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Working outdoors could be problematic on Mars - not so much for human beings who can wear space suits - but for machinery operating in extreme cold.
I have been wondering whether it is possible to build a kind of inflatable "aircraft hangar" type structure which would have as an internal lining a material which reflects infrared (?) heat and which would have aerogel insulation. It would have just a small opening on to the Mars surface and an internal heat source.
Would a structure of this type be able to maintain temperatures above freezing and allow easier outdoor working?
I am thinking incidentally that there would be health and safety advantages to external working.
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You mean pressurized or unpressurized?
[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]
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Sorry - unpressurised.
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What would these health and safety advantages be? Working outside in a suit always entails significant risk. You'd die inside this "machine tent" if your suit failed just as quick as if you were outside of it.
And, while machines must operate in a cold atmosphere, remember that the atmosphere is very thin and a poor conductor of heat. Thus, it is easy to keep the machines warm with internal heaters when night-time power is not a problem (nuclear reactor) or may even keep warm enough just from normal operation.
[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]
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GCN Revenger -
On the H&S advantages, I think that they are twofold:
1. Additional radiation protection and micrometeorite protection.
2. I think that while habitat and farm areas should be entrenched or covered in regolith, the danger of a flash fire from industrial processes makes above ground and open working desirable - so any fires or explosions do not endanger the main habitat and the personnel have a fighting chance of survival. (Of course the primary aim must be to ensure 100% safe operation, but we can't rule out human or machine error.)
That said, the heat issue was something that did exercise me and I am interested to learn from you that heat loss is less of a problem owing to the thin atmosphere - hadn't realised it was quite so significant. If heat is not a huge issue (and I don't think it would be with solar either by the way - given there are plenty of opportunities for energy storage to power internal heaters) then I wouldn't run with my idea - straighforward working in the open is probably OK, maybe with judicious choice of location, to provide a shadowed area perhaps for a large part of the idea, so as to provide additional radiation protection.
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The radiation protection would be trivial unless the roof is relatively thick and heavy, which will make constructing such things "expensive" as far as resources and machinery go. Also, Mars doesn't really have much of a micro-meteoroid problem, because the air is thick enough to burn up small stuff like on Earth.
If any process is too hazardous to do in the pressurized confines of a base/colony, then we ought to just leave the machines outside. About the only benefit to the "machine tent" I can think of would be dust control, which might be an issue during dust storms and would make working outdoors difficult.
[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]
[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]
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It could be very useful for any in depth excavation and construction. Particularly for dust control, but I would imagine you could whittle away at other life support requirements, like temperature, pressure and air.
Anything we can do to reduce the need for bulkier and heavier space suits is worth it. Quickly creating a large, redeployable outdoor shelter that reduces or eliminates any or all of the radiation or atmospheric needs of the astronauts while working out doors allows them to use much cheaper, flexible even expendable suits, and allows them to be much more effective.
Of course just how much depends on how well you can temporarily seal it to the surface.
"Yes, I was going to give this astronaut selection my best shot, I was determined when the NASA proctologist looked up my ass, he would see pipes so dazzling he would ask the nurse to get his sunglasses."
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...the astronauts while working out doors allows them to use much cheaper, flexible even expendable suits, and allows them to be much more effective.
Of course just how much depends on how well you can temporarily seal it to the surface.
Yeah thats the catch, the seal has to be pretty good to eliminate the need for pressure against the body. Radiation isn't a big concern either way though.
[i]"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those that do not have it." - George Bernard Shaw[/i]
[i]The glass is at 50% of capacity[/i]
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