/sci/ - Science & Math

Future crews occupying MDRS should devote more mission time to sociological studies, ideally with outside observers rather than a specific member of the crew assigned to that role. Simply havin a replica habitat in a geologically similar environment and sending crews through the motions of what day to day life would consist of for a 'Marsonaut' does much to make the idea of manned colonization of Mars more 'real' and less abstract/specultive for skeptical senators and congressmen, However, due to non-trivial limitations in terms of how closely the MDRS experience can mirror an actual Mars mission due to equipment costs the best use of the facility at present is for a longer term program in the same vein as Tektite.

To improve the accuracy of the environmental simulation itself and facilitate experiments in Mars equivalent gravity and with genuine functioning life support equipment, a true sea/space analog habitat is required. Recognizing that commissioning the construction of one is well outside of the scope of the MDRS budget, I suggest based on personal knowledge of the few habitats remaining in operation today (and the smaller subset available for scientists to rent time on) that the MDRS administration investigate the Florida Keys Undersea Park, and the Marinelab and Jules habitats contained in it's inland emerald lagoon. Marinelab is a fully equipped, albeit modestly sized undersea laboratory with a transparent spherical cupola/observatory and a deployable ROV called the "Video Ray"

Marinelab, two man undersea lab and observatory

>>4495231

I wasn't always. I owe a lot of that motivation to comrades here on /sci/.

Pic: the modest but functional MarineLab, possible rental for Mars Society analog missions.

Btw the article author didn't do his homework; There are four such habitats in the US, three being used for science. They are just typically...somewhat less modern and well equipped than Aquarius. Pic related, Marinelab. It's about the size of a typical dorm. Mercifully it has a lower level, which is a spherical glass cupola.

>>3231790

Anything you build would have to be ambient only, and thus you wouldn't want to put it deeper than 30 feet or so. The depth of the moon pool must be 21 feet or less, so that the internal pressure is no greater than 1.6atm. This is the limit at which your body won't absorb nitrogen. Any deeper than that, and you'll require decompression to surface.

As a consequence, you don't need to worry too much about resilience. Remember, an ambient pressure habitat resists outside water pressure not because of the strength of the shell, but because the internal air pressure is the same (slightly greater, actually.)

Many homemade submarines are built from used propane storage tanks. This is how Marinelab and Baylab were built, also. If you could get your hands on a very large used propane storage tank, with a bit of welding it could be turned into an undersea habitat fairly easily.

Pic related: The interior of Marinelab, what you could realistically expect from a reasonably priced homemade habitat made from a propane tank. Lloyd Godson's habitat was roomier, but made from a cargo container, that's certainly another valid way to go.

Build a series of increasingly large prototype undersea habitats for test animals.

Then build a modest one for myself out of a scrapped water storage tank, using the same methods.

Oh wait, that's what I'm doing. :O

>>1948373

>>(I am just kidding Op I think you're really badass Hampture makes me feel proud of humanity)

Haha, it's just a hobby project. Feel proud when I build something like this:

>>1936428

>>Will you ever think about building yourself an underwater living space?

That's a dream of mine, and definitely in the longterm plans. Something like the one in the pic, built from a salvages water storage tank.

>>1895916

I'd have moved on to human sized habitats long before implementing any of that. My plan is either to weld a moon pool and portholes into a surplus water tank to make a habitat like the one pictured, or to commission a soft-shelled habitat made by these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phj3lLEtWlk

If you keep interior air pressure slightly higher than the outside water, you can use a flexible soft material to keep water out, as the outside and inside pressure are nearly the same anyway. Neat stuff. Imagine a "bubble room" like that one, but twenty feet across and eight feet high at the apex. A raised platform would keep the floor above water level and a dehumidifer would keep the air comfortably dry despite being partially open to the water.

>>1894716

>>Is the weight a dumbell?

Yeah, much heavier than is needed to sink it. I don't want it moving around.

>>After your initial tests you might want to consider connecting more habitats, or making them larger and inserting bigger animals.

That's the plan! Eventually one large enough for a person. Pic related, something like that.

>>1800582

That's the plan, eventually. I'm learning what I need to know on a small scale, and one day I hope to buy a surplus water storage tank and turn it into something like this.

Anyway, back to photos. This is the interior of MarineLab. Looks cozy.