MARS HABITAT

Part of the campus project recently involved a visit by Dr. Cheick Diarra, Mission Director for the NASA Pathfinder probe that will land on Mars July 4, 1997. Dr. Diarra spoke to students and faculty about the project and demonstrated the "rover" vehicle that will explore the planet.

Drafting Student Winners
in the Mars Project Competition

Left to right: Stephanie Bonsato (3rd Place, Art Competition), John Gaddis (1st Place, Habitat Competition), Laurence Dolormente (3rd Place, Habitat Competition), Chi Lou Cheang (2nd Place, Habitat Competition)

Habitat Project Parameters

1. Expandable habitat accommodating roughly 12 people to start. 200 sq. ft. sleeping/ private space per person is approximately the minimum.

2. Average low temperature about 50 degrees below zero, but temperatures of of +191 have also been recorded. Mars is in a more eliptical orbit than Earth's, and its distance from the sun varies by more than 26 million miles, so temperatures vary greatly. The high temperatures that occur despite its distance from the sun being greater than that of Earth, is due to the extremely thin atmosphere that does not impede the sun rays like on Earth. The habitat will therefore need to be insulated well, but bulky materials cannot be transported.

3. 200-300 mph winds, but air is much thinner than our air, so wind pressure is not as great as its speed would seem to indicate. Wind gusts, Marsquakes, etc. are much milder than on Earth. Habitat will probably need to be sheltered.

4. Gravity about 40% that of Earth.

5. No significant surface water. It was probably present in the past and has been proven to occur below the surface, but it is scarce. Polar caps are probably more dust and dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) than water ice. Concrete that requires relatively large quantities of water, for example, would probably be an inappropriate construction material.

6. Atmosphere mostly carbon dioxide. Inhabitants will need to wear spacesuits when outside. Trees, however, could grow except for the scarcity of surface water. and extreme heat and cold. Trees use carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. It would probably be desirable to recover the oxygen, so trees might be grown in enclosed greenhouses (but heat loss and heat gain through any glass or other transparent material will need to be controlled). No protective ozone layer. Since inhabitants will need to wear spacesuits, dexterity will be limited, and outdoor construction and assembly activities will need to be minimized. Oxygen will need to be conserved, and habitat exit-entry airlocks will be required.

7. Atmospheric pressure is low, about the same as being 100,000 feet above sea level on Earth.

8. Interior of the planet is rocky. It's low in metal content, but iron oxide is what gives much of the planet its reddish color. Iron production, however, requires very high temperatures, an abundant fuel source, etc., so iron would probably not be produced there until a much later date. There is a dry clay soil on Mars, and some ideas of producing brick have been advanced. Any brick manufacturing would need to be very simple and involve little water -- probably a dry-press process. There is also a volvacic stone which might be simply shaped somehow and used as a building material.

9. Irregular terrain. A long valley is 3,100 miles long and 310 miles wide. Mountain named Olympus Mons is 78,000 feet high and the size of the state of Missouri at its base. Cliffs are four miles high. Surface is scarred by lava flows and meteorite impacts.

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