One Small Step For Man

Josh Grant
Written By Mr. Shop

Multi-planetary Species

Published: 8/17/21
By: Josh Grant

Mars Dune Alpha is a 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center. It is going to be one of the first simulations of what life could be like on Mars. They will be running three one-year-long simulation missions in a 3D printed mock-up of what a Mars habitat would be like. The simulation will be as close to life on Mars as they can make it. They will have delays in communication and have to eat a “spaceflight-like diet” on their mission. This mission is funded and hosted by NASA, and getting into this program is no joke. The selection process alone can take up to 13 months and would require candidates to fly to JSC and pass a multitude of tests. One of the most notable being NASA’s long-duration flight astronaut physical.

NASA doesn’t play around when looking for candidates for their program. A few of the requirements being: Possess a Master’s degree in a STEM field have at least two years of related professional experience in a STEM field, or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time on a jet aircraft. A doctorate is also acceptable, and you must be in top physical shape. A slew of medications must be avoided if you are to apply, like blood thinners, blood pressure meds, ADHD, antidepressants, and many other medications. You will not be accepted if you have any food allergies or if you are prone to motion sickness. You must be between the age of 30-55.

What intrigues me the most is the lengths NASA will go to make this as life-like as possible. The candidates will be living in 3D printed quarters, and they will have all the necessary equipment to do sciencey’ stuff. It was designed by renowned architects, BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). There will be separate crew quarters for each of the four members and will also have crop quarters, a robot room, a workstation, and a treatment room. Bjarke Ingles, Founder and Creative Direction of BIG, has said, “The data gained from this habitat research will directly inform NASA’s standards for long-duration exploration missions, and as such will potentially lay the foundation for a new Martian vernacular. Mars Dune Alpha will take us one step closer to becoming a multi-planetary species.” No biggy, just exploring the final frontier and potentially living on different planets.

I guess you could say Mars Dune Alpha will be a BIG ICON. Not only was it designed by BIG, but it is being brought to life by ICON. ICON is a company that focuses on building homes of the future; to do that, they designed the Vulcan construction system. It is a 3D printer that can print up to 10.5ft high and 36.5ft wide, the machine itself is 15.5ft tall and 46.5ft wide, weighing in at 9,500 pounds. This is how they will be building the 1,700 square foot Mars Dune Alpha site. It can print anywhere from 5 to 10 inches a second! ICON plans to use a similar system to this to build a structure out of materials on Mars, making some of the first livable structures on the planet.

All in all, Mars is cool. This project will be one of the many that will advance humanity on the multi-planetary species track. With large companies like BIG and ICON driving the design and structure, and NASA providing the science and smart people, Mars Dune Alpha will be a project like no other.

 

Context

Thoughts

– Would you ever travel to space or another planet if given the opportunity?
– Do you think life on Mars will be successful or possible?
– How do you think humans on another planet would affect life back on earth?

Mr. Shop
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