info@universalprojects.net The N4st1 Project consists in the development of a 3D-printed settlement for exploration on Mars, built from native materials and with a capacity of four inhabitants. The project is defined by three main conditions: a hostile environment, a low gravity setting (0.3 G) and a high degree of uncertainty. From this starting point, N4st1 proposes a safe-to-fail design, considering the technological capabilities existing by 2030, and with the following three notions driving the design: Redundancy, manifested in the constructive logic of swarms of replaceable robots and in the creation of different inhabitable layers; Simplicity, expressed in simple design principles, while embedding complexity in processes that do not compromise the operation’s success; and Incrementalism, or the idea that the complexity of the design comes from the overlapping or addition of multiple simple operations. Incrementalism is also related to the idea of building the settlement in stages, so as to provide a safe habitat for the machines from the earliest construction stages, in order to decrease the chance of construction failure.
PLAN SCHEME
Translucent ribs conduct the light
RADIATION ANALYSIS
GENERAL PLAN
Internal filter through 3D-printed foam from silicates (solid phase) and hydrogen (gaseous phase)
EXOLAYER PLAN
All three functions are attained at a material level through three distinct layers or boundaries, each of them specific to a particular function. These three functional layers are inspired by the volumetric definition made by NASA for the ISS, divided into four functional volumes. These concentric layers act by aggregation and their interstices determine three types of space with different qualities. Moreover, when conveying this conceptualization to the surface of Mars, horizontality defines an anisotropic condition, which is a directionality in space and a specific non-radial relationship between habitability and layers.
The N4st1 iteration focuses on the development of the Exolayer, which aims to configure a primary protection layer for the settlement process. It has three main goals: 1) to quickly stabilize atmospheric conditions for further development of tasks that require greater control; 2) to significantly reduce cosmic radiation in order to allow human life inside the base; and 3) to mediate the relationship between the inside of the base and the Martian territory.
BIOMIMETIC STRATEGY
Caupolicana fulvicollis
The first of these layers is the Exolayer, which provides a primary protection to the settlement, that is, its function is to quickly stabilize the atmospheric conditions for further development of tasks that require greater control. The main requirement for this layer is construction speed, overshadowing accuracy. In addition, this layer must be partially translucent and must respond to local environmental conditions, adapting its shape and performance to it.
The third layer or Endolayer constitutes the Habitable Volume; its design meets all the necessary functions for the development of the astronaut’s activities. This layer constitutes the furniture, equipment and hosts the resources supply network, and of course, its design starts from the principle of space optimization. The morphology of this layer will be determined by the triple junction of body movements, the objects’ domain, and the construction system.
Ribbed texture of the dome External filter through ferrous oxides’ accumulation
From an inhabitation perspective, the settlement has three main objectives: 1) To provide atmospheric stabilization, enabling robotic building in safe conditions, minimizing error and robot failure; 2) To create a life-supporting milieu, granting the physiological conditions necessary for human life; and 3) To provide functional and comfortable infrastructure, understood as design solutions oriented to efficiently support anthropogenic use of the space.
The second layer or Mesolayer builds an atmosphere that generates all the required conditions to physiologically sustain human life and other living organisms. Therefore, this layer is required to be sealed, defining a pressurized volume whose content is controlled by the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). As an air volume, the formal logic of the Mesolayer is it’s the logic of the minimal surface, like a bubble.
a. Fast atmospheric stabilization
EXOLAYER SCANTLING
MARTIAN SITE SELECTION
Finely branched hairs hold small pollen grains on Ptiloglossa guinnae and Caupolicana yarrowi
As a first step in the settlement process it is necessary to reduce the level of uncertainty by stabilizing the atmospheric conditions for further critical tasks. Winds, sandstorms and thermal oscillation are a threat to the robots’ performance, and at the same time, these three obstacles are relatively easy to neutralize by building a layer containing an interior volume. In this regard, our strategy is to create the Exolayer as a fast-building layer made of a foam where the solid phase is made from molten silicates of the Martian surface (i.e. Olivine), and the ga seous phase is made of hydrogen from the water present in the Martian soil. The 3D printing process will allow us to manipulate the amount of hydrogen and molten silicates in order to optimize the layer’s structural performance. In this building process, speed is prioritized over accuracy of implementation. b. Radiation reduction In order to significantly reduce cosmic radiation inside the settlement, the Exolayer works as a double-filter layer. First, we create an external filter via the accumulation of ferrous oxides carried by the Martian winds. This filter acts by mass, so the design of the Exolayer optimizes this accumulation at two scales: 1) at a general scale, a wrinkled texture creates “pockets” where the ferrous powder lays down, and 2) at a smaller scale, nano hairs retain the ferrous oxides. These hairs are inspired by the bumblebees of the genus Caupolicana, which are capable of carrying and retaining grains of pollen under 10 μm in diameter. These external devices are magnetized in order to agglomerate the powder and to retain it in a better way. The internal filter works at the level of the gaseous phase of the foam. In the process of 3D-printing the Exolayer, the molten silicates are injected with hydrogen to create the bubbles. Together, these hydrogen bubbles act as a fine atomic filter against cosmic radiation. c. Site selection and Territorial adaptation
SECTION
AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE
We propose to locate the base in Valles Marinieris, a 2,000 km-long canyon in Mars’ equatorial region, between 4° S and 15° S. This region presents favourable conditions for establishing the settlement, including high solar radiation (by Martian standards) to gain heat and produce energy; a myriad of relevant geological sites for resource extraction nearby (iron oxides, hydrated sulphates, silicates, clay sediments, and so on); ground altitudes down to -4,000 meters, which will help provide a slightly denser atmosphere; and the abundance of gullies, indicating the presence of liquid water beneath the surface. Within this large region, the settlement will be located over a moderately elevated terrain feature on the west edge of Candor Chaos. The geographic characteristics of the site provide shelter against sandstorms, and its specific location sits in relative proximity —120 km— to a diversity of points of interest for Martian exploration. As an intermediary between the territory and the interior of the base, the general form of the Exolayer is designed in an aerodynamic shape to allow for and protect internal activities.