Integrated Human Practices

Introduction

The impact of our project and researched conducted to bring it to fruition, will reach all the way from Earth to Mars. For that reason, we decided to define human practices in two different ways: how it will effect Mars and how it will effect the Earth.
For Mars we discussed with experts the parameters of our design and what cautionary steps we would need to talk in our design to not only protect travelers to Mars but the planet as well from contamination.
For earth we explored that technological implications of mycelium composites and how they could be used in sustainable industrial products and housing.
Below is how we engaged with experts and members of the community who had a stake by our research, for “Martian” and human practices.

Martian Habitats

The idea of people living on Mars is an inherently exciting prospect, and it can be a great deal of fun to dream of what the homes, or even cities, of a future martian colony would be like--will they be giant geodesic domes filled with lush greenery that dot the martian landscape and are connected by underground tunnels? Or will they be totally underground, an endless maze that will shield its inhabitants from the harsh cosmic rays? Or perhaps even crafted from ice--creating glistening ice sculptures upon the martian surface?

However, for our team just as alluring and fun as the imaginative aspect of designing for Mars is--which we certainly explored--was the challenge of designing our habitat to be a highly cost-effective, protective, and functional design.

There are a lot of moving parts that go into generating a design like this--from exploring the different options that exist already, to crafting the mission architecture, to considering the laws and regulation of planetary protection that would certainly impact our project.

In order to get the best possible answers to these questions we engaged directly with experts planning the exploration of Mars, and overseeing the protection of the planet.

We interviewed Dr. Michael Meyer, the lead scientist of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mgs/michael-meyer.html), to answer some of our primary questions about what the design of a human mission to Mars would like. We asked about which options for martian habitats are currently being explored by NASA--he shared two, both 3D printed structures, one created from a composite made from Martian regolith the other ice--as well as questions about the longevity that is required of the mission, the estimated budget, the kinds of experiments that would be run, the benefit of having people on Mars versus and Rover, and how does NASA define acceptable risk.

Team Members Emilia Mann, Leo Penny, and Javier Syquia meeting with Dr.Michael Meyer