It’s official – a company has just made plans for the first human city on Mars, according to a press release from ABIBOO.
The first large-scale Mars settlement, called Nüwa City, could house 250,000 people and be built along and into the side of a colossal cliff – where the people of Mars would have access to sunlight without risking being overexposed to the deadly threat from cosmic rays.
Most importantly, ABIBOO claims construction will begin in 2054, with the first settlers moving in by the year 2100.
ABIBOO’s plan for the first Martian city will be built into the side of a cliff
Most of the new renderings of Nüwa City show room interiors (and the operative word seems to be luxury), and whether the goal of 2100 is a realistic estimate is up for grabs. But the press release makes it clear that ABIBOO has considered how a city on Mars can function and ultimately thrive. The side of a cliff on the Red Planet will allow settlers to live in personal homes, with other areas dedicated to agricultural and energy purposes, where people can raise livestock or generate energy from the sun.
The goal is to build a self-sustaining civilization on the surface of Mars that is able to exist without the need to constantly transport supplies from Earth, but exact plans on how this will happen, have yet to be seen. But it will be difficult. The atmospheric pressure of Mars is less than 1% of Earth’s, the temperature is cold enough to melt tears, which would surely shed from a person exposed to the deadly radiation that severely affects any skin exposed to cosmic rays. would burn.
“We had to do a lot of computer-based analysis and work with the scientists to try to understand what conditions we will face,” said Alfredo Muñoz, founder of architecture studio ABIBOO.[W]We have to face challenges that are very specific to the conditions on Mars, including gravity, which is only one third of the Earth’s gravity. “
Fortunately for us, however, there is CO2 and water in the surface of Mars.
A future city on Mars probably shouldn’t rely on Earth
“Water is one of the great advantages that Mars offers, it helps to get the right materials for the construction,” said Muñoz. “In short, with the water and CO2 we can generate carbon and with the carbon we can generate steel.” Crucially, ABIBOO plans to use only materials from Mars to build the first city on Earth.
The new Mars city project is involved in a larger science project organized by The Mars Society – with development work from the SONet network, an international team of scientists and academics. “The lessons we learn from developing a fully sustainable city on Mars bring us so much know-how, ideas and insights about things we could do differently on Earth,” explains Muñoz.
Many people are very passionate about building a substantial human presence on Mars. From Carl Sagan to Robert Zubrin, and from Mars enthusiasts to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk – the interest is far from waning. While some of Musk’s estimates may seem a bit unrealistic, the consensus is growing that any future city on Mars will eventually have to be self-sufficient – otherwise, the Red Planet’s future humans will never gain independence from Earth.