Igloo on MARS? NASA design home out of ICE for Red Planet explorers
NASA has unveiled an igloo-style ice home designed for explorers to live on the surface of Mars.
Human astronauts are expected to land and live on the Red Planet
In the next 30 years human astronauts are expected to land and reside on the Red Planet.
The revolutionary idea emerged after four researchers spent the day researching at NASA’s Langley Research Centre in Hampton, Virginia.
The new ice dome is set to protect Red Planet pioneers from space radiation and extreme Martian temperatures.
The igloo will feature a large inflatable inner tube
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The materials that make up the Ice Home will have to withstand many years of use in the harsh Martian environment
NASA senior systems engineer Kevin Vipavetz said: “After a day dedicated to identifying needs, goals and constraints we rapidly assessed many crazy, out of the box ideas and finally converged on the current Ice Home design, which provides a sound engineering solution.”
The igloo will feature a large inflatable “inner tuber” which is surrounded by a shell of water ice.
It is believed the explorers will be protected by the ice, which will be dug out of the Martian soil.
NASA researchers say it is an “excellent shielding material for galactic cosmic rays” which causes cancer or radiation sickness.
Meanwhile a layer of carbon dioxide gas will keep explorers warm.
Water from the igloo will be converted to rocket fuel for the return trip
Extraordinarily, once the crew are ready to go back to Earth, water from the igloo will be converted to rocket fuel for the return trip.
The building will be designed to stand for several years at a time once the 400 days to harvest enough water to fill up the igloo is out of the way.
The building will stand for several years
Langley researcher Sheila Ann Thibeault, said: “The materials that make up the Ice Home will have to withstand many years of use in the harsh Martian environment, including ultraviolet radiation, charged-particle radiation, possibly some atomic oxygen, perchlorates, as well as dust storms – although not as fierce as in the movie ‘The Martian’”.