Human settlement of Mars isn’t as far off as you might think

Could humans expand out beyond their homeworld and establish settlements on the planet Mars? The idea of settling the red planet has been around for decades. However, it has been seen by sceptics as a delusion at best and mere bluster at worst.

Mars might seem superficially similar to Earth in a number of ways. But its atmosphere is thin and humans would need to live within pressurised habitats on the surface.

Yet in an era where space tourism has become possible, the red planet has...