March 29, 2024

How will cities be built on Mars?

How will cities be built on Mars?

It is expected that in the second half of the 21st centuryspace companies will begin to build large settlements on Mars, in which thousands of people can live. However, the models of terrestrial cities are not suitable for the red planet, so engineers have to work hard to create comfortable living conditions there.

Adaptation to other conditions

Mars is significantly different from Earth: the average air temperature, atmospheric pressure and gravity are much lower there, and the level of radiation is higher. Because for a normal existencethe human body requires approximate conditionsto the earthly, then each of the listed factors in itself requires the creation of isolated structures in which the necessary parameters will be artificially maintained.

Although the first settlements will differ little fromstructures familiar to us, their growth will be limited. The key limiting factor is the air pressure inside residential complexes, which is significantly higher than atmospheric. The larger the structure, the more it will turn into an analogue of a balloon that can simply explode.

Buildings on the surface will also be exposed to saline radiation exposure as well as rapid heat loss due to extremely cold outside temperatures.

All these factors make the construction of familiar earthly cities impractical and prohibitively expensive, at least up to a certain level of industrial development there.

How will cities be built on Mars?

Application of new models of urban planning

Due to extreme environmental conditions on MarsThe best option would be to create settlements in the rocks. They will be a complex three-dimensional network of tunnels with a diameter of about 10 m, inside which residential modules, work structures and almost all infrastructure will be located. Since all of them will be connected to each other by multi-level transitions, they will actually become a single giant underground complex.

Each tunnel must end at the edgerocks so that the colonists could look through panoramic windows onto the surface and sky of the planet. This solution will help not only improve the emotional state of people, but will also allow natural light to penetrate into the living area. The rock will simultaneously perform the functions of load-bearing structures, walls, screening barrier and thermal insulation.

It is most convenient to place solar farms and greenhouses right on the cliff.

In addition to new models for creating cities, the approach totheir construction will also differ. Omitting the obvious methods associated with the tunnel structure, a feature of the process will be the indirect participation of humans in it. Due to hostile conditions and limited resources, all basic work will be performed by robots, and people will only control them remotely.

How will cities be built on Mars?

Issues of resources

Mars is at a distance of about 54.6 million kmfrom the Earth, therefore, not at the current stage of human development, the transportation of resources is a difficult task, takes several years and requires huge costs. At the same time, the development of colonies will require a lot of oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, steel and other materials.

According to the latest research estimates, allMartian reserves are not enough to ever create an atmosphere similar to Earth's, nor are the plants inside residential complexes to produce enough oxygen. Therefore, the key role will be played not so much by the extraction of key resources itself, but by systems for their purification, processing and recycling. All this will need to be taken into account during design and construction.