Reconnaissance on Mars
Creation of a Mars Hangar
S. Andrew Ning, Krystle Farnsworth, Robert Lawton, Brian Riddle, David Allred
Mars Exploration
Assemble
and repair
machinery:
Imagine doing
that work
in a Fullairplanes,
Pressure
ATVs,
Suit rovers
Creation of an Intermediate
Environment

Allows design of a suit with greater
mobility, dexterity, and visibility
Mars Homestead Project @ M.I.T.



95% CO2, 2.7% N2,
1.8% Ar, .13% O2,
.07% CO
Surface pressure is
approximate 6-7
millibars
Average Temperature
= -55°C



78% N2, 21%O2, .9%
Ar, .03% CO2
Surface pressure is
about 1.01 bar
Average Surface
Temperature = 15°C
Biological Concerns
Mars has insufficient oxygen (Gas
Composition)
 Mars has insufficient vapor pressure
(Pressure Regulation)
 Mars is too cold (Temperature Regulation)

Solution: Space Suits


Full Pressure Suits (FPS) used in
past NASA explorations protect
against thin atmospheres, low
pressures and cold temperatures
Downside: The large pressure
differential created makes
movement awkward and large
helmets limit visibility
Ideal Pressure
Lower pressure differential decreases
fatigue and increases productivity.
Especially gloved hand fatigue.
 Too low of pressure presents risk of
hypoxia. Need to maintain sufficient
partial pressure of oxygen in lung alveoli.
 Too high of pressure presents risk of
oxygen toxicity.

Mixed Gas Composition
One approach to avoid oxygen toxicity and
flammability hazards is to use a mixed gas
suit
Drawbacks:



More expensive to continually monitor both
oxygen and nitrogen partial pressure
Adds weight and volume
Increases risk for decompression sickness
Other Problems

How do we do heavy duty work?
These Full Pressure Suits (FPS)
lack dexterity, mobility, visibility,
and are high in energy cost.

Longevity. FPS take a long time to take on and off.
Also need to consider repeated decompression.
Our Solution: Build a “Mars
Hangar”

An intermediate environment can be used
to provide external pressure- Compress
existing Mars air to >0.5 Bar
Sprung Instant Structures
Intermediate Environment Suit
• Used as a supplemental
suit
• Not gas-tight suit (thin
like a flight suit)
• Oxygen Face Mask
• Microwave absorbent
material
Benefits of a “Mars Hangar”

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We can increase the pressure while using a
thinner suit, so motion is much less restricted
With a higher pressure we can use mixed gases
Can decrease or eliminate decompression time
Taking suit on and off is much more time efficient
Allow us to use local resources to supply and
exhaust air – saves on costs
Increased mobility makes it much easier to
assemble and repair airplanes, ATVs and rovers
Decompress in “Mars Hangar”
Pre-breathe 100% Oxygen
 Inert Environment
 Can still do productive work

Temperature Regulation
Long range heating by directed
microwaves – minimize bulkiness of suit
 Deliver the heat energy directly rather than
heating empty space, a plus for energy
poor environments like Mars
 Can be more efficiently reflected than
infrared
 Easier to produce and direct than infrared

Quantum theory of light
Electrochromic Materials
Transport hydrogen
ions from a storage
area through a
conducting layer into
electrochromic
material
 By applying a voltage
we can reversibly
change the window
from a clear state to a
darkened state

NREL of the DOE
Experiment
Reflectance
Transmission
Absorption
Mirror* Aluminum
77%
88%
2%
1%
21%
11%
*Readings for both 'clear' and 'tint' settings were the same
within measurable error
Why didn’t the microwaves switch?


We used an electrochromic mirror that uses two
electrically conductive transparent coatings
The microwaves didn’t even reach the
electrochromic material
Where do we go from here?
Needs a smaller plasma frequency than
conventional materials (lower conductivity)
 Make our own electrochromic material
using Tungsten-Bronze, Ruthenium-Oxide,
or Vanadium-Oxide
 Use a microwave mirror with co-planar
switchable links
 Use of materials that rotate polarization
(we can use polarized microwaves to
switch from absorbing to reflecting)

Summary
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Building and operating machinery
will be essential in Martian
exploration.
Intermediate environments will be
very useful and can be developed
by:
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Building a Mars air pressurized
hangar
Developing a thin, flexible, low weight,
intermediate environment suit
Using directed heating by microwaves
Thus, we can provide sufficient
pressure, oxygen and
temperature while dramatically
decreasing the bulkiness of the
space suit. This will increase
mobility, dexterity and visibility.
Things will get done!