Designing a Mars Settlement

Overview

This capstone lesson brings together everything students have learned about Mars — its geology, atmosphere, water, temperature, and radiation environment — to tackle a real engineering challenge: designing a settlement where humans can live and work. Students work in teams to create settlement designs that address fundamental human needs in the harsh Martian environment.

Background for Teachers

When humans reach Mars, they will face unprecedented engineering challenges. Unlike the Apollo missions to the Moon (which lasted days), Mars settlement requires long-duration habitation. Key challenges include:

Shelter: Mars’s thin atmosphere provides little protection from solar and cosmic radiation. Habitats must be pressurized, insulated, and shielded. Options include inflatable modules, 3D-printed structures using Martian regolith, or underground (lava tube) habitats.

Air: The atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide with virtually no oxygen. ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization) technology like MOXIE can produce oxygen from CO2. Plants in greenhouses would supplement oxygen production.

Water: Water ice exists at the poles and beneath the surface in many mid-latitude regions. Settlers will need to extract, purify, and recycle water. A closed-loop water system is essential.

Food: Growing food on Mars will require pressurized greenhouses. Mars soil (regolith) contains perchlorates that are toxic to humans but can be washed out. Hydroponics and aeroponics are likely approaches.

Energy: Solar panels work on Mars but produce less power than on Earth (Mars is farther from the Sun). Dust storms can block sunlight for weeks. Small nuclear reactors (like NASA’s Kilopower concept) provide reliable base power.

Transportation: Getting between habitats and work sites requires pressurized rovers. Space suits for EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) must protect against radiation, cold, and low pressure.

Lesson Procedure

Session 1: Research and Planning (45 minutes)

Introduction (10 minutes)

1. “You have been selected by The Mars Society to design a settlement for the first 20 humans on Mars. Your team must solve the biggest challenges of living on another planet.”
2. Review the major challenges with a quick class brainstorm, guided by prompts:
   • “What will settlers breathe?” (need oxygen production)
   • “Where will they live?” (need pressurized, shielded shelter)
   • “What will they eat and drink?” (need food production and water extraction)
   • “How will they power their settlement?” (need energy systems)
   • “How will they stay safe?” (radiation, dust storms, medical emergencies)

Design Criteria (10 minutes)

Distribute the Design Criteria Checklist. Every settlement design must address:

1. Habitat structure — where do people live and work? What protects them?
2. Air supply — how is breathable air produced and maintained?
3. Water system — where does water come from? How is it recycled?
4. Food production — how will settlers grow or produce food?
5. Energy source — what powers the settlement?
6. Radiation protection — how are settlers shielded?
7. Communication — how does the settlement communicate with Earth? (Note: radio signals take 4-24 minutes each way)

Team Research and Planning (25 minutes)

Teams of 3-4 students:

1. Review the Mars Environment Reference Sheet (summarizing key data from previous lessons)
2. Discuss and sketch initial design ideas
3. Assign team roles: Lead Engineer, Life Support Specialist, Energy/Resource Specialist, Communications/Presentation Lead
4. Begin rough sketches of their settlement layout

Session 2: Build and Present (45 minutes)

Construction (25 minutes)

Teams create their settlement presentation using poster paper, construction materials, or a combination:

• Draw a labeled overhead map or cross-section of the settlement
• Include callouts explaining key systems
• Optional: build a 3D model using available materials

Circulate and ask probing questions:

• “What happens to your food production during a dust storm?”
• “If your oxygen system breaks, do you have a backup?”
• “How will new settlers arriving from Earth be welcomed into this settlement?”

Presentations (15 minutes)

Each team presents their design (2-3 minutes per team):

1. Name of their settlement
2. Quick tour of the key features
3. Explain their most innovative solution
4. Answer one question from classmates

Wrap-Up and Reflection (5 minutes)

1. Class vote on categories: “Most Creative Solution,” “Best Use of Mars Resources,” “Most Realistic Design”
2. Reflection prompt: “What was the hardest challenge to solve, and why?”
3. Closing thought: “Engineers and scientists are working on these exact problems right now. The settlement designs you created today are not science fiction — they are the kind of thinking that will make human life on Mars a reality. Some of you may be the ones to make it happen!”

Assessment

• Design Criteria Checklist: Settlement addresses all seven required systems
• Presentation Rubric: Clear explanation, scientific accuracy, creative problem-solving, teamwork
• Reflection: Written response identifies a genuine engineering trade-off or challenge

NGSS Alignment

• MS-ESS1-3: Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system
• MS-ETS1-1: Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution
• MS-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints
• 3-5-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints

Extensions

• Research real Mars habitat designs from NASA, SpaceX, and the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)
• Write a “Day in the Life” narrative from the perspective of a settler living in their designed settlement
• Calculate the amount of water, food, and oxygen 20 people would need per day and design supply chain logistics
• Explore The Mars Society’s annual Mars settlement design competition for middle and high school students