Sights Set on Mars

The rover Curiosity is still leaving its tracks on Mars. Human beings are expected to do the same in the future.

Wanted: A Greenhouse Effect

NASA has gone as far as contemplating the use of a bipolar magnetic field to warm the planet. Once it was positioned between Mars and the sun, the planet would be protected and in a position to independently rebuild its atmosphere. On the lee side of the magnetic field, a kind of greenhouse effect would establish itself and would lead to warmer temperatures. This would allow the already available carbon dioxide to rise and the atmosphere to become increasingly dense. Mars would be on the way to becoming a little greener, even if the process were endlessly slow.

Construction Materials at Hand

While the construction of a magnetic shield in space is nothing more than an intellectual game whose feasibility is highly contested, other NASA researchers are dealing with living and surviving on Mars in the short term. An infrastructure on site, including landing sites, hangars and living spaces shielded from radiation, would be urgently needed for this. But how are the materials for this supposed to be transported from the Earth to Mars, when every kilogram transported into space is tied to increased costs? But that’s not the case. Instead, the plan is to use the material available on site. Astronauts would not have to do the work. Instead, it would be done by autonomously operating 3D printers that draw their energy from the sun. Robots would mine the construction material and bring it to the printer.

Good Results from the 3D Printing Competition

NASA is already testing the manufacture of habitats in real life. In August 2017, they had three teams compete against one another in a competition. Using 3D printing, the contest demonstrated how stable living spaces on a small scale could be manufactured with materials similar to those found on Mars. The results impressed the researchers. So perhaps in the foreseeable future, space travelers could indeed establish themselves at least temporarily in settlements on Mars. The will to do so already exists, and the time for the departure is getting closer.

For the November edition of the customer magazine ESSENTIAL, we spoke with a Mars expert from NASA about the colonization of the planet and the crucial role falling to 3D printing. Stay tuned for the edition entitled “Departure.”

^{NASA generously made the image material available.}