Mars Manufacturing Settlement

Envisioning a future Mars city and manufacturing center as if it were already built, this paper describes Leominster, a settlement accommodating several hundred people. The paper defines the potential manufacturing systems, technologies, and economic value of a Mars settlement. It also addresses the challenges of safety, pressure, temperature and radiation, which are often ignored in other designs. Novel architectural systems involved in Leominster�s design include: regolith-based masonry, bricks, fiberglass, and ceramics made with a solar furnace. The settlement also uses cement, metals, regolith for shielding, and SpaceX Starships or similar landing craft in its construction. A new aspect of the design is a spacious park with the canopy tied down with cables, resembling a cathedral, as an answer to the hard-to-build domes of other designs. Some of the architectural elements are borrowed from previous Mars Foundation designs. There is significant reliance on plastics and carbon-based materials for polymer membranes, plastics, food, fuel, fabrics, and even fungi-mycelium-based furnishings. Such a Mars manufacturing settlement could demonstrate economical construction and living methods beyond the Earth. This could lead to economic development and spreading of life throughout the solar system.