page_title: Mars habitat
section_title: In-situ resources
hierarchical_section_title: Mars habitat / In-situ resources
caption_attribution_description: English: Mars DRM 3.0, Figure A5-11, page 47, Combination Lander Concept diagram.
context_page_description: A Mars habitat is a place that humans can live in on Mars. Mars habitats must contend with surface conditions that include almost no oxygen in the air, extreme cold, low pressure, and high radiation. Alternatively, the habitat may be placed underground, which helps solve some problems but creates new difficulties.
  One challenge is the extreme cost of building materials for Mars, which by the 2010s was estimated be about US$2 million per brick to the surface of Mars. While the gravity on Mars is lower than that on Earth, there is increased solar radiation, temperature cycles, and the high internal forces needed for pressurized habitats to contain air.
  To contend with these constraints, architects have worked to understand the right balance between in-situ materials and construction, and ex-situ to Mars. For example, one idea is to use the locally available regolith to shield against radiation exposure, and another idea is to use transparent ice to allow non-harmful light to enter the habitat. Mars habitat design can also involve the study of local conditions, including pressures, temperatures, and local materials, especially water.
context_section_description: In situ resource utilization involves using materials encountered on Mars to produce materials needed. One idea for supporting a Mars habitat is to extract subterranean water, which, with sufficient power, could then be split into hydrogen and oxygen, with the intention of mixing the oxygen with nitrogen and argon for breathable air. The hydrogen can be combined with carbon dioxide to make plastics or methane for rocket fuel. Iron has also been suggested as a building material for 3D printed Mars habitats.
  In the 2010s the idea of using in-situ water to build an ice shield for protection from radiation and temperature, etc. appeared in designs.
  A material processing plant would use Mars resources to reduce reliance on Earth provided material.
  The planned Mars 2020 mission includes Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE), which would convert Mars carbon dioxide into oxygen.
  To convert the whole of Mars into a habitat, increased air could come from vaporizing materials in the planet. In time lichen and moss might be established, and then eventually pine trees.
  There is a theory to make rocket fuel on Mars, by the Sabatier process. In this process hydrogen and carbon dioxide are used to make methane and water. In the next step, the water is split into hydrogen and oxygen, with the oxygen and methane being used for a Methane-Oxygen rocket engine, and the hydrogen could be re-used. This process requires a large input of energy, so an appropriate power source would be needed in addition to the reactants.
caption: A concept for a combined surface habitat and ascent vehicle from the 1990s era Design Reference Mission 3.0-based mission, that integrated in-situ resources production in this case for propellant
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