New Mars Forums

tahanson43206

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Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,221

Sunshine: Importance of for Psychological Well-Being of Humans on Mars

For SpaceNut ... before creating this new topic, I looked for topics containing "sunshine"

This one by Void was worth reading, and I am happy to be bringing it back into view:

Index» Life support systems» A process line on Mars based on sand dunes and ice and sunlight.

Today ... on Earth ... in the latitude where this post originates, the Sun is shining brightly after many days of gloomy cloud cover.

The lifting of spirits (of humans and animals alike, if behavior is an indication) that comes with a flood of ** real ** sunlight after a time without is significant.

This post comes after I've had a chance to listen/watch the videos around the City-State competition mounted by the Mars Society last Earth-year.

Most of the designs (as I remember them) include a combination of surface mounted and underground living facilities.

None of the designs (again, as I remember them) include a solar mirror concentration system to provide Earth equivalent solar illumination.

Void's topic (specifically the first post) really captures the sense of the concept, although the image he provides is of an energy collector.

In the present post, the intent is ** not ** to achieve some sort of energy accomplishment, valuable as that might be.

Instead, the intent is to replicate as closely as possible the flood of illumination that I find so inspiring after many days of gloomy weather.

I'm hoping this topic will attact the attention of those (like Void) who have mastered the art of creating illustrations and posting the links to them here.

I'd like to see diagrams which can be used by future Mars settlers to design illuminated atriums where photons of light flood the space, but harmful radiation is excluded by great thicknesses of rock and ordinary regolith.

Because of the rotation of Mars, if the mirrors are fixed permanently, then the light will achieve maximum effect at a single point in the day, when it will be quite normal for the residents to gather to bask in the brief moment when light is at its most abundant.

Artificial lighting is continuing to advance, so it may approach the combination of frequencies and intensities we humans have evolved to appreciate.

Never-the-less, I'd be surprised if residents on Mars were to prefer artificial lighting to the real thing.

Edit: If a reader of this forum is inspired to contribute to this topic, we now have a way for them to request a member ID.

(th)

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 29,428

Re: Sunshine: Importance of for Psychological Well-Being of Humans on Mars

Mars one cooped up inside with out natural light is a making of the seasonally depressed. This can happen on the short duration for the trips to and from Mars but also for those on its surface as the duration is years.

It takes not only simulated light intensity but all spectrum of light to correct for the condition. There are products that are sold to compensate for this health and well being condition.

tahanson43206

Moderator

Registered: 2018-04-27

Posts: 19,221

Re: Sunshine: Importance of for Psychological Well-Being of Humans on Mars

For SpaceNut re #2

Thanks for giving this new topic a boost!  As a follow on ... in thinking about some of the designs/plans for 1,000,000 person cities in the three Convention videos, it occurred to me that a set of mirrors could be set up to deliver a full Earth-sea-level sunshine illumination once per day at multiple locations, each of which would maximize delivery of photons at slightly different times.  If a person were so inclined, in this scenario, (they) could travel between habitats to catch the Sun at maximum throughout the Martian day.  That would be a good way to get exercise!

(th)

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 9,776

Re: Sunshine: Importance of for Psychological Well-Being of Humans on Mars

UK weather: What impact is the 'wettest summer' having on our mood and mental health?
https://www.aol.co.uk/lifestyle/uk-weat … 52452.html

Sunshine For SAD Sufferers
https://www.webmd.com/depression/featur … -sufferers

Mars colony could survive with fewer than two dozen people
https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/16/ … lony_size/

    A group of researchers from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, has concluded that a Mars colony could get by with just 22 colonists.

    The data scientists – Edgar Arguello, Sam Carter, Cristina Grieg, Michael Hammer, Chris Prather, Clark Petri, and Anamaria Berea – describe their findings in a preprint paper titled "An Exploration of Mars Colonization with Agent-Based Modeling."

    "We started our study after we saw [Salotti's] paper and we wanted to verify that number," said Anamaria Berea, associate professor of computational and data sciences at George Mason University and one of the co-authors of the research, in an email to The Register.

    Berea said the Nature paper made assumptions that didn't take into account the reality of social and psychological behavior and the continuity of human interactions, even at a distance in space.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2023-08-16 15:06:35)