Mars base designed by UND Mars In Situ Resource Utilization Design Group by UNDMarsResourceGroup

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

A 3D Printed Mars Base Built from In Situ Resources*
By UND Mars In Situ Resource Utilization Mission Design Group
Mars has excited humanity for quite a while. This submission presents one such concept which is based on reducing mission launch and deep space transfer mass and volume requirements via the fabrication of most of the base structures from in-situ resources. This mission concept requires technical advancement in several areas beyond those typically required for Martian missions. Specifically, this work requires advancement in the development of basalt additive manufacturing (also known as 3D printing) technology and analysis of the produced basalt structures’ permeability and ability to maintain a pressurized environment suitable for human habitation.
Kelso, in [1], suggested the 3D printing of basalt, but provided an insufficient explanation of the operations of a basalt 3D printer. The basic concept of 3D printing is well known. In the recent past, the basic Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique has been augmented through an increase in the materials that can be printed. An overview of a basalt 3D printing approach for use on Mars is presented in [2].
Maintaining a pressurized living and working environment within the structures is critical. Prior work [3-5] has characterized the permeability of basalt; however, this work did not consider the specific compositions of basalt found on Mars. In [2], multiple considerations regarding and solutions to the challenge of sealing the 3D printed basalt are presented. A worst-case scenario would be to utilize a bladder such as Bigelow Aerospace has demonstrated [6] in space.
The base would be comprised of multiple modular structures. The largest, the agriculture / construction dome, would be built from materials carried onboard the interplanetary spacecraft as well as 2.4 m tall basalt panels fabricated from local materials onboard the landed spacecraft. When this structure is done, the basalt 3D printer will then be moved from its location in the spacecraft to the agriculture / construction dome, where it will be attached to longer rails, allowing it to print the smaller-sized structures. When construction is done, this structure is used as an agricultural growing facility (a set of translucent panels for parts of the dome are carried onboard the spacecraft for this use).
The other structures, which are printed whole in the construction dome, include the housing / laboratory / multi-purpose unit, which, as the name suggests, can be configured with equipment and furniture to suite mission needs (and prospectively re-configured multiple times during the mission). Two versions of this structure (the dome shown and a cylindrical underground version) exist. A version of this module is also used as a command (central control area) unit and as a services (water / air / waste / etc. processing) unit. These modules are connected by interlocking tunnels (both above and below ground) which also house the data/power/water/sewage/etc. piping/cabling for the units.
Construction is designed to be performed primarily by robots sent on an unmanned construction mission. These robots will, upon landing, produce initial pieces of the agriculture / construction dome within the spacecraft and setup supporting truss and install them. These will them be robotically moved to their final location and attached to adjacent structures, as per the base design.
Robotic construction of the base will take two forms: the 3D printer, housed in the agriculture / construction dome, will be a stationary robot, which will print ready-to-use smaller structures. These will be moved (and the agriculture / construction dome initially constructed) by construction robots.
Power to these units is supplied via very high frequency wireless power transfer from the orbiting craft (which carried the lander to Mars) so as to not increase mission risk and increase landing fuel costs by landing the limited nuclear power reactors. The high frequency transmissions reduce free space loss considerably, making this a viable power system in this instance.
This description is abstracted from [2] (we are happy to provide a copy of this paper to the contest reviewers upon request to benjamin.kading@my.und.edu)
Some images also sourced from [2]; use of NASA imagery for the background of one image is gratefully acknowledged. NASA imagery is not subject to US copyright.
References:
References
[1] R. Kelso. Expanding the planetary analog test sites in hawaii-planetary basalt manipulation. Presented at AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. 2013, .
[2] B. Kading and J. Straub, "Design of a Manned Mars Mission Utilizing In-Situ Resources for Structure Fabrication," Acta Astronautica, Prepared for Submission to.
[3] N. I. Christensen and R. Ramananantoandro. Permeability of the oceanic crust based on experimental studies of basalt permeability at elevated pressures. Tectonophysics 149(1), pp. 181-186. 1988.
[4] A. T. Fisher. Permeability within basaltic oceanic crust. Rev. Geophys. 36(2), pp. 143-182. 1998.
[5] M. O. Saar and M. Manga. Permeability‐porosity relationship in vesicular basalts. Geophys. Res. Lett. 26(1), pp. 111-114. 1999.
[6] Air barrier for use with an expandable structure, R. T. Bigelow. Feb 5, 2013). US 8366051 B2 , 2013.