Korolev Crater Settlement Notions.

Void · 2025-04-29 19:18:26

Yes, I have looked at this before, but thinking about it, I think I can present reasons why it might be a good option.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korolev_(Martian_crater)
Quote:

For early people on Mars, water will be more useful than gold. In mining, including mining ice, not having to remove overburden may be very important.

So, then a side view as I understand Korolev from it's picture:

First of all, there could be an issue with avalanches, however remote, so the initial settlement will be strictly robotic.
The "Notch" may be a bit protected per hard radiation problems.

The robots will be at least partly powered by fission nuclear power, as that has to be done on Mars, anyway, to have any hopes of surviving a global dust storm or a northern winter.

In the notch, it appears that there will be access to massive amounts of water ice, and also regolith, but the regolith will not be an overburden over the ice.

So, we have had dreams of nuclear robots melting their way into the seas of Europa. This will be easier. Probably can tunnel sideways. Various sources of heat from nuclear might do the tunneling. While liquid is a possible option, I rather think that a laser could vaporize long tunnels in the ice sideways, and suck the water vapor into a compressor to make liquid water.

The ice tunnels could become shelter for robots particularly in the winter. This avoids blasting, drilling, though regolith to get to ice, and provides some shelter.

Tunnels could be gridiron in nature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_plan
Image Quote:

So, if you wanted to you could have a robot place a nuclear reactor down some short tunnel, and have power cables that would bring the power out and leave the radiation inside of a barrier of ice.

You would have access to Earth (regolith), wind (Atmosphere), water (Ice) and fire (nuclear then also solar then maybe fusion).

As you would add robots to the community as the tunnel system expanded, you would develop propellant manufacture, water storage and purification, and other functions.

Particularly you could implement electric powered precision fermentation, so that large amounts of bulk food would be created and stored as frozen.

So, I think that although the location is indeed rather cold, it has a lot to offer.

As it was built up you could gradually begin to staff it with actual humans after a time.

I think it is a very good solution for the challenge of radiation.

From Calliban, about the radiation challenge: https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 58#p212658 Quote:

Calliban
Member
From: Northern England, UK
Registered: 2019-08-18
Posts: 4,000
Email
Anton Petrov discusses radiation on Mars.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aTBnjzpqsd8
"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."

One thing I do know is that for instance the Romans felt that their water supplies of a very high importance.

Given nuclear and solar power, there is a vast amount of water to be had in Korolev Crater.

And yes eventually even a ice covered melted sea might be created in the notch somewhere.

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Last edited by Void (2025-04-29 20:04:10)

tahanson43206 · 2025-04-29 19:37:57

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#1 2025-04-29 19:18:26

Korolev Crater Settlement Notions.

#2 2025-04-29 19:37:57

Re: Korolev Crater Settlement Notions.

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