**The Future of Space Travel and Colonization: Lessons from Mars**
Taking a trip to Home Depot is not exactly an option if you're stranded on Mars, as demonstrated by the movie The Martian. In fact, the harsh Martian environment makes it nearly impossible to survive without proper equipment and infrastructure. This realization has led to a shift in approach when designing structures for a future human settlement on Mars. Gone are the inflatable deployable structures often featured in science fiction movies about space travel to the Moon; instead, we're focusing on more robust and durable solutions that can withstand the unforgiving Martian environment.
One of these solutions is Marsha, a 3D-printed structure designed to be made from basalt rocks found on the Martian surface. The design process involves mixing the basalt with a naturally derived biopolymer called PLA, which can be created from plants such as corn or sugarcane. This material has been shown to be as strong as Kevlar and also offers shielding against cosmic radiation. But what's even more innovative about Marsha is its unique egg-like design. Not only does it look space-aged, but it's also structurally efficient and optimized for Martian conditions.
The egg-shaped design of Marsha is a result of extensive research into the most effective way to maximize floor space while minimizing material usage. The structure's double-shell design provides both strength and livability, with the inner shell containing an Earth-like atmosphere that expands outward due to internal air pressure. This ensures that the astronauts inside feel like they're living on a normal planet, rather than being trapped in a tiny box millions of miles from home. Every inch of Marsha is designed with humans in mind, featuring amenities such as a mudroom, kitchen, sleeping quarters, sanitation pod, and garden.
But Marsha's design doesn't just focus on functionality; it also prioritizes human comfort and well-being. The structure features large windows that allow natural light to flood in, creating an airy and spacious feel despite the Martian environment. Additionally, the fourth floor boasts a massive skylight that lets in even more light, making the astronauts feel like they're walking on air. Every aspect of Marsha's design has been carefully considered to create a living space that feels truly human-centric.
**The Power of Rocket Launches**
Recently, NASA successfully launched its Orion test rocket, marking an exciting milestone in the quest to send humans back to Mars. For those who missed it, the launch was an awe-inspiring spectacle that captivated audiences around the world. The Orion spacecraft was equipped with an advanced propulsion system and a state-of-the-art life support system, designed to sustain astronauts on long-duration missions.
The launch itself was a masterclass in precision engineering, as the rocket blasted off the launchpad and soared into the sky before deploying its abort rockets and separating from the main spacecraft. The crew capsule then broke free from the parent vehicle and plummeted toward the Earth's atmosphere, where it slowed down using parachutes before splashing down safely in the ocean.
For those who witnessed the launch live, the experience was nothing short of thrilling. Imagine watching a massive rocket lift off from the ground, its engines roaring as it shoots into the sky like a giant silver arrow. It's an exhilarating sight that inspires awe and wonder, even for seasoned space enthusiasts. And yet, despite the excitement of witnessing a rocket launch up close, we're still far from making space travel accessible to the masses.
**The Dream of Affordable Space Travel**
Unfortunately, sending humans to Mars will require significant investment and infrastructure development. The cost of a single trip to Mars is estimated to be around $50,000 per person – a hefty price tag that's unlikely to become affordable for the average consumer anytime soon. However, with private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin pushing the boundaries of space technology, we may see a future where flying in space becomes as accessible as taking an airplane.
Imagine being able to book a ticket to Mars, just like you would to Orlando or New York City, without breaking the bank. Sounds like science fiction, right? But it's not entirely impossible. With advancements in propulsion technology and reusable rockets, we're already seeing costs decrease dramatically. And who knows – maybe one day, space travel will become so routine that we'll be able to hop on a rocket and blast off into the cosmos without giving it too much thought.
