World’s first Mars show home goes on display in London giving a glimpse of life on the Red Planet in 2033
The futuristic igloo-shaped des res is on display for the next week at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich
THE first ever Mars show home opened in London today - giving a glimpse of how colonisers might live on the Red Planet less than two decades from now.
The futuristic igloo-shaped des res is on display for the next week at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
Space experts created the Martian house to help visitors imagine what it could be like if humans establish a city on the inhospitable planet in the year 2033.
It would be situated in the Valles Marineris - a 2,500-mile system of canyons that runs along the equator of Mars.
As the Martian atmosphere is hundred times thinner than on Earth, colonisers would spend almost all their time indoors.
Houses would be dug underground with only a small portion above the surface, and would be connected by a network of tunnels.
The show home depicts a typical dwelling made from recycled spaceships and Martian soil microwaved into bricks to make a sturdy building material.
Although the show home is small, in reality the walls would have to be 12ft thick to shield residents from harmful cosmic rays.
A double-airlock front door keeps the inside pressurised, with a spacesuit needed to venture outside.
Houses won't have windows but one side of the igloo has been made transparent so visitors can see life for the astronauts living inside.
There is also a depiction of the basement containing sleeping quarters, food supplies, scientific equipment and tunnels linking to other habitats.
A small exhibition around the show home brings to life visions of the colony and the prospect of humans living permanently on another planet.
Dr Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said: "It's amazing to live at a time when space agencies and private companies are seriously contemplating sending humans to Mars.
"Science fiction is on the verge of turning into science fact and it's exciting to think that a young visitor to the show home here in Greenwich might turn out to be the first human to actually set foot on Mars in the not so distant future."
RELATED STORIES
The show home - open from today until November 16 - was created by National Geographic, in consultation with Royal Observatory boffins.
It coincides with National Geographic's new six-part docu-drama series Mars about the first human mission to the Red Planet, which starts on Sunday.
Produced by the Academy Award-winning team of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, it mixes a fictional story about the crew of a spaceship and interviews with experts explaining the real science behind the mission.
Stephen Petranek, author of How We’ll Live on Mars and a consultant on the show, said: “We don’t think of our houses as things that keep us alive, but on Mars your dwelling will be a survival centre.”
He added: “Ten to 20 years from now there will certainly be people on Mars.
“We’ve had the technology for 30 years to do this, but we haven’t had the will.”
Nasa is planning a manned mission to Mars by 2030 but it has been beset by delays and budget overruns.
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk recently outlined his own vision to send a million people to Mars within the next 40 to 100 years, flying on 1,000 reusable spaceships built by his company.
He said colonisers would live and grow plants in giant glass domes, while robot droids would be used for mining and tunnelling.
Musk said last month: “With the latter, you can build out a huge amount of pressurised space for industrial operations and leave the glass domes for green living space.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is said to be working on a similar plan to set up a colony on Mars.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368