Question

There has been discussion about people moving from Earth to Mars in the future. An organization called MarsOne (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. is recruiting investors and volunteers for the first manned mission there. The gravity on Mars is 62% lower than the gravity on Earth, meaning that someone weighing 100 kg on Earth would weigh 38 kg on Mars (Williams, 2014).

Imagine that you were able to move to Mars. For this assignment, write a brief essay to discuss some of the activities you engage in every day that would be dramatically different in lower gravity.

• What would be the advantages or disadvantages?
• Would some of your daily activities be easier, more difficult, or even completely impossible?
• If you could create your workspace in an environment with or without gravity, which would you choose? Why?
• How would the gravity or lack of gravity impact your physical activity?

Answer 1

If gravity is less, our walking speed will increase. Golf will also become more interesting as the ball will get more air time. The frictional force will decrease overall as the frictional force is proportional to gravity. So, overall, actions like skating, pulling, etc will become much easier. But on the down side, activities like driving, where static friction is important will get tough. It will tend to skid rather than roll. Everyday activities like drinking water, eating food, will become a bit tough.

I would personally prefer a workplace with gravity where I can write easily, my objects remain stable on the ground and are organized. Physical activities like walking will be much faster. Exercise will not remain that effective as many exercises like weight lifting, push ups will not remain that effective.