WASHINGTON (States News Service) -- Every house under construction has a general contractor, usually someone good with lumber and a ripsaw. But when the house is designed for Mars, the contractor has to be good with fiberglass composites and precision calipers.
The Mars Society announced that Infrastructure Composites International (Infracomp) will build the primary structure of the Mars Arctic Research Station (MARS). The dome-shaped structure, to be designed and built entirely by private funding, will be tested in the Canadian Arctic as a prototype shelter for future human exploration of Mars.
Teamed with Mesa Fiberglass, the Denver area-based Infracomp has been working with fiberglass honeycombs since 1961, according to a Mars Society press release.
They plan to complete the two-floor, 27-foot-diameter primary structure, including doors and windows, by May 2000.
"The technology was very attractive, very strong and actually very innovative," said Mars Society president Robert Zubrin. He said that the society chose the Infracomp/Mesa team for a variety of reasons, including long experience, a reasonable price (though not the lowest bid) and because "they're willing to come up to the Arctic and help with final assembly."
The composite material, also called FRP for fiber reinforced plastics, is an ideal space construction material, said Anthony Prough, Mesa Fiberglass' design/QA manager.
"Pound for pound it's stronger than steel," Prough said. "In some instances steel is better for certain temperatures, but in others FRP is better because it is corrosion resistant." Prough said he would be working directly on the Mars project, which company employees are excited to tackle.
Although fiberglass composites are used in aerospace construction, Zubrin was hesitant to endorse the material as perfect for future Mars construction.
"It's possible," Zubrin said. "I wouldn't rule it out. It's not the lightest thing you could send up, but it's among the lighter things."
The fiberglass composite was not chosen for survivability on Mars, Zubrin said, but for survivability in the Terran Arctic.
"The main purpose of this module, of course, is not to be an engineering test of a Mars Habitat," Zubrin said. "It is an architectural test, and it will be an operational test, but it won't be an engineering test because this module will not be pressurized."
After completion, the structure will be shipped to remote Devon Island, a cold, rocky, crater-scarred area that Zubrin has described in the past as "Mars on Earth." A short test operation is planned for July 2000.
The society intends to present a report from the research station's shakedown crew at its third annual convention, which will meet at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, August 10-13, 2000.
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