For now, however, sending humans to Mars is still a daunting task that requires careful planning, meticulous engineering, and a healthy dose of courage. But as we continue to push the boundaries of space exploration, we're one step closer to realizing our dreams of becoming a multi-planetary species.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe earth is facing tremendous challenges and if we don't reverse that trend and earth won't become a very dangerous place to live Marsha is our Mars habitat is a 3d printed house on Mars so what do you think the future of humanity looks like in space you I've spent months traveling across America learning about all the ways the apocalypse could kill us I've been to nuclear bunkers cutting-edge science labs and even braved a tsunami escape pod also I could work out how to avoid Armageddon so what happens when the apocalypse comes and the planet is beyond saving well we might stand a chance if we just pack our bags and leave us behind there's a new space race underway this moment represents the beginning of a new space age you can't go a single day without hearing from some billionaire who wants us to colonize space let me show you something this is an incredible vehicle and it's going to the moon and I think enough people and move to Mars to be part of creating a new planet Elon Musk wants us to jump on a big rocket and become a multiplanetary species on Mars Jeff Bezos the richest man in the world thinks we should leave the planet and move to floating colonies complete with perfect weather and space Eagles these are beautiful people are gonna want to live here if you listen to these guys we're all gonna be moving to space tomorrow and it's gonna be awesome we'll be taking vacations in microgravity terraforming Mars but while designing floating worlds for the super-rich is all well and good what does space travel really look like for the rest of us and most importantly will the technology that we actually need to travel to space be ready when the apocalypse hits I've hit it to Cape Canaveral on Florida's Space Coast to learn about the future of human spaceflight the team at the Kennedy Space Center is working on the Artemis program the mission that's set to take the first woman and the next man back to the moon here in Florida nASA has opened its doors for one of the last critical tests for the Artemis mission so it's about 20 to 7:00 in the morning I've been up since before 4:00 and about three and a half miles that way is where we're going to see the ascent abort to flight test take place in a really short amount of time the sun's rising all the photographer's are here and I'm pretty damn excited next stop after this humans on the lunar surface by 2024 but according to a Ryan program manager mark Carey search the moon is just a stepping stone our goal is to go farther and further for longer durations and our goal is to go to Mars initially and eventually take humanity across the solar system the moon this time is a place where we're going to develop and practice our techniques for going to these other destinations getting to Mars might sound like a logical next step off to the moon but it's a whole different ballgame the journey is a long journey when we go to the moon on the early Oh Ryan and Artemis missions it takes them out four to five days one way when we go to Mars it will be a trip duration each way of weeks and months we will have to have spacecraft to support people dressed like this and exercising eating just like we do on earth to stay healthy the spacecraft or design it has to be more radiation tolerant because we don't have the Earth's atmosphere protecting us the thermal extremes because when you're a deep space you don't go around the earth once every 24 hours if you're pointed towards the Sun the hot part of the spacecraft is hotter than it is in low-earth orbit the cold part of the spacecraft is colder one person who's been to space and knows what those extremes are like is Randy Bresnik he's a former Marine he's been to space twice and he's wrecked up 32 hours of spacewalks outside the ISS what does it take to live in space long term you can put up a lot of stuff for a short duration you know it's just like a camping expedition when you did a shuttle mission a long-duration it's different because you're living in the same place you're working for long times and so it's more than marathon than the Sprint but it's not just about astronaut life-support and maintaining your vital signs there are some basic things that make long-term life in space so much harder we found that food has a lot more importance when you it's you know weeks and months at a time you know the variety the fact that your taste buds kind of change when you're in space the fact that gravities have pulling the food down as it gets processed and out and give it's a sensation of feeling hungry also when we take missions to Mars exercise is going to be really important yeah even when I'm in space I'm still gonna have to go to the gym our bodies are here in 1g on the earth and it takes muscles to hold the bones all together and puts you know tension on them so they maintain their density great so if I'm not careful my muscles will waste away and my bones will start decaying that's even before I think about the cosmic radiation that'll be frying me from the inside or just the crippling loneliness I'll feel having to spend months on end and a metal can with the same people but while I was about to tear up my application for astronaut school Resnick gave me some words of hope I was surprised that when I got to space the first time yeah I thought you know I've always looked up to astronauts there are these super human beings you know and I didn't know how I got selected but I get up there and within 24 hours the human body has adapted also I could just reach out if I wanted to go over that core that I do I didn't enter I didn't reach up over here