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Live like the first human on Mars! |
Return to Mars on Earth
Experience Homepage (updated 3-6-21) Habitats |
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ARRIVAL.
The first challenge, besides getting
there, is landing safely on Mars – and intact! Most likely, the first to
arrive would be unmanned vehicles carrying habitat modules or 3D printer
equipment and habitat equipment and provisions. Two proven methods are
depicted below (L and R, also see About
Mars), ie,
using a heat shield and parachute to slow the velocity from 13,000 mph
orbital velocity to 225 mph, then retro thrust to slow the descent, then use
a skycrane to lower the rover gently to the surface,
or let it hit the surface at a fast pace protected in a cocoon of airbags and
bounce to a stop (yikes!). This latter method would not be acceptable for
landing astronauts, to say the least! A fully powered descent (ie, leaving Mars orbit and descending under power the
entire way) as envisioned by SpaceEx would require
fuel that would weigh between 75% to 90% the mass of
the lander (more than twice that required for the Lunar module landings). The
safest way for live occupants would be the “Perseverance” approach with a
combination of aero-braking with heatshield and parachute, then
powered descent to the surface, requiring less than 3% of the fuel needed for
a powered descent from orbit all the way to the surface. This would leave room for fuel needed to
return from the surface back to orbit. |
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“Airbag” landing concept used successfully by Mars Pathfinder 1997, and
Spirit and Opportuity 2004. |
Curiosity and Perseverance Rover
landing concept – parachute to retrorockets to Sky Crane |
SpaceEx Powered
descent landing concept – powered descent from orbit to landing, with fuel to
return to orbit |
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RETURN.
Assuming no one would go to Mars unless
he or she could expect a return to Earth, the vehicle would need to be designed to land
and take-off again. The most efficient method for the round trip would be the
Lunar method, i.e., mating the landing and ascending vehicle with an orbiter
that would dock with the returning lander and depart Mars orbit for home. SURVIVING
THERE. Once on Mars, the challenges of simply
surviving are immense including making water and oxygen and protection from
cosmic and solar radiation. The MOXIE concept (Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource
Utilization Experiment) essentially pulls in the Martian air of CO2
(carbon dioxide) and uses an electrochemical process to separate one oxygen
atom from each CO2 molecule and then expel the resulting carbon-monoxide
molecule. Regards water, some estimates are that each person would require a
minimum of 20 liters of water per day (water usage on the International Space
Station (ISS) is limited to 11 liters (3 gallons) per day and comes mostly
from recycling the astronaut’s urine. One scheme would be to carry additional
hydrogen (H2) to Mars to combine with the CO2 on Mars
creating methane (CH4) and water (H20) from the reaction . What water there is on Mars is difficult to access
and too full of salts to drink directly so a purification system must be used.
Because Mars has no magnetic field to stop radiation, habitats must be protected
either by special materials in their construction of going underground such
as in an extinct lava tube as suggested in the TV series “Mars”. NASA’s Mars
Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), spacecraft orbiting Mars is
gathering information on the space environment and will be key to planning a
human mission to Mars in the 2030s. HABITATS. Two primary concepts for initial construction
of human habitation are (1) to land 3E printing equipment to construct a
habitat remotely from Earth prior to arrival of the astronauts, and (2) to
land pre-fabricated modules and components ready to assemble by the
subsequently arriving astronauts. |
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The NASA 3D-Prtinted Habitat
Challenge In 2014, NASA sponsored a $3.15M held a 3D-Printed Mars Habitat Challenge
to “advance the construction technology needed to create sustainable housing
solutions for Earth and beyond”, in three phases: (1) the Design Competition
($50K prize purse); (2) the Structural Member Competition requiring teams to
create structural components ($1.1M prize purse); and (3) the On-Site Habitat
Competition, actual demonstration of the construction ($2M prize purse).
Following are the top three award-winners for phase 1 – Design announced in
2017: |
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1st Place ~ Zopherus (right). The unmanned lander (in white) lands on
Mars and deplous robotic rovers to collect soil to
make a “Martian concrete” conplosed of ice, cacium oxide, and rocks in order to 3D “print” the
habitats (shown in brown). The lander itself houses the is
the 3D printer inside the dome sealed to the Martian surface to protect the
construction from violent dust storms.
The first step is to place prefabricated airlocks (shown in white in
the brown habitat) brought with the lander.
Once the first unit is “printed”, the lander can pick up by exteding its legs and “walk” to the next location. |
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Al SapceFactory
“Marsha” (2nd Pl.) |
2nd Place ~ Al SpaceFactory “Marsha” (left). Based
on the principle that a vertically-oriented cylinder is the optimum shape to
withstand pressure differential, for usable floor area, minimal unusable
space (such as in a dome-shape), most efficient use of the printer by
reducing the printer’s required range of mobility, single foot-print for
efficient anchoring and expansion with additional levels. The “printer”
itself is based on currently used concrete pumping machines and is mounted on
a mobile platform with a single arm through which the basalt fiber (from
local rocks) combined with poly-lactic acid (PLA) (brought aboard the lander)
concrete flows. Sliding bearings on the floor allow the walls of the habitat
to “breathe” as it expands and contracts with outside temperature changes.
