Dubai’s “Martian city” taking shape at $135 million

Architects in Dubai are building a prototype of a “Martian city” that will be completed at a cost of $135 million. Called the  Mars Science City, it is located in the desert outside Dubai. The area under construction is 176,000 square kilometers of desert, which is equivalent to 30 football fields. 

The project was started in September 2017 and while it is uncertain when it will be fully completed, it is expected that the project will be fully operation within this decade, ac cording to TimeOut Dubai.

Architects’ impression of the completed Mars Science City project being built in the desert outside Dubai as a research station and simulator for future habitations on Mars. Pics courtesy BIG  

“To make the atmosphere hospitable in terms of temperature and air pressure, the city would be made up of pressurized biodomes” said Jakob Lange, architect working on the project which is being built by the Bjarke Ingels-led firm BIG.

This prototype will have museums, schools, co-working spaces and also an amphitheater Under these giant domes, the buildings required to run life will be 3D printed. The rooms will extend up to 20 feet underground. This is built in a way as to protect humans from radiation and meteors.

Architects’ impression of the completed Mars Science City project being built in the desert outside Dubai as a research station and simulator for future habitations on Mars. Pics courtesy BIG

“Underground” will also have many fun and flashy elements. For instance, the architects say,  there will be aquariums at ground level which will act as skylights for the rooms below. When the viewer looks at the roof, he will see fish swimming above him.

This prototype in Dubai will eventually become the lab for the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre. It is part of the UAE’s goal to colonize Mars in the next century.

On Mars, as more and more people come to inhabit the planet, the biodomes will form cities in the shape of a ring, powered by solar energy.

There are many problems with the life on Mars. It has a thin atmosphere and no global magnetic field or protection from radiation. The average temperature on Mars is -63 degrees C. Air pressure is only one-sixth that of earth, meaning that liquids quickly evaporate into gas. Mars has only 6% of earths air pressure. Lack of air pressure is a challenge. It makes liquids quickly evaporate into gas. Fun Fact: Human blood can literally boil if they went to Mars unprotected!

Most important, the technicalities are not the biggest hurdle in this project. “The issue is human and personal,” said Jonathan Eastwood, director of the Space Lab at Imperial College in London. “It is not just a question of how you survive but how humans can thrive”, he added.

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