TRACEY BENDINGER | Culture | Contact

If climate change deniers needed another sign that climate change is real and we are all going to die when Earth becomes a fiery hell, today’s announcement from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) might be the one to change their minds.

NASA today announced that instead of conducting a heat stress test in a specialised chamber, would-be Mars colonists must withstand an entire hour outside in Penrith, NSW, Australia.

“We like to put volunteers through extreme stress, and we’ve concluded Penrith to be one of the most stressful places on Earth – it’s been registered as the hottest place on Earth a number of times”

“Mars’s climate is typically cold, but it’s the lack of rain, the heat and other environmental threats which makes Penrith a good testing ground for potential candidates.”

“If they can survive an hour out in Penrith, well they can survive the elements on our Red Sister.”

In 2024 the first woman is due to set foot on the moon; NASA is seeing this as a pivotal step towards their major goal of putting humans on Mars. At some point in 2020, NASA are sending another robot to the Red Planet in hopes of helping future astronauts brave its inhospitable landscape.

More to come.



