NASA may build ice homes on Mars

When astronauts set foot on Mars, they may stay for months rather than days as they did during Apollo missions to the Moon. The surface of Mars has extreme temperatures and the atmosphere does not provide adequate protection from high-energy radiation, NASA said. These explorers will need shelters to effectively protect them from the harsh Martian environment and provide a safe place to call home. According to researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Centre in Virginia, the best building material for a new home on Mars may lie in an unexpected material, ice. 

“Mars Ice Dome,” is one of many potential concepts for sustainable habitation on the red planet in support of the agency’s journey to Mars, NASA researchers said. “After a day dedicated to identifying needs, goals and constraints we rapidly assessed many crazy, out of the box ideas and finally converged on the current Ice Home design, which provides a sound engineering solution,” said Kevin Vipavetz, Langley senior systems engineer. 

The “Mars Ice Home” is a large inflatable torus, a shape similar to an inner tube, that is surrounded by a shell of water ice. The Mars Ice Home design has several advantages that make it an appealing concept, according to NASA. It is lightweight and can be transported and deployed with simple robotics, then filled with water before the crew arrives.