Mars Bio Dome

Hi! Im Tanner Christensen. I am 14 years old and love creating things and solving problems! For this contest I thought it would be cool to design a Mars bio dome, because living on Mars has been a topic for discussion for a while and I have always loved that idea.

1. Paper
2. Pencil
3. Fusion 360 (although I didn't get to finish the 3d model sadly)
4. My brain!

To kick off my project I started by researching how mars could theoretically be livable.

First, Mars doesn't have a suitable atmosphere. Humans need ~21% oxygen to live and Mars's atmosphere is only about 0.13% oxygen and the atmospheric pressure 0.6% of Earth's. Which is the biggest problem we face when figuring out how to live on Mars.

Second, the average temperature is about -80°F. Way too cold for liquid water or plants to survive.

Third, the surface radiation on Mars is about 50x the radiation on Earth. Which can cause cancer and all sorts of problems.

Fourth, dust storms. Mars dust storms can block solar panels, harm lungs, and get into machinery.

That is to name a few, the others include (Weak gravity, Non suitable atmospheric pressure, Toxic soil, Weak sunlight, No magnetic field, and Long distance from Earth)

Next I had to figure out the needs for my dome, so I came up with this list.

My dome needs to:

1. Hold breathable air
2. Protect people from radiation
3. Keep a stable temperature
4. Generate power
5. Recycle and store water
6. Grow food
7. Produce oxygen
8. Filter and clean the air
9. Let in sunlight for plants to grow
10. Provide a safe airlock for entering and exiting
11. Living space for sleeping, working, eating, and exercising

With those needs in mind lets move to the next step and get a build plan!

Okay now lets get a build plan!

Shape: semi-spherical, 30-60 ft diameter per habitat.

Main shell: Multi-layer composite: Inner polycarbonate and outer water shield to resist radiation.

Shielding: 1–3 m of regolith (Mars soil) for walls and roof, with 15 cm of water over skylights for radiation protection.

Insulation: Reflective coating on outside, MLI quilts for opaque areas, and ETFE cushions in skylights.

Extra needed things:

1. Airlock
2. Water
3. Solar array field
4. Living spaces

For water an automated way would be to have a robot/rover collect icy soil, which then you heat up into vapor, then collect the water.

I WAS designing this in fusion 360, but sadly due to time, I wasn't able to complete it. So instead I have a sketch. The cover picture is just a render of what it might roughly look like.

Here I drew a sketch of the layout.

Thank you so much for this opportunity to show creativity and learn about space! I really learned a lot about mars, and the problems we face when trying to live there. I really do think one day we will have settlements on mars, and I hope it's in my lifetime!