GET Talking To
Since early childhood
Adriana Marais knew that
if she was offered the
opportunity to go into space,
knowing she wouldn’t come
back, she would never say
no.
Bye, bye Earth,
hello Mars
12 Get It Highway • Berea • Durban North August 2014
S
he lies in bed daydreaming of the red planet,
the only sphere in our solar system to have
a surface visible from Earth by telescope. A
place where colonisation is no longer just a
futuristic notion. The 30-year-old Quantum Biology
PhD student is now preparing for the mission of a
lifetime as one of 25 South Africans short-listed for the
second round in the application process for Mars One,
a privately run Dutch expedition, aimed at populating
Mars from the year 2024. Once the spaceships leave,
there will be no way to come back home to Earth.
Around 705 international applicants of all
backgrounds are being considered for inclusion on
this one-way seven-month-long journey to a planet
no human has ever visited.
“Our applications involved answering questions on a
series of Mars-related topics, sharing our backgrounds
and stories, including the reactions of family members
to the planned adventure, as well as our own
motivations.”
By the end of next year the number of candidates
will be chopped to about 24 space pioneers who will
form part of a planned human settlement. Funding for
the entire expedition will be generated by the sale of
worldwide TV rights to what is said to be, virtually, the
biggest reality TV show ever.
“From a young age I visualised being part of a
great adventure like this, and usually when I want
something bad enough, I get it. The allure of the
unknown has always felt far more powerful than the
comfort of the known, so I have no fear for what lies
ahead. This is the challenge I’ve been waiting for my
whole life, and there is almost no sacrifice I wouldn’t
make to be a part of it.”
In the Morningside apartment she shares with
a fellow friend and student, Adriana has few
possessions - a bed, some clothing, a small pile of
novels and a guitar. It’s as though she’s was destined
for the out-of-this world journey. Considering her
passion for this initiative, it’s hard to believe that she
once quit science to go travelling.
“I studied physics initially because I wanted to
become an astronaut, but my interest in quantum
mechanics changed that. After I completed my
Bachelor of Science with Honours, I left the country,
worked as a bartender in London and took up
teaching in Japan. But even trying to learn Japanese
was not a replacement for the kind of challenge that
modelling reality mathematically presented, so I
joined the Quantum Research Group at UKZN and
started researching photosynthesis on a quantum
level. I’ve learnt so much and have been lucky enough
to meet and share ideas with incredibly talented
researchers from all over the world.”
Over the years Adriana’s research interests have led
her via the field of her PhD in Quantum Biology, to the
famous question, What is Life?
“If life can exist on Earth, in an unimaginably large
universe, it must also exist or have existed elsewhere.
Billions of years of evolution of life on Earth have
culminated in the possibility of us calling another
planet home. Untold discoveries lie in wait, including
the possibility of finding evidence of life forms
different to the ones we know of here on Earth.
“I applied to go and live on Mars because I am
prepared to sacrifice a lot, even not returning to Earth,
for this idea, this adventure, an achievement that
would not even be my own, but that of all humanity.”
The final list of applicants selected to travel with
Mars One will be broken into crews comprising two
men and two women of varying cultural backgrounds.
Training for the would-be astronauts, which is
expected to be psychologically tough, should start
as early as next
year. Each crew will
spend three months
of every year
prior to lift-off
confined to
a Big Brother-
I applied to go and live on Mars because I am
prepared to sacrifice a lot, even not returning
to Earth, for this idea, this adventure
Photos by Janine Slabbert of She loves/ Hair and Make-up by Lynnal McDonald of Make-Up Your Mind
like environment designed to simulate the living
conditions they’ll experience on Mars. Any one
of the trainees can be replaced at any point until
their rocket leaves Earth. “Until training begins,
each of us is responsible for our own wellbeing.
