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Zachary Huaman Scholars Incorporated Group 2

Zachary Huaman

Group #2

Scholars Incorporated


Step 1: Identify the Problem or Need

The group must design an appealing colony model that could support the life of 1000

inhabitants. It must be a unique colony model that incorporates 8 total structural systems, must

be represented in a model thats base cannot exceed 42” by 60”, and each member of the group

must research an individual system that they will detail, design, and construct.

Step 2: Research the Need or Problem

NASA’s Plans for Mars

NASA has sent numerous missions to Mars, all of which are to record facts about Mars,

the climate, atmosphere, and the surface are examples. NASA’s missions will help determine the

type of equipment needed in order to create a settlement on Mars, as many things about Mars are

still unknown. This is why NASA continuously sends probes to Mars, in order to find out more

about the atmosphere, and what astronauts will need to wear in order to stay safe in the

atmosphere on Mars. NASA’s probes are also researching what the climate is like on Mars, and

what the surface is composed of, this is important to know since materials that are efficient on

Earth may not be as efficient on Mars since there are so many different aspects of being on the

two planets. NASA has also started to look for potential spots that colonies, or settlements, could

be placed when they are ready to send humans to the frontier of Mars in order to start a colony

(NASA - NASA Selects 'MAVEN', n.d).

Another organization has also released plans, and many details on their non-profit project

which is mainly funded by people, to create a permanent human settlement on Mars. This

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organization is called “Mars One”. The people at Mars One believe that human settlement is

possible today with existing technologies. They have even released what they plan to do once the

humans are ready to be taken to Mars. The human crew will travel through space for around

seven months. Their transit vehicle will consist of a landing module and a transit habitat. It will

also hold Landers which will bring resources down to Mars’s surface once the settlers arrive.

One Lander will bring down life support units that will generate energy, water, and breathable

air. Another Lander will bring down a supply unit, with food, solar panels, spare parts and other

components. The next Lander will bring down deployable inflatable habitats, while two other

Landers will bring down humans and rovers. While the Landers bring all of the resources down,

two rovers will already be on Mars, setting up an outpost for the humans to live in. All of the

astronauts will wear “Marssuits”, which will protect them from extreme temperatures, the non-

breathable atmosphere, and harmful radiation while near or on Mars’s surface. Lastly, constant

communication will be maintained between Mars and Earth (Mars One, n.d.).

Colony Research

Since the main focus of this project is to establish a colony on Mars, it is important to

learn about colonies of the past, and present. This will allow the group to take the positive and

negative factors learned about each colony in order to try and create a colony that is the most

suitable for Mars.

Colonies of the past are important to learn about since the knowledge of the settlers, for

both the past and on Mars, will be roughly the same because they are exploring uncharted

territory. For a historical colony, one of the best examples of the Plymouth colony. This colony

was started when Puritans from England came to America on the Mayflower. The Puritans were

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seeking refuge from their King, James 1. However, during the first winter of the colonists stay,

many fell ill, and nearly half of the original population died. This made shelter and a heat source

a necessity, as it would protect the colonists from the harsh conditions. The colonists were only

able to survive with help of Natives, as they showed the colonists where to plant crops, and how

to fish. This is important to know, since colonists on Mars will have no Natives to show them

how to survive, the colonists will need to know what they need to do in order to survive.

Plymouth was laid out in a random pattern, as places were specified for farms by the Natives,

and houses were built on open land quickly in order to keep the colonists safe from harsh

conditions. This can relate to the colonization of Mars since the team going to Mars will need to

think as they go, in case of emergencies. However, there should be a plan that they follow which

shows the best possible layout for the settlement, as it will be difficult to survive on a foreign

planet without efficiency (History.com, n.d.).

Modern colonies can also be studied in order to help learn how a colony should be set up

on Mars. Colonies that were formed more recently are also necessary to learn about since the

techniques used by the colonists are different in modern times, than they were in the past. An

example of a modern colony is the Philippines. The Philippines was a colony of Spain for 333

years, and was mainly used for trade, and the desire for economic wealth. This means that ports

for cargo ships, and large trading depots were common since trade was what the colony was

mainly used for. However, while a colony of Spain, the Spanish encouraged the development of

Agriculture, and the Philippines eventually became a center for military, commercial, and

political activity. This is important information, as Mars will have many resources that could be

considered valuable. Therefore it is important to know that stations will be needed in order for

the trading of rare Martian materials, this can even relate to the trading ports, as different

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colonies could set up depots in order to gain economic advantage over other colonies occupying

Mars’s surface (The Colonization of the Philippines, 2014).

Another example of a modern colony is the European discovery and colonization of

Australia. The young colony relied upon farms and trading food with aboriginal clans, in fact the

food deficit was so bad, that the colony was only saved by a second fleet, which delivered badly

needed food and supplies. This is important to keep in mind when creating a colony, as it is

essential to have enough food for the colonists to consume while they become self-sufficient.

However, another problem soon arose, as the men outnumber the women four-to-one. This is

also important to keep in mind, as the colony will need to have an almost equal amount of gender

in a population, in order to keep the population from drastically decreasing. While a rapid

decrease of population is the main danger in an uneven gender mix, other problems would arise,

and weaken the colony further. The Australian colony was set up in a way that tried to conserve

as much food as possible, and eventually with the help of aboriginal colonies, the colony was

able to survive, and become the Australia that the world knows today. This shows the important

of self-reliance, as on Mars there will be no other aboriginal colonies to help the settlers,

therefore it just stresses the importance of sending enough resources with the original colonists in

order to sustain them until they can become self-sufficient (European discovery, 2008).

