Challenges in illumination analysis and design for Martian surface-level habitation.

It is needless to say that travel to and settlement on Mars are associated with extreme levels of scientific and engineering issues. This will only be amplified with the long-term duration of the mission, not only due to scarcity of resources, but also as the psychological aspects of the dynamics among the crew increase drastically. It should be emphasized that this is a scientific crew, who have undergone high levels of confinement during space travel to Mars, O (10 Earth days), are living in semi-solitude and partial confinement conditions for durations of O (10 Earth days), and even at the nominal termination of the mission, foresee a high-risk and arduous travel time of O (10 Earth days) back to the Earth.

Space-technological and architectural methodology and process towards design of long-term habitats for scientific human missions on mars.

Centered on the core idea of long duration habitat design for research crew on Mars, the Martian Habitat Units (MHUs) are designed as a cluster of 10 units each with the maximum capacity of 9 crew members to live and carry on with the local challenges of scientific and exploratory life, while enjoying their lives as intellectual, social individuals in the harsh environment of Mars for durations in the order of magnitude of several years. This approach to the concept of a living environment in sharp contradiction to that of a shelter with the minimal capabilities to meet the requirements of terrestrial life to the point of survival, has led the outcoming design to be a fulfilling environment for the inhabitants of the units to evolve and thrive culturally, while being on a years-long mission. This manuscript provides detailed insight on the of the aforementioned comprehensive design attempt with, but not limited to, the following core concerns: •The initial stand-point of such a design procedure relies on an ever increasing and comprehensive list of concerns, be it classically discussed in the literature and predictable, or unforeseen on the face of it, but to be prevented anyhow.