I know I can just go over there and reach down over here and know exactly how much force to push to get myself moving and that direction just flowed over that way we're wired for this and we adapt so well it doesn't take anybody special to be an astronaut anybody can do it you just have to have a desire to go put yourself on a rocket and put yourself in a spacesuit and go there I was starting to feel more confident about becoming an astronaut the apollo team managed to get to the moon with computers that were more basic than the phone i've got in my pocket we live in a day and age where anything is possible but even if I make it through astronaut school and survive the journey with my muscles intact there's still one big question where the hell am I gonna live thankfully a thousand miles up the coast from Florida one New York startup is working on a solution this is Marsha the 3d printed habitat created by AI space Factory the design came about through NASA's Centennial challenge the space agency asked companies to create a 3d printed space habitat and Marsha took out first prize it might look like a giant alien egg but it's actually been carefully designed to survive the stresses of life in space and best of all it can be built in space from materials actually found on Mars for the team designing Marsha that was vital because when you're on Mars taking a trip to Home Depot isn't really an option if you've seen the movie the Martian if there's a disaster there's like very little you can do in terms of getting someone to come back so you need to build something which is much more robust you know shockproof able to withstand the elements much more durable so when we look at a solution for Mars we go away from the sort of inflatable deployable structures that you see in sci-fi for the moon and you need to start thinking about structures like Marsha which is essentially 3d printed from rock so how do you 3d print from rock well AI space factory designs Marsha so it could be made from basalt taken from the Martian surface and mixed with a naturally derived biopolymer called PLA you can make that from plants like corn or sugarcane mix the two together heat them up and you've got a material that's as strong as Kevlar it also has the added bonus of shielding from cosmic radiation so why the weird egg design well the design not only looks space-aged but it's actually really sturdy you've probably seen in sci-fi movies or artwork like this idea of a Martian city and these are typically like domed structures once we started investigating that we realized that an egg-like structure was actually the most structurally efficient for and if you think about an egg the egg shell can be very very thin and still it has the right amount of strength but this shape isn't just more efficient to print it's also the best way to maximize floor space and the best way to handle Mars's atmosphere the biggest force we have to design for on Marcia was actually the internal air pressure which is an earth-like atmosphere so this must expand outwards so the shape of this envelope needs to contain that difference in the atmospheric pressure Masha has a double shell design so it's tough on the outside but still livable on the inside and every inch of this space is designed for humans the bottom floor acts kind of like a mudroom it's separated from the top three floors with an airlock and it's where astronauts can prep for spacewalks or get out of their space suits after a tough day on Martian Dunes above that there's a common space with a kitchen and work areas the third floor has sleeping quarters a sanitation pod and a garden and on the fourth floor there's a recreation and exercise level on top of that a massive skylight let's in light that then filters down through the inner shell so the astronauts inside don't feel like they're trapped in a tiny box millions of miles from home even if they kind of are having spaces in here which are very called human centric like focused around people was as important to factor of the design as say like the technical aspects so having something that's above ground filled with natural light sensation of space from one floor to the next I think it helps just alleviate that congestion back in Florida sending humans to another planet was actually starting to feel one step closer I wasn't alive for the Apollo launch but as NASA blasted off its Orion test rocket I finally understood the excitement of those first space missions so the launch has just happened and I'm still completely blown away we saw the rocket blast off the launch pad and then way up in the sky up here that's where we saw those abort rockets engage and we saw the little crew capsule kind of blast off and we saw them separate we see these smoke trails and then finally it crashed in the ocean we heard that too is a another boom so we saw this massive splash this is my first rocket launch and just understand A's living on Mars is for the adventurous I think there's a certain romance of going to a place that no one has gone before it would be really great if we made it so that flying in space is just like getting on an airplane flight you decide instead of coming to Florida and go in at Disney World and costing your family fifty thousand dollars to go for the week you go hit kids you wanna go to space is about fifty thousand bucks yeah I'll be really nice walking on Mars might still be a while off but it's exciting to know that we're already taking those early steps to get there sure I won't be able to leave the planet tomorrow and realistically I'm probably gonna need a better plan for escaping the apocalypse than just jumping on a rocket and going to Mars but still it's exciting to know that space travel beyond the space station it's actually going to be a reality in my lifetime but now I'll just have to watch from back here on earth up here we saw the actual launch abort system kind of at the top you'll see