Individual System Research

On Mars, the colony that will eventually be built will need numerous functioning systems

in order to keep the colony going. These systems could include life support, safety, energy, and

community. One of the most crucial subsystems of life-support is the management of trash. Two

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different way humans dispose of trash today is through traditional landfills, and plasma

gasification has been planned for the future of trash disposal.

Trash is commonly disposed of by garbage bins, which are used to collect garbage. The

garbage eventually is incinerated and transferred to a landfill. This process generally involves

materials such as bins, garbage collectors, a factory to house the garbage and an incinerator, and

a location for a landfill. This factory for collection and incineration would need to placed in a

location outside of the main town, as the fumes are often hazardous and can cause health issues.

A landfill would also need to be placed at a location outside of town, as landfills often smell bad,

and are not suitable places for buildings. This process could be adapted to life on Mars because it

is fairly simple, and the process would be easy to emulate in a situation where there is not much

garbage to collect, which there would not be since the colony on Mars would not have that much

garbage (Tour the Waste Disposal Process, n.d.). Landfills would have to adapt to Mars, as the

atmosphere and gravity is different, which would cause different challenges that would need to

be solved through research or by experimentation with traditional landfills in Mars like

situations.

Another process that could dispose of garbage more efficiently is called plasma

gasification. It is an emerging technology which can process landfill waste to extract commodity

recyclables and convert carbon-based materials into fuels. Plasma gasification refers to the use of

plasma torches as the heat source, as opposed to conventional fires and furnaces. Plasma torches

burn at temperatures approaching 5500 Degrees Celsius, or 10,000 Degrees Fahrenheit and can

reliably destroy any materials found on earth with the exception of nuclear waste. Plasma

gasification of MSW is a fairly new application that combines well-established sub-systems into

one new system. The sub-systems include waste processing and sorting, plasma treatment, gas

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cleaning and energy production. Materials that would be necessary for plasma gasification could

include a building to house the gasifier, and the waste. Also the building would need storage for

the products of the gasification, and a generator in order for steam to generate power. This

system should be placed near where the trash is stored, and near a storage bank, as it produces

many valuable by-products that could be useful. This system would need to be located on the

outskirts of a colony, as the process is quite intense, and can cause fumes that could endanger

health. This process is suitable for Mars since it is a new technology that has been proven to be

quite efficient, and creates little to no hazardous waste, while creating useful by-products

(Dodge, n.d.). The Plasma Gasification process would also need to adapt to the unique conditions

Mars has, as the extreme temperatures may be harder to reach because of factors unknown.

However, if a successful plasma gasification process was established on Mars, the colony would

have little to no problem managing the trash produced by the colony.

The Plasma

Gasification Process. Picture Received from (Waste Management World, 2014).

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Summary

Mars may be the planet that is the most similar to Earth in our galaxy, therefore it can

only be considered logical that humans will one day colonize the red planet. NASA has

researched the climate, atmosphere, and many other things involving the planet Mars, they have

even began to look for possible spots suitable for colonization. Another program, Mars One, has

also done research including the colonization of Mars, and has a plan that is funded by the people

to get a colony on Mars is the near future. These exciting programs provide the thought of what

other things would be necessary for a colony on Mars. This could include city layout, and the

fundamental systems that each city needs. Therefore it is only logical to think that a colony that

is self-sufficient, efficient, and is laid out in a safe and smart way will be able to use the

fundamental systems necessary for life today in order to create a permanent human settlement on

Mars. This could be a colony with a grid-type layout, as the street leading from building to

building will make transportation fairly easy, and connect all of the systems contained within the

colony. A colony that includes easily accessible buildings will make the colony for efficient,

therefore the colony could become self-sufficient quickly, which is why Scholars Incorporated

believes that this type of colony is the best for the colonization of Mars.

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References

The Colonization of the Philippines. (2014). Retrieved April 27, 2014, from

trunovelty10.edublogs.org/background-of-spanish-colonization-of-the-philippines/

Dodge, E. (n.d.). Plasma gasification: Clean renewable fuel through vaporization of waste -

Waste Management World. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.waste-

management-world.com/articles/print/volume-10/issue-4/features/plasma-gasification-

clean-renewable-fuel-through-vaporization-of-waste.html

European discovery and the colonisation of Australia | australia.gov.au. (2008, January 11).

Retrieved April 26, 2014, from

http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/european-discovery-and-

colonisation

History.com (n.d.). Plymouth Colony - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com. Retrieved April 27,

2014, from http://www.history.com/topics/plymouth

Mars One. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2014, from http://www.mars-one.com/

NASA - NASA Selects 'MAVEN' Mission to Study Mars Atmosphere | NASA. (2008, September

15). Retrieved April 28, 2014, from

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/maven_20080915.html#.U15V7_ldV4I

Tour the Waste Disposal Process. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2014, from

http://www.swdahsv.org/tour.html

Waste Management World (2014). Gasification-Based Energy Production System Concept

[Plasma Gasification System Concept]. Retrieved from http://www.waste-management-

world.com/articles/print/volume-10/issue-4/features/plasma-gasification-clean-

renewable-fuel-through-vaporization-of-waste.html

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/maven_20080915.html#.U15V7_ldV4I

http://www.mars-one.com/


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