Food production, infrastructure support, a continuous crew presence, and radiation protection are needed for human pioneers to establish an indefinite independent base on Mars.

These four areas have been highlighted by NASA researchers looking at how we can make the red planet habitable and independent from Earth.

At present the planet is entirely populated by robots but NASA has plans to put humans on the planet by the 2030s. Before then much development and planning is needed until it is possible to live on the planet – as is being proved by the Mars One project.

But the latest research paper, as part of the Evolvable Mars Campaign, looks at the pioneering objectives and activities that will need to happen on Mars’ surface. It says an ’emplacement phase’ where we establish human presence on Mars will lead into a ‘utilisation phase’ where those living on the planet don’t rely on home.

“The most defining feature of the Utilization phase is Earth independence,” the research paper says.

To get to this stage research on Mars’ surface – conducted in field stations that include room for four people, power, pressurised rovers, robotic rovers, and more – needs to be completed.

The Houston based researchers said that once four capabilities have been proved by the pioneers then it will be possible to move to a phase when those on Mars can be independent of Earth.

Firstly, they said a continuous crew presence needs to be established. This means “sufficient infrastructure has been established on the Martian Surface” and that confidence has been built up so that a crew is happy to stay on the planet until another arrives and receives a handover.

The infrastructure that has to be reliable includes habitation, life support, stocks of parts in case resupply missions fail, and manufacturing systems – these are well on the way with 3D printing now being possible outside of spacecraft.

Secondly, radiation protection needs to be properly calculated and created. While structures will be protected by their inbuilt protect it is said that crew exposure to radiation and the “effect of shielding and medical countermeasures” need to be worked out.

“Several approaches have been proposed that could achieve this level of protection, including the use of locally-obtained water in habitat walls/ceilings, using Martian regolith on the exterior of habitats, burying habitation structures, or forming walls and roofs using various construction techniques,” the researchers write.

The ability to produce a unknown percentage of food is also highlighted by the researchers as an important step to independence from Earth. Recently, astronauts on the International Space Station have eaten the first lettuce grown in space and the area continues to develop with funding being provided for a project that turns human waste into food.

Despite this the researchers weren’t able to pinpoint how much space, or crops would need to be produced to feed those living permanently on Mars, but they did say to move to independence the astronauts need to be able to “reliably produce the majority of the food needed for a balance diet in the Mars surface environment”.

The final area the researchers identified as being crucial for moving from Earth dependence is being able to support the infrastructure that is in place. By this they mean that extra support needed to maintain buildings and structures is reduced as those on the surface become self-reliant.

“For this objective, “reducing logistics support” means reducing spares and maintenance items brought from Earth to support each crew,” the researchers said.

“Approaches that have been considered include reliability improvements, repurposing of delivered elements, repair, and obtaining or constructing items using local materials.”

The full paper: Pioneering Objectives and Activities on the Surface of Mars, can be found here.