An igloo on Mars?
This igloo-like design is one of the concepts being considered at NASA for the first habitats on Mars.
Normally I don’t waste time promoting these NASA concept studies, since the odds of them getting built is less than zero. However, this idea is intriguing, and probably contains within it many concepts that will be used by the first Martian habitats.
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This igloo-like design is one of the concepts being considered at NASA for the first habitats on Mars.
Normally I don’t waste time promoting these NASA concept studies, since the odds of them getting built is less than zero. However, this idea is intriguing, and probably contains within it many concepts that will be used by the first Martian habitats.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I wouldn’t describe it as an igloo but more of a bubble. An inflatable hab. Perhaps the tag not to be removed under penalty of law except by the consumer reads “Bigelow”?
Bigelow habs have more radiation protection than the ISS. More than enough to use their technology as an inflatable habitat for the first year.
After the first living quarters are occupied, thinner and thus lighter cheaper inflatables could be used and then covered by rigolith.
We cannot just drop a bunch of inflatables onto Mars and blow them up. Maybe the first small temporary one but after that the area needs prepped. It needs cleared of rocks and leveled off.
Robots cannot be trusted with that.
Atmospheric water extractors should be the first things dropped onto the surface. Solar powered and automated, extracting water from the air and filling tough bladders.
We can drop as many as needed and spend years collecting water.
Eventually the excess power from the panels could be used to help power the living quarters.
With the first people we should also send along the first earth mover/back hoe. Use that to prep the rest of the site. It could also be used to more the heavy habitats around before they are inflated. Then used to bury the new habitats.
I would search for a cave. Failing that, I would build a house largely of stone and inflate a bubble home inside that.
Typical that engineers are enthralled with the technology and miss the big picture.
Would we look at building homes on earth the same way? No. We allow property owners to decide for themselves what kind of home to build. It’s not like there is any lack of concepts.
The focus MUST be on ownership. What good is a great design of anything if nobody gets to own it? When you look at raw land on mars the first thing you should see is real estate.
ken anthony wrote: “The focus MUST be on ownership.”
Typical that politicians already signed a treaty guaranteeing that the land on Mars cannot be owned by anyone. Only the structures and equipment placed upon that land may be considered property.
Fortunately, once Martians figure out that they can ignore the previously signed treaties, as in Mars belongs to Martians and not to Earthlings, then they can start to talk real estate. If they start talking about private property real estate before they get there, there may be governmental mandated agreements that anyone going to Mars will never claim any real estate for themselves, otherwise they will not be allowed to fly to Mars.
Remember, politicians, who think they are better than the rest of us, are not our friends; they want all the power and control for themselves.
He who occupies the land owns it.
Unless someone sends out troops to enforce some long forgotten treaty.
And if one country sends troops you can bet another will also just to take the other side.