Mars Base

thingiverse

This is my submission for the current MakerBot Mars Base Challenge. My Mars base consists of a central building and many flexible modules, which are connected with retractable connectors. The central building is designed to ensure the well-being of all deployed Martians under all circumstances. The flexible module system should offer space for all not-vital purposes such as research, recreational and extra storage. If a disaster like an extreme dust storm occurs, all Martians retreat to the central building, which is afterwards disconnected from the modules to offer a self-contained system. The central building is shaped cylindrical to minimize damage in harsh weather with it's little windage. Additionally it consists only of vertical or skewed surfaces to keep the dust from despositing on the building. The most important issue for my design is to ensure a constant supply of energy and food. Therefore the focus lies at the central building, which is structured in floors (see Images). I've reduced the usage of glass, because it has less stability and is not a good isolator. However, small windows are placed evenly around the building for a pleasant atmosphere, because sanity is important in such confined environments. Concentrated solar power plant During a normal Martian day, the energy is generated by a concentrated solar power plant. At the top of the central building is a collector, which is fed by many mirrors. These are contained in protective shells, which can be sealed during a storm. These mirror-units are on the module roofs and distributed around the central building to gather more light. The generator not only produces energy, the heated water can be used for a pleasant temperature within the building. Chill-out lounge The only point where more glass is used is the lounge. This is to give the Martians a relaxing location with a wide view over the Martian surface. Moreover it's a spot to offer some kind of personal retreat. Greenhouse floors The building lacks transparent roofs due to the shape chosen to avoid collecting dust. As a result, the plants in the greenhouse floor must supplied with light to grow properly. Therefore a diffusor, consisting of something like roughened acrylic, is set in the ceiling of the floors. This is fed with light by some of the mirrors outside to ensure sufficient natural light for the plants. Circular wind turbines Between the first floors there are circular wind turbines. This robust design prevents dust accumlation and was selected to avoid being broken during a harsh storm. They work using the same principle as a wind force measurement unit and rotate to generate emergency power during storms when solar power is not available Sleeping floor The sleeping floor is very conventional with some sleeping units acting as small personal apartments. Storage floor / vehicle bay The ground floor would contain different tanks for fuel, gas and water. It offers space for maintaining and storing the vehicles to cruise over the surface. I've added two main doors, so the vehicles don't have to turn around within the building and if one door becomes blocked by sand the other can be used to deploy the vehicles. I hopefully addressed all challenges which our future Martians will have to deal with. I'm not a physicist or chemist, so I hope that the high radiation level could be fought by some cool material for the hull, where I tried to minimize the surface of the building. I hope to use converting generators to provide enough energy. For example, a generator could split CO2 to obtain oxygen to breath and carbon as construction material. Instructions I've printed it successfully on my Velleman K8200 RepRap-Printer (see Images). I've printed it in 2h without infill, which unfortunately led to errors in the roof of the modules and the vehicle doors. With infill it should print properly.