Should We Even Go?

You'll encounter six key challenges in the quest for Mars in our exhibition:

Are Humans Ready? Surviving in Space Getting Emotional Looking for Life Getting to Mars & Coming Home Living on Mars

Are Humans Ready?

Within the exhibition you can also explore some of the deeper ethical questions about human exploration of Mars. Should humans even go to Mars and are we ready as a species? What will drive us to go - science or money? Will the journey be a global affair, corporate venture or expression of nationalism? You can also engage in hard-hitting questions about life - and death - in space.

Surviving in Space

Space is not a friendly environment for humans. Find out how microgravity weakens your bones and muscles and challenges your heart. Then experiment with techniques to counter these effects.

You can see first-hand how being in space may affect your face - as well as other signs of the challenges to your circulatory system. Explore the dangers of intense space radiation and how to engineer spacecraft shields. Examine the dietary changes it will take to survive a three-year space journey - with a very limited menu.

Getting Emotional

Perhaps some of the biggest questions and challenges of journeying to Mars are the emotional and psychological ones. For instance, we do not know how isolated and cramped quarters will affect a crew, even one of high-achieving, experienced astronauts. You can explore your own sense of personal space, determine your tolerance for boredom and lack of stimulation and find out if you are emotionally infectious.

Looking for Life

Are we alone? Could Mars shelter alien life and how would we know if it did? Explore reasons why some scientists think Mars may have once harboured life and how we can attempt to understand the Martian environment by studying extreme life forms here on Earth.

Getting to Mars - and Coming Home

Spending months in a small cramped space is not an ideal vacation - especially in microgravity. Efficient and innovative rocket and spacecraft design is critical for a mission. Experiment with simple rocket designs, then test and launch them to see how they perform.

Space is a hazardous environment and problems are certain to develop requiring a crew with a range of skills and abilities who can improvise solutions. Pick your own crew and see if you get the mix right. Test how well you can improvise a solution in the midst of a crisis.

Living on Mars

In order to survive on Mars, astronauts will be challenged in ways we can only begin to imagine. The hostile, cold environment is unforgiving. As well as venturing out themselves, astronauts will depend on autonomous robots and gliders to explore the planet. They may have to live off the land - mining ice to create their own water, air and fuel for getting home.

Using tools in a spacesuit is difficult but, add in a static-charged, dusty environment and it can become nearly impossible. Explore the harsh challenges of Martian life, as well as some of the more mundane problems - such as what to eat and what to do with the waste - which will be much more complex on Mars.