If humans are ever to land on Mars, they will need somewhere to stay—a protective shell that can shield them from the sun’s harsh rays. One possible answer: great, glassy domes of ice.
Mars is rich in ice, both on and under its surface—with more predicted to lie farther below its dusty exterior. If future astronauts were able to access it, they could use that ice to build hardy shelters, according to new preliminary research presented on Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Each structure could range from a few tens of square meters to a couple of hectares in size with a domed roof and space for living and growing food for sustenance. Designed to be entirely clear, the domes would let in sunlight but not harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, says Robin Wordsworth, an earth and planetary sciences professor at Harvard University and a co-author of the new research. “Sunlight is particularly important to grow plants without artificial lighting and for human psychology,” he says.
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The proposal could solve a major problem that any future crewed Mars mission would need to confront: how to build and supply a safe habitat for humans. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is attempting to tackle the issue, at least in part, with its Starship rocket program. Starship is designed to haul 100 metric tons of cargo into space, which means it could feasibly bring building materials with it. But it is still in development. And even if SpaceX does make it to Mars, the company will likely need to send many rockets at a time to support a human mission there.
For the new research, the scientists used mathematical models to work out the amount of ice that would be needed for the habitats. Combined with exterior coatings, that could warm their interior to a livable temperature of around 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), according to Wordsworth.
Certainly, communities from across our planet have harnessed ice in similar ways before. In addition to the igloos built by some Inuit in the Arctic, people have lived in ice caves and other shelters that offer warmth, stability and protection from the weather.
What is less clear, however, is how future Mars astronauts would be able to gather enough ice to build anything. Wordsworth points out that, although his team’s idea requires a lot of ice, it’s easier to process and extract than other materials, such as silica, that could be used to build structures on Mars.
It’s also unclear how crews would protect their igloos from Mars’s famous dust storms, which could interfere with the structures’ insulating effect. Wordsworth admits that the storms present a serious challenge.
“We haven’t addressed dust directly yet,” he says, “but compressed air jets blown onto the surface of the dome following a dust storm would be one possible solution.”