EleMental Mars – IAAC BLOG

Team member(s): Andres Roncal, Paula De Simone and Fadi Azzam
Modified by Andres Roncal on April 4, 2024

Embracing community living and relaxation as essential components to overcome the challenges of life on the Red Planet.

In the prospective colonization of Mars, Meditation and Wellbeing were identified as key elements to endure life far from Earth. During the research, the concept of the Japanese Pagoda, a vertical structure that encompasses the five elements crucial to human life, was encountered.

From this, the concepts of central spaces, ascending path, and psychology of color were extracted, and their semiotics were studied in order to apply them to our project. Considering the site location and its features, and with a view to future expansion, the decision was made to adapt this vertical concept onto a more horizontal one, which seamlessly adapts to the given slope.

Located at the Valles Marineris on Mars, the site required a method to determine suitable deployment spots for the units. A script was developed to assess the topography’s slope based on degrees. Initially, locations were restricted to a downward slope of 30 degrees, with areas featuring steeper slopes being eliminated. Further refinement limited the slope to a 12-degree angle, and logic was devised to identify points within a 50 feet radius, pinpointing a small selection of potential pavilion locations.

Preliminary research focused on modular projects, allocating individual pods for habitation, connected to central common spaces. This design, presented during the 46th International Conference on Environmental Systems in 2016 in Vienna, Austria, laid the groundwork.

A brief diagram illustrates the computational and design approach. The aim is to adapt to the terrain, create central spaces, and distribute modular units accordingly. Beginning with three geometries offering variety in size for different uses, units are aggregated following appropriate rules to achieve a form fulfilling the objectives, resulting in the Meditation program and the units program.

The octagon and cube geometries were chosen due to their number of faces, which offer a variety of connection arrangements, as demonstrated in the next slide. Care was taken to consider vertical connections to align with the main concept and terrain.

The aggregation rules were established as follows:

We began by analyzing the slope, resulting in the creation of a path field.
Subsequently, we added surface and elevation fields.
The GIF on the right illustrates the sum of all fields.

Curve fields

Terrain fields

Height fields

Combined fields

Here are the iterations before and after discovering these aggregation rules. Initially, experiments were conducted with connection rules to achieve central spaces. Subsequently, vertical connections were added to attain verticality, although this addition introduced more chaos.

These are the results when applying the aggregation rules:

Aggregating with individual units, followed by complete cells in the second GIF.

The images also demonstrate various scales of expansion beyond 50 occupants.

At the bottom are the results showcasing alternating between different fields.

The martial adaptation approach was structured with a breakdown of different levels of phases for human deployment and building constructability and assembly. Initially, a ‘No Humans (50p)’ phase was planned, involving site selection, resource and material collection, site analysis with LIDAR imagery, and a cluster of autonomous and remote-controlled robots. This cluster includes rovers, quadcopters of various sizes, mobile six-axis robotic arms, and lifts.

Phase two, ‘Human and robot collaboration (50p),’ involves the deployment of units, pavilion articulation, and documentation. The initial two phases assess the possible continuation of the project and subsequent 12 phases aimed at achieving a population of 300 humans on Mars. Each phase will take approximately two and a half years, with increments of 50 people every two phases.

The project’s circulation is organized as follows: initially, pavilions are connected through a continuous ramp. From the pavilions, access is provided to what we call the buffer units. These are double-story units that facilitate vertical circulation and also distribute circulation to the habitational clustering.

This is how the pavilions are distributed, starting by Earth, following water, fire and air pavilions.

The program is distribution:

The Earth Pavilion features green gardens and vibrant orchards, providing a serene space for reflection and appreciation of nature.
In the Water Pavilion, individuals can indulge in cold, warm, and hot baths, immersing themselves in relaxation.
The Fire Pavilion is dedicated to cleansing the body and spirit, offering rejuvenating saunas and aromatic therapy sessions designed to purify and revitalize. It also serves as a source of inspiration, fostering community spirit through contemplative moments by the fire and group yoga sessions.
Within the Air Pavilion, both group and individual meditation sessions offer moments of serenity and perspective. Private praying pods are also available for spiritual reflection.

Units zoning:

Buffer units, responsible for vertical distribution and hosting public uses such as kitchen, lab, work, and study. These units can be accessed from the central pavilions and later distribute circulation to the habitational pods.
Support units, which connect the buffer units and host secondary uses such as toilets, power stations, and storage.

Metallic Materials:

Among the aluminum alloys, A 7075 and A-2024 find wide application areas.

Composite Materials:

Graphite–epoxy is the most popular composite material applied to spacecraft structures. Strength and rigidity are provided by graphite fibers which are imbedded in an epoxy matrix.

Adhesives and Fillers

Epoxy-type adhesives are often used to bond together independently fabricated composite elements.

Martian regolith soil

Vectran®, which is spun from a liquid crystal polymer and becomes a rigid structure when pressurized.

Components:

Multi-layer Insulation

Thermal Straps

Thermal Contact Conductance and Bolted Joint Conductance

Thermal Interface Materials and Conductive Gaskets

Sunshields

thermal Louvers

Deployable Radiators

Multifunctional Thermal Structures

MMOD

The spacecraft units feature a modular design with inflatable modules restrained by a tensile cable and rod system. Each module includes a foldable structural core housing all necessary components outlined in the ‘Spacecraftsmanship’ document.

Three types of units are offered:

Buffer Units: These spacious units serve various purposes, including vertical circulation and activities such as kitchens or laboratories for scientific research.
Habitational Units: Designed as comfortable living quarters and sleeping pods for our explorers.
Support Units: These units act as connectors to all other modules, ensuring safety and hygiene for our crew.

The modular system ensures safe compartmentalization in case of exterior damage, prioritizing crew safety. This design offers versatility, allowing for easy configuration to meet different mission requirements and research objectives.

Overall, the spacecraft units are designed for functionality, safety, and comfort during exploration missions in space.

During this stage, and since the design depended on an aggregation driven by fields, a repository was created for all team members to access the files. Then, work was divided as follows:

Slope rules to get the directive curves that will later guide the aggregation

Field-driven aggregation with its separate set of rules for form finding

Since the project is based on a kit of parts, units were designed separately, and later introduced as revit families for documentation and as speckle objects to the different streams designated to visualizations (unreal) and deliverables to the studio branches with metadata.

Once the form finding stage was finished, branches were made form the final aggregation. The fact that the habitational program was separated from the meditation one, was favourable for the division of tasks.

With the outline of the units ready, work was divided as follows.

Meditation branch:

Walls and roof + terrain
Floors and interior design

Units:

Units detailed design
Units interior design

Once the detailed design was finalized, an “Assembled file” was created. The purpose of this file is to contain all geometries from all scripts. This file would work in parallel with is grasshopper “Assembled file”, deconstructing all geometries and reconstructing them as speckle objects with attributes, which would later be sent to different streams, according to what it was needed

For documentation, geometries were sent to Revit using two main methods:

Individual elements for central construction: This method involved transferring building pads, floors, and the 3D printed wall framing for the units, along with support for the roof, as separate elements. This approach allowed for detailed documentation of each component of the central construction process.
Families for modular units: Families were created for the modular units, with categories and materials assigned for each sub-object. This method facilitated efficient management and manipulation of the modular units within the Revit environment, ensuring consistency and accuracy throughout the design process.

These methods enabled effective documentation of the project in Revit, facilitating comprehensive visualization and analysis of the construction process and modular units.