Key Findings

Luke van Gemert and Liam Stoldt

The first problem that people consider when going to Mars is air. After doing
research on some trusted websites, we found that the atmosphere on Mars was
way too thin and had the wrong composition for humans (2) to be able to
terraform completely. It is made of
We decided that the best method was to make a smaller livable area. A large
prism made with transparent walls/roofs that will be made of 3.83cm of fused
silica glass, 1.12cm of borosilicate glass and another 0.94cm thick fused silica
glass pane (1). This is same composition as the windows used on the ISS. One
main problem with this is that the plants produced in this prism will produce
more oxygen than is needed, and the first pioneers will suffocate within a month.
They would literally die because of their own cabbage (5). The solution that we
found for this problem are Oxygen Absorbers. These are smaller packets used to
remove all the oxygen from a bag with food for example, but if they are
produced at a larger scale, they can be used to reduce the oxygen in a larger
area. One problem is that they reduce the oxygen levels to close to 0%, which
means that humans wouldnt be able to breathe at all. Our solution to this was to
place the oxygen absorbers behind walls and other surfaces, closed off from the
main area. When the oxygen levels need to be reduced, the absorbers will be
exposed to the living area and will absorb most of the oxygen. When the levels
are reduced to normal levels, they will once again be moved behind the wall.
Once again, there is a problem with these absorbers, they fill up. When they are
full, we need a way to convert the oxygen back to CO 2. To do this, we need to
add carbon. We can find this carbon from the atmosphere outside of Mars. Once
we empty the oxygen from the absorbers into the atmosphere, we can place the
oxygen absorbers back inside and the process will start all over again.
Food and Water
The food and water that we will use on Mars will be similar to how astronauts eat
on the ISS. The food will be dehydrated meaning that it is easier to store and
pack (3). Water can be gathered from the poles of Mars which are covered in ice.
The ice can be mined and the heated up to create enough water to live in (4).
Urine can also be re-processed back into water and leaving the waste out.
Purifying it and then recycling it much like recycling plants would do except at a
smaller scale. Food after spending an amount of time growing will start be
consumable plants instead of packaging. Meaning that the placement will then
become self-sustainable.