Eating a lot of fresh, healthy food and strenuous
exercise have always been an important part of
my life. I’ve been doing martial arts, mostly Kung
Fu, for almost a decade. I also do yoga and run to
keep fit, so I’m just trying to keep that up, as well
as finish my PhD thesis which I hope to submit
shortly.”
Over the next decade, Mars One will prepare
the site for habitation. A satellite will be sent
into orbit around Mars in 2018 to enable
transmissions between Earth and Mars, followed
by craft in 2020 and 2022 so that the site is
operational by 2023 and habitable for the 2024
landing.
In that year, the first ship of four astronauts will
land on the planet; another five or six crews will
follow. The living site will be selected based on
the soil’s water content which will be extracted in
its ice form and heated to produce oxygen. Heat
will be generated through solar panels.
“The Living Unit is a called Lander - a modular
environment of inflatable units, measuring
around 1000 cubic metres each. This will be built
around existing technologies in use by three
Mars Rovers, and filled with breathable air by
the Life Support Unit prior to the arrival of the
astronauts.”
“In addition, the Lander will contain construction
materials for the astronauts to build rooms,
floors and install electrical outlets.
“The Lander itself contains the ‘wet areas’, such
as the shower and kitchen. “Initially, the first
colonisers will have to spend a lot of time setting
up, checking and maintaining the equipment
that will keep them alive.
For a long time, most things will be a first on
Mars - sunrise, sunset, birthday celebration,
tears, sighting of the Olympus Mons, messages
from home, home-grown food, Martian
custom, and perhaps even the first
discovery that life on Earth originated in
a meteorite from Mars. On Mars there are
just 39 more minutes in a day than on
Earth. I would spend those minutes in silence
remembering Earth.”
“We’ll explore the surface, conduct
experiments, carry out construction work and
take up farming. Our initial priority will be
to grow food hydroponically - salad greens,
tomatoes etc. Our diets will be vegan with
protein sources obtained by eating insects.
Bugs reproduce rapidly and can convert
material that is inedible to humans into a
food source, so small insect farms could
produce a steady stream of food containing
valuable fats and amino acids. ” With a twoyear food reserve, crews should have enough
stock to tie them over until their food
gardens are fully established.
“Shopping and money are two things
I won’t miss on Mars. Our increasingly
materialistic society is losing sight of what is
truly valuable. Money adds to this confusion.
What is important is using our finite
resources here on Earth as well as on Mars
wisely.”
With strict weight limitations, the chosen
crew can take no possessions along, but this
is not an issue for Adriana. “I’m prepared to
leave all my material possessions
behind. All I will take is information: the
electronically stored pixels, musical notes
and words that constitute all my books,
music, photos, movies, writing, emails and
letters. These are my memories of Earth. If I
knew I was leaving, I would spend time with
the people I love to make sure they know
how much they have meant to me. Although
I will never return, I will only be a five-minute
delayed phone call away and I will practice
astral travelling a lot, so that I can come back
Shopping and money,
two things I won’t
miss on Mars
now
and
then.”
“I’m
so happy with
the support
I’ve received
from all my friends and family. Obviously, they
are worried about the logistical feasibility of the
mission, and they would miss me, but everyone
has also been extremely excited and fascinated
by this proposed adventure.”
Adriana’s parents have likened the mission to
that of their ancestors who left dire times and
all the people they had ever known in Europe
to come to South Africa, with no idea of what
challenges lay ahead and no chance of affording
a return trip.
“I must have this sense of adventure in my
blood because I am so ready for this mission. I
look forward to meeting the other candidates,
who I think must be amongst some of the most
interesting people on Earth. I’m extremely
excited to take part in establishing and possibly
finding evidence of life on Mars. I can’t think of
anything that could compare to suiting up and
setting out on my own very first Mars-walk, just
to see what is out there.
“To know that I accepted my destiny
wholeheartedly, took part in establishing the first
life from Earth on Mars, and possibly discovered
that life in fact once already existed there, is just
priceless.”