So many rocks to climb, so few spaceships to get me there
By: Laura Schaefer
Tags: Science, Mars, Space Exploration, Cib Interview, Community

A digital interview in the ASU Interplanetary Community in a Box project

Building sustainable off-world communities will require every ounce of our collective knowledge, expertise, creativity, and imagination. This is part of a series of Q&A with people from a wide range of disciplines and expertise that challenges them to think about what they would put in a metaphorical “community-in-a-box” to help kick-start an extraterrestrial community, and why.

Who are you?

I am a planetary scientist studying the formation of rocky planets in our Solar System and trying to understand the diversity of rocky exoplanets, from red hot lava worlds to temperate habitable ‘Earths’. I focus on the chemistry that occurs between a planet’s atmosphere, its solid surface and its interior, so that I can see how geology affects climate. I got interested in planetary science in college when I realized how interdisciplinary it was, combining both physics and chemistry to study natural phenomenon. I’d been fascinated with volcanoes since I was a little girl and always been a science fiction fan, so when my first research project in college involved studying volcanoes in space, I never looked back! When I’m not studying rocky planets, I’m climbing the rocks on this planet with my husband and friends.

What does your particular expertise bring to establishing vibrant and sustainable communities in space?

My expertise would apply to the practical end: understanding the planetary environment and resources available on other planetary bodies. It would be really fun to think about how to utilize natural resources on Mars and nearby asteroids to produce a livable environment. Being able to utilize in-situ resources will be completely essential to developing a self-sustainable community in space.

I’m also looking forward to the low gravity of Mars to improve my climbing skills and the opportunity to establish brand new routes never touched by another human before! #firstMartianclimber

But in all seriousness, much of the most extreme terrain on the Earth has already been explored, with the exception of the oceans, which pose other technical challenges. To become true explorers again, we need to venture off-planet and begin to inhabit the rest of our Solar System neighborhood. I hope that I can help bring that adventurous mind-set to our future space-faring communities.

What, in your opinion, are some of the most important things that a group of people would need to know in order to set up an off-Earth community?

There are lots of technical things, of course, but the things that the group would need to know as a whole are: 1) there is no “going it alone” in space, 2) there is no completely safe way to venture into the unknown, and 3) it will be *hard*. Establishing any new community is hard, much less one in which all of the infrastructure must be built from scratch, so the group must be mentally prepared and trained to endure hardship and conflict and things not going to plan. Even with all of the best planning in the world, unexpected problems and hazards will come up that no one could have foreseen, so there will be injuries and maybe even deaths, and everyone needs to be ok with that possibility. Personality conflicts will arise in the group, but unlike on Earth, there will be no leaving, no going-it-alone, no escape from the people who drive you up a wall. And so establishing a clear sense of community and togetherness will be essential to ensuring the mental health and physical safety of the group.

What are the top three things you would put in an Interplanetary Community in a Box, and why?

Imagine a scenario where 100 people are going to another planetary body in our solar system (e.g. Mars, or the Moon). Now imagine they are taking a “box” with them that contains all the knowledge they will need to build a vibrant and sustainable community — a kick-starter “Community-in-a-Box”.