Long before Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon, mankind dreamed of traveling to Mars. Our dusty red neighbor sits close enough to tantalize, but far enough to almost feel like it’s mocking us. But even as scientists get closer to fulfilling that long held dream, there remain many obstacles standing in the way of safely getting humans over yonder. So the question is: Do you have what it takes to live on Mars?

And just a quick followup: Even if you do, would you want to go?

The answer to that second one might seem easy. “Of course I’d go to Mars if I could!” But the reality about the circumstances at hand makes it a little less of a no-brainer, as the great YouTube channel AsapSCIENCE explains in their latest video. Even if you have the required physical and mental traits necessary to survive both the trip to Mars and what it would take to live there, the challenges are so great you might opt instead to just stay back on Earth.

Literally every step of the way is fraught with dangers that will kill you. Even if the spaceship doesn’t blow up during the launch, or the sun’s radiation doesn’t kill you, you’ll have to wear the same underwear for weeks on end during a miserable two-year journey!

And once you get to Mars, it gets so much worse. What with the extremes in temperature and the ordeal of living underground in a heavy spacesuit before retiring to your cramped Martian apartment.

Maybe as a species we should think through our dreams just a little bit more.

Are you up for a trip to Mars? And would you want to take it? Travel to our comments section below to let us know.

Featured Image: 20th Century Fox
Images: AsapSCIENCE