Building houses on Mars may sound like science fiction – but the idea that we could build
and live on another planet, is actually not as far-fetched as you might think.
As technology continues to rapidly evolve and space travel becomes increasingly viable,
many respected organisations around the globe are now racing to develop credible, workable
proposals for habitation on Mars, and more importantly for how such extra-terrestrial
buildings would be constructed.
What was once a far-off fantasy is steadily becoming reality. Here we look at three prototypes
currently under development by some of this world’s leading architects, academics and
engineers.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the organisations leading the race to build on Mars is American
space agency, NASA.
NASA teams are running a series of competitions to imagine what habitats on Mars could look
like and to tackle some of the logistical issues related to building on the red planet.
More than 165 submissions were received for the first of these competitions, which challenged
participants to develop architectural concepts that take advantage of the unique proposal
to 3D print on Mars.
The USD $25,000 first prize was won by "Mars Ice House", designed by Space Exploration Architecture
and Clouds Architecture Office.
Their design takes advantage of the anticipated abundance of water in certain regions of the
planet to create 3D printed “ice habitats”.
The thoroughly planned proposal envisions a vertically oriented lander containing mechanical
services becoming the core of the habitat.
From this central unit a transparent ETFE membrane would be inflated, with two nested
domes 3D printed by robots built inside this enclosure.
These robots would use a triple nozzle to dispense a composite of water, fibre and aerogel
along layered rings, printing an ice structure that is structurally sound, insulated and
translucent. The 5cm thick ice could also protect against radiation.
Following the competition, the concept is now being developed by NASA into a project
called “Mars Ice Dome”, a large inflatable tube, that is surrounded by a shell of ice.
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a USD $140 million prototype “Mars City” is being built in
the desert outside of Dubai.
Covering an area of 1.9 million square feet, the development will be the largest space
stimulation city ever built.
Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, the development is part of the UAE’s ambitious “Mars 2117
Strategy” – a plan to build a settlement on the planet within the next 100 years.
Named "Mars Science City" the project aims to provide a viable and realistic model to simulate
living on the surface of Mars.
It will be housed within four geodesic domes and include laboratories dedicated to investigating
self-sufficiency in energy, food and water for life on Mars.
The structure is being described by the Government of Dubai as the “most sophisticated building
the world”, and will incorporate a realistic simulation environment replicating the conditions
on the surface of Mars.
As with many proposals to build on the planet, 3D printing is set to play a major role within
the prototype development. A museum within the dome will be 3D printed, using sand from
the Emirati desert, replicating processes that might be used on Mars.
Foster + Partners is another organisation taking both space travel and the prospect
of building on Mars very seriously.
The practice’s “Spaceport America” in New Mexico – a terminal for commercial operations
by private space travel companies – was completed back in 2011 and now Foster + Partners
are focusing on Mars.
As part of the NASA-backed competition to create a 3D-printed modular habitat on the
planet, the practice has designed a concept for a habitat built by robots.
Their design envisions a robust 93-square-metre dwelling for up to four astronauts 3D-printed
from "regolith" – the loose soil and rocks found on the surface of Mars.
The habitat is designed to be built with minimal human input. First, semi-autonomous robots
would select a site and dig a 1.5 metre deep crater, then individual modules would be delivered
to sit within the crater and form the core of the settlement.
Walls would then be 3D printed around these central pods by two further types of semi-autonomous
robots, one that processes the regolith and another that uses microwaves to fuse the material
in place.
Foster + Partner’s concept came second in the first phase of NASA’s challenge. However,
along with fabricator Branch Technology, they won the second phase of the competition which
challenged teams to manufacture actual, 3D-printed objects using techniques that could be employed
on Mars.
The third phase of the NASA challenge, which is currently under development, will focus
on fabrication of complete habitats, so we could see full-scale prototypes in the
near future.
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