Countries and individuals are working hard to reverse the effects of climate change and overconsumption here on Earth but there is a ‘plan B’: heading for the stars.
The formation of the first off-planet permanent colony will establish humankind as a multi-planetary species. The need for it is seen as so pressing that tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, one of the most influential people in the world, has devoted his career to it. Musk may grab the headlines but he’s only the poster boy for a worldwide effort from national space programmes and other multi-billion dollar business ventures.
And it’s said to be likely that this colony will be established while millennials today are still alive to see it happen. Part of the wonder that revelation inspires comes from the recognition that there will be new technology and discoveries along the way that will irrevocably change our lives; our entire realities.
Humans are yet to even step foot on Mars, but it seems NASA have sorted the living arrangements approving the design of 3D printed homes built from materials available on the Red Planet.
Architecture on Earth plays a critical role in the way we live. On Mars, this role reaches a higher level of importance since architectures are machines which keep us alive.
In 2015 NASA launched a design competition, asking architects and technology experts to design habitats suitable for humans to live in on Mars.
The habitats had to be suitable for 3D printing as NASA envisages Mars rovers fitted with large-scale printers to build them autonomously, ensuring the planet will be habitable for when humans arrive.
AI SpaceFactory has been awarded first place in the NASA Centennial Challenge. The multi-planetary architectural and technology design agency’s Mars habitat MARSHA was awarded the overall winner in the long-running competition series, which saw 60 challengers in total.
The MARSHA habitat offers a glimpse into what the future of human life could look like on Mars, with a 15-feet-tall prototype 3D printed during the final phase of the competition. MARSH is large cone-like cylinder made from natural, biodegradable materials that is naturally found on the Red Planet.
They are designed to be printed in just 30 hours and would offer a ‘tiny bubble of Earth on a distant world’.
The innovative structures are dual-shell, multi-level dwellings with at least one window on each floor. The company notes that each habitat can be built with almost no human assistance and that, rather than concrete, would be printed from an "innovative biopolymer basalt composite, a biodegradable and recyclable material derived from natural materials found on Mars," thus adding an element of forethought and sustainability sorely lacking on our own home planet. From a purely practical standpoint, the material was found to be stronger than concrete during NASA's testing.
MARSHA marks a radical departure from previous Martian designs typified by low-lying domes or buried structures.
Aside from their novel architecture, optimized to withstand Mars' atmospheric pressure and wild temperature swings, the habitats are built with human mental and physical health in mind, allowing in natural light while blocking out harmful radiation. The interiors are well-lit, seeming even spacious in the artist conceptions.
If plans for taking the designs to Mars are indeed realised, the company says NASA would need to send machines to Mars in advance of human astronauts to 'harvest' the basalt-composite from the Martian landscape. This would provide the raw materials for robotic printers to then arrive to start onsite construction.
NASA is very keen on what’s called “In Situ Resource Utilisation” which basically means using the stuff you’ve got up there. So they would send astronauts up with basic infrastructure and then use Martian regolith to build things.
Moreover, because the habitats are quick to build – the prototype took only 30 hours – entire "neighborhoods" could be set up: an early Martian equivalent of a village. But even if Mars doesn’t become humankind’s holiday home, there’s a strong chance we’ll establish a permanent presence over there.
NASA are reportedly aiming to have humans on Mars by the 2030s, after sending a rover up in 2020 to shed light on current weather, winds, radiation, and dust environment.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is optimistic about starting civilisation on Mars and has expressed beliefs there could be a whole city up there by 2050 if we get to work soon.