#ecosystem engineering

Algae to Fuel; Advanced Applied Methods and Advanced design

A new report from a group of engineering graduates at MIT found that the main problem of the Mars One project is the plan to create an oxygen supply using food crops. Although this sounds like clever solution to creating liveable habitats, the constrained nature of the Mars ‘ecoystem’ soon leads to all sorts of problems. The students found that as the first wheat crop reached maturity the level of oxygen in the atmosphere would become a fire hazard, and if the colonists attempted to vent the oxygen they would unavoidably lose nitrogen too (no current venting systems can differentiate between the two gases) leading to either death by suffocation or the destruction of the habitat and suffocation on the planet’s surface. “The first crew fatality would occur approximately 68 days into the mission,” reads the 35-page report. “Some form of oxygen removal system is required, a technology that has not yet been developed for space flight.” The students also noted that the Mars One team were still underestimating the amount of equipment (including spare parts) they have to transport to Mars; a factor that has a huge influence on cost. Other projected difficulties were more subtle, including the psychological effects of limited food choices, constrained living space and repetitive social interaction.