Risk Assessment of a Mars Colony Utilizing a Mars-Svalbard Training Analog

Abstract

As the space industry is rapidly privatized and countries once again have their eyes set on the moon and beyond, humanity is getting closer and closer to the days where a colony on Mars is a reality. During the preliminary planning phase of a mission to Mars, a large scale, top-down overview is essential. This report applies a risk and safety engineering approach to identify each of the core hazards, such as environmental hazards, infrastructural and logistical hazards, and psychological hazards, that a Martian colony would face. These hazards are then quantified using their probabilities to identify the risk severity of the hazards. To address and attempt to mitigate some of these risks a Mars-Earth Analog was developed by comparing the hazards faced on Mars to lose faced on a theoretical training location in the Arctic. The goal here was to propose a method of hands on, Arctic isolation training that future Mars astronauts could undertake in an environment that mirrors that of Mars as closely as possible. After outlining the shared hazards faced on both Mars and an Arctic training location, site analysis was conducted for both Mars and Svalbard, an island north of Norway. Three separate colony locations were identified at each location that balance the needs of astronauts and minimize the natural hazards those involved would face. These locations mirror each other as closely as possible and provide the basis for future astronaut training missions.