Habitat design – Mars ex-situ and in-situ resources utilization

This paper is intended to introduce new conceptual architectural designs and engineering proposals developed by the author to: create maximum internal efficiency in a Martian habitat, to provide great interior expansions when ready to be used on Mars surface but able to compact itself in order to be transported, to maximize the interior useful area, to use some of the most abundant materials in Mars with no physical/chemical transformation, and in the process offer the crucial radiation shielding to preserve the life of those living in it. The habitat developed, is composed of three parts, the first part is a metallic structure that will be shipped from Earth with all the materials and equipment that cannot be manufactured in Mars by an initial settlement, the second part will be a pneumatic structure composed of: an inflatable membrane structure to hold the interior atmosphere of 1 bar, embedded to a containment chamber for Mars regolith that will work as radiation shield, and the third part will consist in a conceptual automated gathering system that collects and transport Mars regolith into the deposit chambers mentioned before. The goal is to make the habitat economically and physically viable for possible future missions.