Cylindrical Habitats - Horizontal or

Gary C. Fisher The Mars Foundation

GFisher@MarsHome.org

Rutgers University Symposium On Lunar Settlements

Piscataway, NJ June 5, 2007

Vertic

al ?

Background and parameters of this work

The Mars Foundation’s Mars Homestead Project is an ongoing effort to define the first self-sufficient settlement for Mars.

This effort produced an initial design, “The Hillside Base” using habitat structures, mostly cylinders, constructed on site from in situ materials over the course of 6 to 8 years by 12 people.

The Hillside Base

Graphic by Georgi Petrov for the Mars Foundation

The Plains Base

Graphic by Adam Burch for the Mars Foundation

The Plains Base

Graphic by Adam Burch for the Mars Foundation

Three Generations of Habitats (Benaroya

2006)

1) Prefabricated and preoutfitted hard shell modules.

2) Assembly of components fabricated on Earth with some assembly required; and

3) Large scale building structures comprised substantially of indigenous materials.

The criteria of interest then are:1) Ease of assembly both from the

standpoint of low labor input, but also requiring minimal tooling, especially imported tooling.

2) Ease of transport of the finished structure.

3) Ease of deployment – site preparation, positioning, attachment

4) Thermal characteristics5) Radiation shielding – ease of applying a

regolith cover6) Useful life7) Useable interior space8) Pressure retention9) Site independence – build and deploy

these almost anywhere on the Moon.

Why Cylindrical Habitat Structures ?

For the purposes of creating in situ habitable spaces for a Lunar settlement, cylinder-shaped structures present the best near-term option over alternatives, such as: - spherical or dome structures- excavated structures- lined lava tubes- inflated structures (noncylindrical)- regolith covered masonry vaulted arches.

Cylindrical Habitat Structure Options:- Length- Diameter- Hemispherical or flat end caps- Rigid or inflatable- True cylinder, ellipsoid or flattened- Single or multi-wall

The primary consideration, however, is whether to stand the cylinder up vertically on an end, or lay it down horizontally on its side.

Proposed:That the simplest, safest, and easiest to deploy cylindrical habitat would be one that has a flat end on which it is stood up like a beer (or tuna) can, one story high, with the top end cap being hemispherical.

These would be connected via smaller diameter cylindrical connector modules that can also be used as air locks.

The modules would have domed solar tubes, that can double as emergency exits, to pipe sunlight down through the regolith cover into the structure to provide some of the interior illumination.

Proposed:

Proposed:

Floor area is 6.05 m^2 (65.12 ft^2)

Lunar 2.5 m / Mars

Proposed:

NASA Diameter is 3.65m

So why not horizontal habitats?

<- ISS Destiny Module

BIOPLEX at JSC ->

So why not horizontal habitats?

1. They roll!

2. Footings are more complicated.

3. They are hard to connect.

4. Hard to cover with regolith.

5. Limited full headroom.

So why not horizontal habitats?

They roll!

So why not horizontal habitats?There are a number of alternative approaches:

Attach legs (most likely attached to U-shaped cradles) to the cylinder that rest on pre-constructed footings and allow for some height adjustment.

So why not horizontal habitats? Put the cylinder inside a box frame which is then

positioned on a pre-constructed footing.

So why not horizontal habitats?Consider this manageable size horizontal habitat.

Floor area is 18.77 m^2 (202.04 ft^2)

So why not horizontal habitats?Linear deployment has safety issues.

So why not horizontal habitats?Connectors help solve the escape route problem.

So why not horizontal habitats?Connectors help solve the safety issues, but how do you

cover this with regolith?

So why not horizontal habitats?Connectors in series allow for closer packing.

So why not horizontal habitats?

What is a manageable size?How much headroom depends upon where you put the floor.

Vertical Habitat Arrangements

4 Connections 6 Connections 3 Connections

Vertical Habitat Arrangements

2 Doors 6 Connections

New Conclusion: Put your cylinders in boxes!

Graphic by Adam Burch for the Mars Foundation