A few weeks ago, I mentioned a friend of mine had sent me a link to an NPR article about NASA looking for volunteers to live in a test habitat for a year. (NASA Wants You To Spend A Year Simulating Life On Mars, For Science, you can see the NASA announcement here if you’re interested in applying). It’s time to return to that topic.
This initial simulation will take place in a specialized habitat, designed and built to achieve the objectives of the simulation. It’s interesting to note that NASA indicates the facility was 3D printed by ICON. In future posts, we can explore the various methods being considered for constructing habitats on the Moon and Mars. For today, I’d like to consider the concept of where the habitats are built.
In the NASA simulation, the graphics would indicate it will be built on the surface. This makes sense when it’s built on Earth. But on Mars and the Moon, there is the risk of meteorites and the constant bombardment of radiation. Here we’re protected from these dangers, but on the Moon and Mars, the risks increase dramatically. [https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/icon_nasa_chapea_mars-dune-alpha-000-wm.png]
SpaceX has published a few graphics of what their Mars colony habitat might be like. They look futuristic and fabulous, everything a Martian would want. But as with the NASA habitat, they’re looking to build on the surface. My guess is there are psychological considerations. How would we feel, cut off from a view of the outside, let alone being able to go outside, if even in an environmental suit? Would we be able to live without the outdoors? Not sure we know the answer yet. But my guess is NASA will be working on that. [https://www.space.com/40112-elon-musk-mars-colony-world-war-3.html]
Another option is to live underground, protected from meteorites and radiation, and a model we might consider is Arcology.
In 1973 when I was a junior at Occidental College, I attended a lecture by the Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri. In that lecture, he discussed the concept of an integrated habitat, the Arcology, that combined residential, recreation, manufacturing, agriculture, etc., into a single structure. The basic idea was to move from a single-use, low-density model (mostly how we live now) to a multi-use, high-density model. At the time, and this was the ’70s, a key component was this type of land use would minimize the impact on the surrounding environment. A prototype city has been under construction outside of Phoenix since then. You might find Arcosanti interesting. Maybe plan a visit when you’re next in Phoenix. His seminal work, The City in the Image of Man, includes graphics of these integrated habitats. [https://cosanti.com/products/arcology-the-city-in-the-image-of-man-50th-anniversary-edition]
Now consider if the model isn’t applied to protect the environment from the effects of human activity but to protect human activity from a harsh and deadly environment. Wouldn’t an underground arcology serve this need? Many images of arcologies have been created, and they are fantastical. Constructing them as free-standing structures might exceed our current engineering capabilities. But underground, in a low gravity environment—maybe now’s the time to revisit the concepts of Arcology. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcology]
Back to the NASA simulation. So they’re looking for applicants. I’ve checked, I don’t meet the criteria—too old, among other things. But I’ll be interested to see who does enter Mars Dune Alpha to spend a year finding out what it might be like for our astronauts to live and work on the Moon and Mars.
One step closer.
So, what do you say? Would you sign up to spend a year with your three soon-to-be closest friends? Do you think you could live entirely indoors? What about underground? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
The colonies on Mars will likely be as successful as Jamestown and Plimouth (their spelling) were in their first years which was a 50% death rate. Jamestown became a military fort and didn’t change until 1619 with the arrival of women, children and slaves. Plimouth didn’t grow as a result and was soon absorbed by the much bigger and growing Boston. By the third generation, the death rate in America was about the same as Europe.
By the way, the reputation of America being a very dangerous place lasted to WW1 when the phrase “gone west” meant the soldier died. In the 19th Century, Irish about to depart for America had “wakes” because their families knew they would never see them again. Finally, the long running theme for the elves was that they would all be “going west” never to be seen again.
With a high death rate starting at about 50%, the term “going to Mars” might mean dying.
Len – Thanks for the insight. It’s going to be a challenging and dangerous enterprise. One key milestone, hard to say how far in the future, will be when the population grows organically rather than solely from immigration. Thanks, again.