Features of the design of structures in the conditions of Mars

Abstract

The article discusses the basic physical parameters and climatic features of Mars as a possible site for the construction of the first stationary research mission. They are the main factors of influence in the development of building structures for this planet. The analysis includes existing project proposals for buildings on Mars and effective means of protecting them against the negative impact of the environment, taking into account the experience of construction in complicated conditions on Earth. The detailed analysis of data allowed us to determine the parameters for the choice of location for building a colony. The parameters include soil composition, climatic indicators, terrain, level of cosmic radiation, methane fluctuations places, the equator zone, promising places for research, and successful landing places of the previous missions. Based on this, we justified the choice of the building complex location, which is the decisive factor for construction. An important aspect is also the determination of the planet colonization stages and the building requirements based on the needs of the colony. A project proposal has been developed for the second stage of planetary colonization. A colony is a quasi-closed system with its own “life cycle”, consuming only its own resources and available resources of the planet. The viability parameters of the project determine the full colony “life cycle”. We propose the hierarchical system of functions of the research mission complex. It includes five main functions: research, transport, residential, production, and recycling. The principle of hierarchy is used for the development of functional parameters of premises and the determination of links between them. In general, three blocks can be distinguished: residential, scientific, technical, and warehouse, which is organically interconnected. The system of functions is maximally optimized for human needs in Martian conditions and is designed to integrate artificial intelligence into the colony. However, the problems considered in the article are only a part of a wide range of technical, transport, financial, and other tasks that make up the range of issues of Mars development.