MovieChat Forums > Mars (2016) Discussion > Why do they need the lava tube?

Why do they need the lava tube?

posted 8 years ago by cashmccall
6 replies | jump to latest

No sunlight there?

Also, they looked weak and under equipped. So how did getting into the very difficult hole suddenly save them, I don't get it?

[–] sparker21 8 years ago

Shelter and access to water ice. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/11/spacex-elon-musk-exploring-mars-planets-space-science/ The shelter explanation is near the bottom of the article.

[–] cashmccall 8 years ago

I know they were after ice, but how did they build the new shelters down there when previously they said they had 100 days of supplies left to even survive?

[–] sparker21 8 years ago

The new shelters were inflated. Another reason they needed the tube, to shelter the shelters.

[–] MoviemanCin 8 years ago

Protection from cosmic radiation.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.

[–] bruce-129 8 years ago

I think the point was long term radiation exposure.
Mars does not have either the gravity or the magnetic field Earth does,
so radiation is much stronger on Mars.
But it looked like a pretty crappy existence.
What we do day after day to our own planet is sickening.
We don't deserve to move out into space.

[–] phoenix_wolfsun 8 years ago

* Access to Water Ice
* Protection from radiation
* Protection from small and micro-meteorites (very thin atmosphere means these hit the ground rather than burn up like on Earth, real risk of punctures/holes in equipment/habitat.