This initial habitat design is one of functionality at a pioneer level of provision where considerations of assembly time, durability and full protection from a hostile alien environment have to be taken into account. Fully modularised, the emphasis is on speed and integrity of construction.

A compromise is made between security and claustrophobia, in that a large well-like structure (the atrium) provides a collective open space with some contact with admitted light from the environment, while also forming the access to heavily reinforced and protected living units.

These are embedded in regolith, so providing a degree of protection from solar and cosmic radiation, small meteorites, and insulation from low temperatures. Each chamber is also capable of being individually pressurised, via its own airlock, so providing independent levels of safety in the case of pressurisation failure in the atrium. Normally they would hold two people each, so this habitat can sustain a group of eight.

Any break in the station's airseal would draw Goo-balls towards the leak and implode them against the puncture, thereby catalysing the resin by the swift passage of oxygen-rich air through it. Depending on the size of hole, several goo-balls would eventually plug the gap and prevent total decompression. Their polymer skin is internally coated with a sticky resin gel that sets hard on exposure to oxygen and low temperature. Hovering in equilibrium, filled partially with hydrogen but mainly nitrogen, they are balanced to keep station at height.

A large pressurised reservoir of breathing air is an added safety feature, for any situation where there maybe temporary interruptions in normal piped supplies. It has the incidental capacity to keep dilute any generated pollutants, before these are extracted from the artificial atmosphere by chemical or catalytic filters. For this reason there would be a proscribed use of any solvent based paints, or materials such as some plastics that have evaporating plasticisers, VOCs, or toxic emanations like some synthetic plastic foams.

Construction of habitat units would proceed from large excavations handled by pressurised mechanical diggers, where the main onsite work would involve the assembly of a primary hexagonal shell. This would be buried below ground, including a sub-basement. Assembly involves casting conventionally in situ, a solid concrete skinwall, with adjacent higher level excavations into which the

individual prefabricated accommodation units are lowered by air-lifter. These cylinders would be finally attached to the atrium shell with additional reinforcing members supporting a multi-skinned roof that acts as meteor screen, insulating blanket, and radiation shield. The void between inner and outer skins is filled with polyethylene spherules (radiation and shock absorbing), and is pressurised for added insulation. Kevlar jacketing and an additional suspended outer mesh screen act as a further buffer against meteorite damage.

The sub-basement contains life-support backup equipment and reservoirs of air, water and energy in the event of main failure of services piped through the access tunnel. Some additional power is supplied by solar panels mounted above the external meteorite screen.

Clusters of habitats would communicate physically by connecting tunnels, attached to external airlock centres. Numbered zip codes identify their location with respect to each other and base central. As the complexes enlarge, a separate level of rapid transit tubes may become necessary to allow smooth movement of people across facilities.

Psychological engineering would be a more subtle and entrenched problem, where most Earth norms will have ceased to exist, not least the gravity at one third normal.

Video input would play a large part in maintaining some contact with the native Earthside culture, as well as providing information via Marsnet. Personal hand-held devices would act as fully portable keyboard/mouse/communicators to control interactive screen content and data input, giving access to old favourite landscapes, environments, people and other surroundings to act as a familiar virtual background in an ever changing cycle, as well as controlling the embedded technology. For the second generation, the true Martians, there will unforseeably different needs.

The value of plants in respect of humanising such an environment would be high. Any organic materials placed in the habitat would have to be carefully assessed for any potentially infective agents such as soil vectored bacteria, moulds or viruses, that transposed, could colonise hidden areas of moisture and warmth in the complex, possibly mutating in the higher levels of ionising radiation. Some type of soil-less culture may be more suitable.

© Jan Kaliciak 23-07-05 Hab 5West42-01-v1.0