Before we live on Mars, will we need to prove that we can live underground
For decades, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, had been insisting that humanity’s best shot at long-term survival was to eventually become a multiplanetary species. He cited elevated levels of carbon pooling in the Earth’s atmosphere, extreme droughts, and the loss of biodiversity as precursors to a looming catastrophe
Mars lacks a magnetic field and radiation levels on the surface are dangerously high. The surface is cold. Building underground would provide radiation shielding and thermal insulation. Tunnels would be made by The Boring Company
Some say that underground structures are the best option for human habitation on Mars. Underground structures can provide insulation and protection from cosmic and solar rays. Mars’ atmosphere doesn’t protect the surface from radiation, so humans living on the surface would be exposed to radiation
Some say that living conditions in Martian caves could be hospitable for human settlers. Germany’s ZA Architects has a plan for housing inhabitants in underground basalt caverns. The voids would be carved out by solar-powered robots that land on the surface before humans.
However, Mars has other challenges, including:
- Temperature: Mars can get very cold at night, below -100 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Gravity: Mars has less gravity than Earth.
- Dust storms: Mars has dust storms.
Here are some reasons why underground structures may be the best option for human habitation on Mars:
- Protection from solar radiation: Mars doesn’t have an atmosphere or magnetic field to stop solar rays.
- Insulation: Underground structures can provide thermal insulation.
- Space: Digging caves can create more spacious living areas than small modules.
- Avoids need for radiation shield: Living underground avoids the need to create a radiation shield above ground.
- Protection from temperature fluctuation: Living in lava tubes can provide increased protection from temperature fluctuation and Martian sunlight.
However, some say that there are still many unknowns when it comes to underground construction.
Some say that lava tubes could host human settlements if they have a sustained supply of food, water, power, and breathable air. The first humans to colonize Mars might be cave-dwellers, avoiding the harsh surface conditions
Here are some more benefits of living underground on Mars:
- Protection from micrometeorites: Underground habitats can protect from micrometeorites and other hazards.
- Long-term habitability: The subsurface of Mars is thought to be a viable, long-term habitable environment, protected from the harsh surface conditions.
- Water stability: The subsurface could be a place where water could be stable.
- Deep-space radiation protection: The ultra-low radiation environment provided by underground habitats could protect space crews from deep-space radiation.
- Larger lava tubes: Martian lava tubes can have 10-1000 times the volume of terrestrial ones, with diameters of up to 300 meters (1000 feet).
- Research: The geological environment and deep subsurface location of underground habitats can help researchers recreate the operational conditions humans would experience working in similar caverns on the Moon and Mars
There are two ways to go underground on Mars: digging or using an existing lava tube. Digging is expensive because digging machines would have to be imported from Earth.
Building and maintaining underground structures would be more complex and would require extensive excavation. Martian soil, basalt, and Martian concrete are among the most feasible future construction materials on Mars. However, these materials should endure low pressure, low temperature, large temperature difference, and high space radiation.
According to NASA, rovers will need to dig at least 6.6 feet, or 2 meters to get below the sterilizing effects of surface radiation. The InSight mission showed us that digging deep on Mars will not be easy.
According to some, it’s likely that if we build permanent settlements on Mars, we will build mostly underground.
Some say that underground cities on Mars could be possible. For example, an architecture firm has plans for Nüwa, a city that could house up to 250,000 people in mostly underground cave systems. Elon Musk has also said that you could build an entire city underground if you wanted to
The European Space Agency has also presented a plan for studying underground cities on Mars, but it’s still a long way from being approved for missions.
One European team’s proposal for off-world construction involves swarms of autonomous, cooperative robots digging and reinforcing underground ant-like colonies for human habitation.
Mars is already full of natural tunnels, called lava tubes, which are leftovers from when Mars was volcanically active.
Yes, there is evidence that Mars has caves. Scientists believe that these caves could have formed from lava tubes, which are underground channels that form when lava flows beneath the surface of a planet or moon. These lava tubes can stretch for miles
Scientists have identified at least 3,545 potential caves on 11 different moons and planets throughout the solar system, including the Moon, Mars and moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
NASA’s robotic spacecraft the Mars Odyssey Orbiter has helped identify over 1000 likely void spaces on the Red Planet. The USGS Astrogeology Science Center has released locations of more than a thousand cave-entrance candidates on Mars.
The best region for cave candidates on Mars seems to be part of the Tharsis bulge. This region contains the three enormous shield volcanoes, Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Ascraeus Mons.
According to Wikipedia, there’s no proof of past or present life on Mars. However, some scientists believe that Mars could host a deep underground biosphere.
According to a study from Brown University, underground rocks on Mars could support microbial life if there’s enough water. Some studies suggest that it’s possible that hardy microbes survived underground in a frozen state.
According to a study from Rutgers University, the best place to look for evidence of life on Mars is deep underground, where geothermal heat melted subsurface ice.
NASA believes that there could be extraterrestrial life hiding in underground caves on Mars.
According to a YouTube video, The Boring Company could be key to Elon’s Mars colony because of the network of tunnels that already exist on Mars. The lava tubes on Mars could be hundreds of meters across and kilometers long, with roofs that are up to 90 meters thick. These tunnels could provide protection from radiation and meteorites, and maintain a temperature of around -20 degrees Celsius.
The Boring Company’s mission is to build tunnel infrastructure for fast, safe, and comfortable transportation. Tunneling on Mars could allow for high-speed hyperloop systems
Some scientists believe that Mars has a large underground aquifer of liquid water. In 2018, scientists using radar data from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter announced the discovery of a subsurface lake. The lake is about 12 miles across and is located about a mile beneath the south pole
In 2019, European scientists found evidence of groundwater lakes in deep craters. The craters’ floors are about 4,000 meters below the Martian “sea level”.
NASA also confirmed that liquid water flows on the surface of Mars. However, pure liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars in a stable form because it would boil
Water is a key resource for future astronaut missions to Mars. Water can be extracted from the Martian soil if the soil temperature is increased to between 200°C and 500°C. Previous missions to Mars have determined that water is present in the soil at approximately 2% by mass
In some regions where water ice lies just beneath the surface, it might only take a shovel. However, a block of harvested ice might be full of impurities that need to be filtered.
Water can also be extracted from the Martian atmosphere. However, the water vapor fraction is only 210ppm volume.
NASA says that the mass, power, volume, and mechanical complexity of the system needed for “mining” water ice on Mars are far outside of what is practical for deployment
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