NASA Exploring The Possibility To Use Ice Shelters On Mars | TechTree.com

NASA Exploring The Possibility To Use Ice Shelters On Mars

The hydrogen-rich material perfect for shielding astronauts from radiation.

 

In addition to Tesla and Boing, NASA too is optimistic about landing humans on the red planet. The American space agency is well aware of the harsh conditions on Mars and is working towards building possible shelters for the explorers. NASA's team at Langley Research Center, believes that ice is the ideal material to protect the humans from the high-energy radiation and extreme temperatures.



Water, a hydrogen-rich material, is known for its excellent shielding properties for cosmic rays. Without such shielding, the radiation can damage the cells or DNA of the astronauts. Dubbed as Mars Ice Home, it is a large inflatable torus shaped habitat that somewhat looks like an Igloo. The idea is to fill the water during the deployment, so that it can be transported with ease. Considering that the water could be turned into rocket fuel for the Mars Ascent Vehicle, the structure itself doubles as a fuel storage tank.



To manage temperatures inside the Ice Home, a layer of carbon dioxide gas would be used as in insulation between the living space and the thick shielding layer of ice. Since ice is translucent, the habitat will have abundance of light. This is ideal to grow vegetables or plants on the otherwise barren planet. For more information, head over to NASA's press release.

 


TAGS: Space

 
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