Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
In October, an international cohort of thinkers beamed into the virtual 2021 conference of the Mars Society, which has advocated colonizing the planet since 1998. In an age of low-cost rocket launches and Shatner space jaunts, it was a sign of how attainable the possibility of reaching Mars suddenly seems that the discussions were often about mundane logistics. How would criminals be jailed? What would safe sex mean in a low-gravity, low-oxygen environment? Should Mars have a Catholic diocese?
For many people, putting boots on the dusty Martian soil, or regolith, feels closer than ever, or at least as close as something requiring a six-month, 140 million-mile flight can. Both NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX have said they’re aiming for a human touchdown on Mars within the next two decades. That’s led a growing group of urban planners, architects, designers, astrophysicists, entrepreneurs, and philosophers to start rolling out renderings of what Martian cities and homes could be like.
Many scientists view Mars as a better candidate for long-term settlement than Earth’s moon. Yes, whatever water it has is believed to be frozen in underground lakes. The atmosphere is also 95% carbon dioxide and extremely thin, and exposure to solar radiation is more intense. But the regolith is nutrient-rich, if mildly toxic. Ore deposits containing iron, aluminum, and other minerals abound. And Mars’ gravitational pull is only 38% of Earth’s, meaning it would be easier to lift heavy things there. “It’s kind of an architect’s dream,” says Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director of architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, or BIG.
Ingels is among a number of architects and designers creating schematics and solutions for future colonies. They’re drawing inspiration from early explorers such as Polynesian island-hoppers and European sailors. For these pioneers, “learning to live off the land has always been kind of a prerequisite of success,” says Jason Ballard, the co-founder and chief executive officer of construction technology company Icon, which has partnered with BIG to create a 1,700-square-foot prototype habitat called Mars Dune Alpha.
A lot has to happen, of course, before any city can be built on Mars, even beyond the considerable task of landing a human safely on its surface. Lucy Berthoud, a professor of space systems engineering at the University of Bristol, says it would likely require humankind to build a base beyond the International Space Station’s orbit, to help fine-tune the processes for safely completing a six-month journey to Mars. Scientists also have to master the technology needed to extract oxygen and water from the CO2 on Mars, as part of an approach to commandeering available materials called in situ resource utilization. “That is a big enabler in terms of, firstly, breathing,” Berthoud says. “But also in terms of fuel, for coming back.” There’s work to be done, too, on refining 3D-printing technology so it’s capable of building large habitats out of regolith.
...for pics of habitats, environment etc...see link above...