Ever wondered what houses on Mars would look like?
Ever wondered what houses on Mars would look like?
Yeah, it’s pretty much like ‘The Martian’
With temperatures far nippier than Antarctica, Mars is a truly forbidding place for real estate. Ironically, ice will be the key to our survival and eventual colonisation of the Red Planet.
A group of scientists at the NASA Langley Engineering Design Studio in Hampton, Virginia has published designs of the Mars Ice Home, an inflatable type of dwelling that would theoretically make use of Mars’ recently discovered subterranean ice.
Like igloos on earth, the Mars Ice Home belies its façade. Temperatures inside the out-of-this-world shelter will be kept as warm as 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius).
The designers include members of The Clouds Architecture Office (Clouds AO)/Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch), the winning team in NASA’s 3D Printed Habitat Challenge last year.
More: Take a look at this Star Wars-inspired spaceship, er, home
Unlike current models of Martian homes, which make use of the planet’s regolith or soil, the Mars Ice Home will hold pressure very well, at 14.7 lbs. per square inch. The structure will also defend future Mars colonists against daily bombardments of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), a potentially fatal form of space radiation.
The Mars ice house will contains quarters for sleeping, recreation, and food preparation, as well as workspaces and a greenhouse. Each ice home is suitable for up to four occupants.
Plans for the Mars Ice Home gained traction after the discovery last month by University of Texas scientists of ice buried beneath 3 to 33 feet of the Martian surface. The layer of ice covers a region as large as New Mexico and holds as much water as Lake Superior.
Read next: The folly and future of space real estate
Source: Property Report