy 18-month process to ensure she was medically and mentally fit before starting basic training.

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What you didn’t know about being an astronaut

As you can probably imagine, being an astronaut takes a lot of work.

When not being put through the wringer to prepare, they’re having deep realizations about life whilst in space, much like NASA astronaut Ronald Garan had here.

Rosemary qualified as an astronaut for the European Space Agency in April after 12 months of basic training.

Her first mission is to the International Space Station, but she’s also aiming to be one of the first humans on Mars.

This is no small feat – obviously – and it comes with several significant challenges.

Rosemary opened up about one particular issue the mission would encounter – the time it’d take to get there.

Whilst a mission to the moon would take around three days, heading to Mars would take three years.

This brings with it a lot of logistical issues, related to the supply of food and water as well as medical equipment.

Speaking to the Times, Rosemary said, “We already have rovers going to Mars, which is already incredible, but somebody setting foot on Mars—that must be how people felt about getting to the Moon in the 60s.

“It’s a brand new frontier, and that is something else.”

She continued: “I think the goal at the moment is the 2040s or so for humans getting to Mars, and I would definitely be up for that.

“Obviously there are the practical challenges of achieving a nice soft landing, that’s not easy to do, but keeping astronauts physically and psychologically healthy for that period of time in a capsule is a really significant challenge which perhaps isn’t the first thought when people are thinking about launches.”

The long journey to Mars

Keeping astronauts healthy whilst out in space is a big consideration for NASA and the European Space Agency.

Rosemary, who is set to stay on the ISS for six months, isn’t daunted by the thought of being out in space for such a long duration of time.

She said: “We know that our first mission will be a long duration, six-month mission for the International Space Station.

“But you know, Europe is going to the Moon, we do now have three seats on the Artemis mission secure for European astronauts.

“But beyond that, there’s a huge number of possibilities that are unknown and extremely exciting.”

Mars has been a consistent point of interest for those working in space exploration.

Earlier this year, the first rover on the red planet sent back images from the surface.

One day, we might see a human staring back at us in those pictures.