The first crewed mission to Mars should be all female, here's why
NASA scientist Geoffrey Landis reiterated the argument in 2000, applying it more strictly to deep-space flight, where the only resources available are the ones you take with you.
“Women are on average smaller than males: women use less oxygen, consume less consumables, produce less carbon dioxide. They have lower mass and take up less volume. The argument for an all-female crew is simple: such a crew would require considerably less support… and allow a smaller spacecraft. This would produce a considerable savings in cost,” he wrote
A recently published study put some concrete numbers behind Landis’ contentions. Scientists with the Space Medicine Team at the European Space Agency calculated that the average female astronaut requires 26% fewer calories, 29% less oxygen, and 18% less water than the average male. This translates to some sizeable resource savings. A 1,080-day space mission crewed by four women would need 1,695 fewer kilograms of food compared to an all-male mission. That’s about 10% of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket’s payload to Mars — valuable space which could be filled with additional scientific projects and equipment to ensure a safe and successful mission.
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/female-space-missions/
NASA scientist Geoffrey Landis reiterated the argument in 2000, applying it more strictly to deep-space flight, where the only resources available are the ones you take with you.
“Women are on average smaller than males: women use less oxygen, consume less consumables, produce less carbon dioxide. They have lower mass and take up less volume. The argument for an all-female crew is simple: such a crew would require considerably less support… and allow a smaller spacecraft. This would produce a considerable savings in cost,” he wrote
A recently published study put some concrete numbers behind Landis’ contentions. Scientists with the Space Medicine Team at the European Space Agency calculated that the average female astronaut requires 26% fewer calories, 29% less oxygen, and 18% less water than the average male. This translates to some sizeable resource savings. A 1,080-day space mission crewed by four women would need 1,695 fewer kilograms of food compared to an all-male mission. That’s about 10% of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket’s payload to Mars — valuable space which could be filled with additional scientific projects and equipment to ensure a safe and successful mission.
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/female-space-missions/
