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MarsHome.org : Building the Base
Building the First Permanent Base
See how the first base on Mars will be built, step by step!
Early base construction on Mars will likely utilize building materials that are readily available on Mars. Bruce Mackenzie, co-founder of the Mars Homestead Project, has suggested that the first building material on Mars will be brick, which will be easy to make from the Martian soils.
Bruce MacKenzie has also suggested that the best brick structure to build will be a barrel-vault, vaults such as these have lasted for over 2,000 years on Earth. By building a "square" of lines of vaulted chambers the early explorers on Mars will be able to excavate the central square, dome it over and pressurize it, to give a large enclosed park area for the base. This style of base was used in the novel "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson.
The dome might be made of a Magnesium alloy, Magnesium is available in Martian soils at 25 kilograms per cubic meter. The dome will used a double-pane glass structure to help shield out the intense UV radiation and to hold the internal atmosphere. This entire base, except for the dome, will need to be buried under 2 1/2 meters of soil to provide enough weight to counter the internal pressurization and keep the brick structure in compression. This soil will also provide a good radiation shield.
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Step #1
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Initial Base from the Mars Direct Plan
Initial Base after several missions
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We begin with the initial landing on Mars, using the Mars Direct plan.
The large structure with the ramp is the Crew Habitat. Attached to the Habitat are a garage and a greenhouse. In the foreground are the unpressurized and pressurized rovers. In front of the greenhouse is a set of photovoltaic solar panels. And behind the Greenhouse is the Earth Return Vehicle (E.R.V.).
The Mars Direct plans calls for landing sites about 300 kilometers apart so that huge areas can be explored. Eventually a permanent base site will be found and all future missions can be directed to that location. A collection of Mars Direct Habitats in one area will provide an infrastructure to begin building a more permanent base.
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Step #2
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The first permanent base on Mars begins with
the construction of the first vault and a corner "connector" vault. (Teachers at a local Grade School have suggested calling this "The Mud Room".) The first vault includes a retaining wall for the eventual berm cover. A permanent airlock is mounted on this retaining wall. The first vault in intended to be used for base support equipment such as air and water processing and recycling, electrical services, airlocks, and space suit maintenance. All vaults are built in an excavated trench 4 meters deep and are constructed atop a 2 meter base of portland cement.
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Step #3
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The next rendering shows the partially buried connector vault.
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Step #4
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The next rendering shows the first habitation vault with it's berm retaining wall.
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Step #5
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The completed first line of vaults, partially buried, with the second corner connector vault.
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Step #6
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Now the second line of vaults with the third corner connector vault.
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Step #7
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The third line of vaults with the last corner connector.
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Step #8
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The last line of vaults is added.
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Step #9
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The frame is added for the central dome.
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Step #10
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Now we add the glass to begin pressurizing the central square.
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Step #11
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Now we remove the berm sections which are now under the dome.
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Step #12
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We cut into the vault retaining wall and open the vaults on to the central courtyard. Now the courtyard can be landscaped!
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Step #13
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A view from a balcony, looking down at a simple grass lawn. (Space suits will not be needed at this point!)
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Step #14
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Another view of the central courtyard with lawn.
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Step #15
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First rendering of landscaping without plants.
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Alternative: Trench Base
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A much larger base can be made by excavating a 30 meter deep by 30 meter wide and 1 kilometer long trench. On the South wall will be placed 3 levels of brick vaults. On the North wall will be mirrors to reflect more sunlight into the base. This base will provide better protection from radiation but will also be brighter than the "Underhill" base.
This is a rendering of the full sized "Trench" base with it's enclosing dome framework.
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Thanks for your interest!
Credits: The renderings on this page are copyrighted by Rich Mallon-Day and used with permission. They were created using the Bryce 3D modelling tool.
Mars Direct 3D objects created by Curt Boyll and courtesy of the Mars Society.
Roman-style vault concept for Mars base created by Bruce Mackenzie
Mars Direct plan created by Robert Zubrin and David Baker.
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