The journey to Mars will take seven months. The space travelers will be in a space ship that will be as big as a minivan during those seven months. They would be anxious to move out into a comfortable home once they arrive on Mars. In order to simulate Martian experience, an organization known as the Mars Society has already constructed a prototype Martian city on Devon Island in Canada. It is known as the Flashline Arctic Research Station. You can explore the Martian landscape at ExploreMarsNow.org.
MIT's Mars Homestead Project is an ambitious undertaking with its designs for high-tech and locally-fabricated homes on Mars. Each home will be outfitted with amenities such as a garden, library, greenhouse, and private parking space. All homes will be made locally, using materials occurring naturally in the atmosphere and soil. The homes could also be built into the Martian hillsides, which would be accessible through multiple airlocks. The airlocks, in tandem with reinforced building materials, will prevent explosive pressure leaks: “Materials such as brick and stone will have to be lined or sealed with plastic or fiberglass, and sufficiently reinforced with soil or other materials to prevent the buildings from exploding”.
Reference: Mark Baard, “Builders in a Strange Land,” 18 June 2004, Wired online.
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