the abort rockets sorry I don't actually know if it's launching from this launch pad or another one and there's an alligator in the grass oh no that's how you peeper guys youthe earth is facing tremendous challenges and if we don't reverse that trend and earth won't become a very dangerous place to live Marsha is our Mars habitat is a 3d printed house on Mars so what do you think the future of humanity looks like in space you I've spent months traveling across America learning about all the ways the apocalypse could kill us I've been to nuclear bunkers cutting-edge science labs and even braved a tsunami escape pod also I could work out how to avoid Armageddon so what happens when the apocalypse comes and the planet is beyond saving well we might stand a chance if we just pack our bags and leave us behind there's a new space race underway this moment represents the beginning of a new space age you can't go a single day without hearing from some billionaire who wants us to colonize space let me show you something this is an incredible vehicle and it's going to the moon and I think enough people and move to Mars to be part of creating a new planet Elon Musk wants us to jump on a big rocket and become a multiplanetary species on Mars Jeff Bezos the richest man in the world thinks we should leave the planet and move to floating colonies complete with perfect weather and space Eagles these are beautiful people are gonna want to live here if you listen to these guys we're all gonna be moving to space tomorrow and it's gonna be awesome we'll be taking vacations in microgravity terraforming Mars but while designing floating worlds for the super-rich is all well and good what does space travel really look like for the rest of us and most importantly will the technology that we actually need to travel to space be ready when the apocalypse hits I've hit it to Cape Canaveral on Florida's Space Coast to learn about the future of human spaceflight the team at the Kennedy Space Center is working on the Artemis program the mission that's set to take the first woman and the next man back to the moon here in Florida nASA has opened its doors for one of the last critical tests for the Artemis mission so it's about 20 to 7:00 in the morning I've been up since before 4:00 and about three and a half miles that way is where we're going to see the ascent abort to flight test take place in a really short amount of time the sun's rising all the photographer's are here and I'm pretty damn excited next stop after this humans on the lunar surface by 2024 but according to a Ryan program manager mark Carey search the moon is just a stepping stone our goal is to go farther and further for longer durations and our goal is to go to Mars initially and eventually take humanity across the solar system the moon this time is a place where we're going to develop and practice our techniques for going to these other destinations getting to Mars might sound like a logical next step off to the moon but it's a whole different ballgame the journey is a long journey when we go to the moon on the early Oh Ryan and Artemis missions it takes them out four to five days one way when we go to Mars it will be a trip duration each way of weeks and months we will have to have spacecraft to support people dressed like this and exercising eating just like we do on earth to stay healthy the spacecraft or design it has to be more radiation tolerant because we don't have the Earth's atmosphere protecting us the thermal extremes because when you're a deep space you don't go around the earth once every 24 hours if you're pointed towards the Sun the hot part of the spacecraft is hotter than it is in low-earth orbit the cold part of the spacecraft is colder one person who's been to space and knows what those extremes are like is Randy Bresnik he's a former Marine he's been to space twice and he's wrecked up 32 hours of spacewalks outside the ISS what does it take to live in space long term you can put up a lot of stuff for a short duration you know it's just like a camping expedition when you did a shuttle mission a long-duration it's different because you're living in the same place you're working for long times and so it's more than marathon than the Sprint but it's not just about astronaut life-support and maintaining your vital signs there are some basic things that make long-term life in space so much harder we found that food has a lot more importance when you it's you know weeks and months at a time you know the variety the fact that your taste buds kind of change when you're in space the fact that gravities have pulling the food down as it gets processed and out and give it's a sensation of feeling hungry also when we take missions to Mars exercise is going to be really important yeah even when I'm in space I'm still gonna have to go to the gym our bodies are here in 1g on the earth and it takes muscles to hold the bones all together and puts you know tension on them so they maintain their density great so if I'm not careful my muscles will waste away and my bones will start decaying that's even before I think about the cosmic radiation that'll be frying me from the inside or just the crippling loneliness I'll feel having to spend months on end and a metal can with the same people but while I was about to tear up my application for astronaut school Resnick gave me some words of hope I was surprised that when I got to space the first time yeah I thought you know I've always looked up to astronauts there are these super human beings you know and I didn't know how I got selected but I get up there and within 24 hours the human body has adapted also I could just reach out if I wanted to go over that core that I do I didn't enter I didn't reach up over here I know I can just go over there and reach down over here and know exactly how much force to push to get myself moving and that direction just flowed over that way we're wired for