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I will get back on the the brick dome project today. Between work and other hobbies, I have been stretched for time these past few weeks.
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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For Calliban re #376
It is good of you to allocate a bit more time to this fascinating visiion! This concept deserves an opportunity to appear on a wider stage, and this forum is a perfect place to try out ideas and presentation. We have members who have already shown interest, and we may be able to inspire other members to comment or perhaps even assist with part of the development.
As I am seeing this, it is far more than a flash in the pan. Louis gave us the gift of the vision of Sagan City, and your vision has the scope that matches Louis'.
Gemini has identified a large number of craters where a dome of this size would fit nicely. I'd like to proceed to selection of a candidate location and begin constructing a project plan. We only have a limited amount of information about the materials available on Mars, but there may be enough to support development of practical construction plans.
Certainly digital tools exist for design of the shaped wedges that would allow you to create a structure of great strength. Your initial idea of bricks is a great starting point, but SpaceNut's idea of larger pieces to fit together seems to me well worth pursuing.
All the details of material sourcing, fabrication, fluids management, power management and many other aspects of a large urban project are well studied on Earth. I doubt there is much to be encountered on Mars that has not already been solved on Earth.
(th)
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For Calliban re post about location in City topic...
We have a crater offered as a site for a dome. Please examine that location to see how well it measures up to your criteria.
I am basing this on Louis having identified the Viking 1 site as a suitable location for Sagan City.
To me it seems likely the Viking 1 site was chosen by Carl Sagan and others at JPL as a good place to take a look at Mars.
Unless someone comes up with an alternative that is massively superior, it seems to me it is pointless to keep dithering
Eventually every square kilometer on Mars will be staked out and claimed by some person or an entity. There will be cities all over the planet. There will only be ** one ** first city, and I think Louis' idea is worth careful consideration for the first city.
The supply of water on Mars is a function of energy available. It is going to take a robust reactor to support the construction of the dome you've described, and if that much power is available there is power to fetch water from wherever it may be.
I'll try to obtain a history of why the Viking 1 site was chosen.
(th)
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