Originally written at the beginning of 2020
Depending on your route to Mars from Earth, it takes roughly seven months to arrive on Mars. You could be thinking, "Why, that's no time at all! Surely we can travel there and back again easily!" But that's not how the physics of space travel works. In order to plot your trip you need to use the Hoeman Transfer Orbit, this is the most efficient route and it's determined by the our astronomical position to Mars. Think of all the things that must be in the right place and time to be ready for that event. You would need the technology, the resources, the infrastructure, and the man power in place at the exact right moment in time, and once your craft arrived on Mars everything has to occur exactly the same way to travel back to Earth. It's quite an undertaking, possibly too big to think about at the moment but what I want you to consider is the astronaut that goes to Mars. They need to be able to perform a number of complicated tasks, under stress, for a long period of time. All the while you astronaut has been isolated for not just the round trip to Mars but for the training leading up to the trip but their time on Mars while awaiting for the next Hoeman Transfer Orbit, the return trip and the acclimation to being back on Earth.
At the present moment in time here on Earth you might be feeling a bit like the astronaut hurtling into space towards Mars, I know I do. I had recently moved to a new state when the pandemic began and I'm here on my own. My friends and family are too far to reach unless I drive and my state currently leading with the highest numbers of infections and deaths so that doesn't sound like a journey I'm prepared to make. But despite the world raging around me I have found a balance inside my craft, yes there are the occasional bumps, but I remain secure.
Today is the beginning of 2021 and there are more unknowns than when the pandemic began. I have been in a quarantined isolation for ten months, halfway on my round trip if I were traveling to Mars. I think we have all learned life lessons that can help others on their own journey's. Perhaps sending out these beacons on my mission will reach you and provide some extra fuel for your tanks.
Freesia
Inspired reading: The Martian by Andy Weir (It is leaps and bounds better than the film)
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