A Review of Physical and Environmental Components of Habitat Design on Mars

Given the interdisciplinary processes of designing a natural habitat for the crew in an extraterrestrial space such as Mars, the creation of a livable space habitat, which is compatible with technological requirements, goals of scientific missions, and human factors, is a major challenge to space architects and engineers.Therefore, the present review study sought to detect and investigate the effective components of physical and environmental structures of the habitat design on Mars. According to the results, the human factor is considered the first important component in designs, and the main goal of all efforts is ultimately human travel and habitation in space. Besides, environmental components such as pressure, temperature, gravity, atmosphere, cosmic radiation, ice water, and seasonal and daily changes make humans comply with the most important technical issues in designing these habitats. Their types of structure and materials are important physical components that affect the space architecture of habitats on this red planet. According to the research findings, the use of materials from the surface of Mars or wind structures, the utilization of regoliths from the surface of Mars, or the chemical synthesis of carbon nanotubes, and also their construction in suitable places such as the crater of Hellas Planitia and lava tube caves are suggestions for the construction of a permanent habitat on Mars inspired by the proposed examples. Furthermore, combining existing options with new conditions such as installing wind structures in the protected space of caves can be a new approach to design and can be considered an intelligent option.