There is an outer shell to keep the harsh environment out, and an inner shell
that houses people. |
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3rd place ~ Team
Kahn-Yates (right).
A lander lands a prefabricated core in the top level of which is the printer.
The printer extends a giant print arm to print an oval foundation. Floor
plates accompanying the core are then unfolded to form each floor. The
printer then prints the walls of the inner shell (the human habitat and the
exterior shell to serve as a greenhouse a gap space for lush garden that can
help filter the air inside. The exterior shell will have many
irregular-shaped windows to allow in ample light for growing plants and
providing heat. |
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Pre-fabricated Habitats The Habitation Systems Project Deep Space Habitat
(DSH) is a team of NASA architects, scientists and engineers, working
together to develop sustainable living quarters, workspaces, and laboratories
for habitation on extra-terrestrial worlds. The DSH is a one story, four-port
habitat unit with an approximate volume of 1,978 cu.ft (56 cubic meters). An inflatable shell above
can accommodate a loft for additional laboratory or habitation volume.
Depicted on below left is the DSH with airlock module (on the left) for
“pedestrian” entry and hygiene module on the right containig
toilet and shower. The center door and an identical door directly opposite
(not visible) are to allow access to a rover without requiring a space suit.
(Note the shell has been deflated.) |
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NASA Deep Space Habitation (DSH) |
DSH with two rovers
mated |
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The Mars Society, established 1988 by Dr. Robert Zubrin,
has constructed several Mars Analog Research
Statios (MARS). The Mars Desert
Research Station (MDRS) (right) created in 2001 is located near Hanksville in
southeast Utah. The habitat is two levels with work station, laboratory, and
interior air lock on the lowerr level and sleeping quarters and interior
toilet on the upper level. The first research station, called the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) was located
in 2001 on Devon Island, Canada, at about 74°N latitude, above the Artic Circle (66.6°N). The Mars Society is a
non-governmental organization that “works
to educate the public, the media and the government on the benefits of
exploring Mars and creating a permanent human presence on the Red Planet”.
They are a recognized leader in research for Mars habitation as well
habitation in extreme environments on Earth.
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Mars Desert Research
Station |
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Near Tucson, Arizona, Biosphere 2 (left) is intended to be a self-contained,
self-sufficient, totally enclosed environment. Its stated mission is “to serve
as a center for research, outreach, teaching and life-long learning about
Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe; to catalyze
interdisciplinary thinking and understanding about Earth and its future; to
be an adaptive tool for Earth education and outreach to industry, government,
and the public; and to distill issues related to Earth systems planning and
management for use by policymakers, students and the public.” |
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The M·O·E·3
Concept Our concept for your Mars-On-Earth-Experience is based on the DSH
concept. The habitat can accommodate up to 8 persons for 2 to 3 night stays
in a 15 ft diameter “habitat” with attached airlock
and hygiene modules. The first habitat on Mars probably isn’t going to be
much bigger than that! Each morning, we don self-contained space/environmental suits,
enter the airlock, then exit to the outside, and make excursions across the “alien”
landscape (most probably Arizona or Utah) in a solar-powered rover,
collecting samples, exploring what it is like to “explore” in a space suit
(adult and child-sizes), and even other attractions I have in mind.
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Upon return to the habitat, we must enter the
airlock and, not until we are inside and the habitat sealed, remove our
suits. Meals will be really, really
basic! No fine cuisine or “cooking”
with open flame, just as one would expect as the first humans on Mars. If you
like MRE’s, then you will get along fine on Mars! As the habitat will be
solar-powered, activities while inside the habitat would include electronic
gaming, videos, maybe even a hand of bridge and talking to each other! What a
concept! Plus, plenty of educational videos about Mars and space exploration.
And the really great thing about it – if you panic and really need to get
out, you are still on Earth! There’s
the door – just open it! In fact, the space suits will not be truly
self-contained – you will be breathing outside air from a portable air-conditioning
pack and can open your helmet visor at anytime. The
location will be within cell service and accessible to EMT. Water, food (simple though it will be), air
(the habitat will not actually be air-tight), waste
disposal, and space suits will be provided.
Wear what you want – but pack light!
After all, you’re going to Mars on a rocket that is REALLY weight
restricted. |
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References https://www.space.com/33483-mars-landing-technology-viking-curiosity-rover.html https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/3DPHab/about.html https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/detail/nmss-hdu http://biosphere2.org/visit/maps-directions-contact http://marsforthemany.com/project/living-on-mars/making-clean-water-on-mars/ |
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