this and we adapt so well it doesn't take anybody special to be an astronaut anybody can do it you just have to have a desire to go put yourself on a rocket and put yourself in a spacesuit and go there I was starting to feel more confident about becoming an astronaut the apollo team managed to get to the moon with computers that were more basic than the phone i've got in my pocket we live in a day and age where anything is possible but even if I make it through astronaut school and survive the journey with my muscles intact there's still one big question where the hell am I gonna live thankfully a thousand miles up the coast from Florida one New York startup is working on a solution this is Marsha the 3d printed habitat created by AI space Factory the design came about through NASA's Centennial challenge the space agency asked companies to create a 3d printed space habitat and Marsha took out first prize it might look like a giant alien egg but it's actually been carefully designed to survive the stresses of life in space and best of all it can be built in space from materials actually found on Mars for the team designing Marsha that was vital because when you're on Mars taking a trip to Home Depot isn't really an option if you've seen the movie the Martian if there's a disaster there's like very little you can do in terms of getting someone to come back so you need to build something which is much more robust you know shockproof able to withstand the elements much more durable so when we look at a solution for Mars we go away from the sort of inflatable deployable structures that you see in sci-fi for the moon and you need to start thinking about structures like Marsha which is essentially 3d printed from rock so how do you 3d print from rock well AI space factory designs Marsha so it could be made from basalt taken from the Martian surface and mixed with a naturally derived biopolymer called PLA you can make that from plants like corn or sugarcane mix the two together heat them up and you've got a material that's as strong as Kevlar it also has the added bonus of shielding from cosmic radiation so why the weird egg design well the design not only looks space-aged but it's actually really sturdy you've probably seen in sci-fi movies or artwork like this idea of a Martian city and these are typically like domed structures once we started investigating that we realized that an egg-like structure was actually the most structurally efficient for and if you think about an egg the egg shell can be very very thin and still it has the right amount of strength but this shape isn't just more efficient to print it's also the best way to maximize floor space and the best way to handle Mars's atmosphere the biggest force we have to design for on Marcia was actually the internal air pressure which is an earth-like atmosphere so this must expand outwards so the shape of this envelope needs to contain that difference in the atmospheric pressure Masha has a double shell design so it's tough on the outside but still livable on the inside and every inch of this space is designed for humans the bottom floor acts kind of like a mudroom it's separated from the top three floors with an airlock and it's where astronauts can prep for spacewalks or get out of their space suits after a tough day on Martian Dunes above that there's a common space with a kitchen and work areas the third floor has sleeping quarters a sanitation pod and a garden and on the fourth floor there's a recreation and exercise level on top of that a massive skylight let's in light that then filters down through the inner shell so the astronauts inside don't feel like they're trapped in a tiny box millions of miles from home even if they kind of are having spaces in here which are very called human centric like focused around people was as important to factor of the design as say like the technical aspects so having something that's above ground filled with natural light sensation of space from one floor to the next I think it helps just alleviate that congestion back in Florida sending humans to another planet was actually starting to feel one step closer I wasn't alive for the Apollo launch but as NASA blasted off its Orion test rocket I finally understood the excitement of those first space missions so the launch has just happened and I'm still completely blown away we saw the rocket blast off the launch pad and then way up in the sky up here that's where we saw those abort rockets engage and we saw the little crew capsule kind of blast off and we saw them separate we see these smoke trails and then finally it crashed in the ocean we heard that too is a another boom so we saw this massive splash this is my first rocket launch and just understand A's living on Mars is for the adventurous I think there's a certain romance of going to a place that no one has gone before it would be really great if we made it so that flying in space is just like getting on an airplane flight you decide instead of coming to Florida and go in at Disney World and costing your family fifty thousand dollars to go for the week you go hit kids you wanna go to space is about fifty thousand bucks yeah I'll be really nice walking on Mars might still be a while off but it's exciting to know that we're already taking those early steps to get there sure I won't be able to leave the planet tomorrow and realistically I'm probably gonna need a better plan for escaping the apocalypse than just jumping on a rocket and going to Mars but still it's exciting to know that space travel beyond the space station it's actually going to be a reality in my lifetime but now I'll just have to watch from back here on earth up here we saw the actual launch abort system kind of at the top you'll see the abort rockets sorry I don't actually know if it's launching from this launch pad or another one and there's an alligator in the grass oh no that's how you peeper guys you\n"
