Mars Outpost is a concept for a human base on the

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

that was developed by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in the 1980s. The components and design were based on an earlier

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

test bed outpost. Development would go through several phases over four years, from an 'Emplacement Phase' to a 'Consolidation Phase', after which full use by its crew could commence. Components of the base would include a

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

module, pressurized rover dock/equipment lock,

airlock An airlock, air-lock or air lock, often abbreviated to just lock, is a compartment with doors which can be sealed against pressure which permits the passage of people and objects between environments of differing pressure or atmospheric compo ...

s, and a constructed habitat. The 16 m habitat would be constructed ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

''. Other

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...

for the base design includes a

meteorological balloon A weather balloon, also known as sounding balloon, is a balloon (specifically a type of high-altitude balloon) that carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a ...

, unpressurized rover, storage/work area, an area for

geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...

experiments, and an area

antenna Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to: Science and engineering * Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves * Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...

. The Mars Outpost would be designed for a crew of 7

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

s. Their main tasks would be to do research on

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

of Mars and

Phobos Phobos (Greek for "fear") most commonly refers to: * Phobos (moon), a moon of Mars * Phobos (mythology), the Greek god and personification of fear and panic Phobos may also refer to: Comics * Phobos (Marvel Comics) * Phobos (''W.I.T.C.H.''), a ...

life science Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

s, technology, and

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

exploration. The Office of Space Exploration did case studies that include establishing a human presence on another planet in 1988 and 1989.D. Cooke - An Overview of Recent Coordinated Human Exploration Studies (2000) - NASA
/ref> An objective of the ''Mars Evolution'' 1989 study was, "Emplace a permanent, largely self-sufficient outpost on the surface of Mars." The base had three main phases called ''Emplacement'', ''Consolidation'', and ''Utilization. ''

References

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External links

Design for human Mars base circa 1985Mars Outpost rendering, June 198990 Day Study
(.pdf) NASA Mars

See also

References

External links