How long will it take to walk around Mars?

The first humans to set foot on Mars will likely be within the next few decades. And the first people will have the opportunity to explore only a small part of the planet's surface. However, some experts wonder how long it would take a person to walk around the entire Mars and return to the same point where he began his journey.

According to Space.com, since there are no oceans or other bodies of water on the surface of Mars, it is in theory really possible to walk around it. How long will it take? If an astronaut could continuously travel at walking speed, it would be easy to calculate: according to Erdal Yigit, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at George Mason University who studies planetary atmospheres, all it takes is knowing the astronaut's speed and the distance he would have to travel.

So, if a person were to travel along the equator of Mars, they would have to travel about 13,300 miles (21,400 kilometers) to circumnavigate the entire planet. Bypassing Mars through its poles would shorten the distance by about 100 miles (160 km), but the extreme cold could be a serious problem.

According to Yigit, a person's speed on Mars would be about 3.1 mph (5 km/h), which is also the average walking speed on Earth right along the equator. Despite the reduced gravity of Mars (about 40% of Earth's), Yigit doubts that a person's walking speed on the surface of this planet will be much different. Like any tourist traveling through the countryside on Earth, an astronaut will most likely be carrying a heavy load of supplies, such as oxygen, water and food, and wearing a heavy space suit.

If an astronaut simply walked around Mars at the same speed without stopping, it would take him about 4,290 hours to walk around the entire planet. In a Martian day (which is called a sol and lasts about 24.7 hours), that would be about 174 sols—a little more than a quarter of a Martian year (668.6 sols).

Since no one can continuously walk for that amount of time, other factors will have to be included in this calculation - sleep breaks (assuming that the person will eat and drink while walking). Assuming the astronaut sleeps about 8 hours each night, that would add about 56 sols to his travel budget. And if he had to stop for another 4-5 hours each sol to eat, rest, change clothes, wash, and set up and dismantle any camp, it would take another 30 or 35 sols, depending on the length of the stops.

It turns out that, according to the most realistic estimates, the entire planet can be walked around in at least 265 sols, which is about 40% of the Martian year. But this calculation doesn't take into account potential obstacles such as rough terrain. Mars has many mountains, some of which are taller than any mountain on Earth, as well as valleys, craters and many other geological features. There are a number of other logistical problems: a person is unlikely to be able to take with him a sufficient supply of food, water and oxygen to make such a journey alone.