The first humans on Mars will not just be explorers crossing a red desert. They will be radiation workers, dust-control technicians and weather-watchers on a planet where the danger is less dramatic than constant.

The image we have inherited of the first Mars crew is a figure on a ridge at dawn, helmet catching the light, a red desert running out to a pink horizon. It is a good image. It is also the smallest part of what those first crews will actually do. Most of their days will […]