Elon Musk hopes to have a metropolis a million earthlings strong on Mars by mid-century, complete with everything from factories to breweries. But before anyone can swill down a Martian IPA, we’ll first have to deal with the myriad ways the red planet can kill a person.

 .

If you were teleported to Mars with just basic camping gear, you’d eventually die of radiation poisoning or cancer. But you’d freeze to death long before then, most likely on the first night when temperatures dip to Antarctic levels. Before that, you’d suffocate trying to breathe the atmosphere made up of mostly carbon dioxide. But before even that , the very low atmospheric pressure on Mars would cause your blood to literally boil, regardless of the outside temperature. In short, camping out there will require much more than pitching a tent. Fortunately for aspiring Martians, humans have spent a lot […]

Click here to view original web page at www.cnet.com