Humans living on Mars is not a concept that is too far-fetched to imagine as of now. Rockets and habitat are right now under development that is taking the concept of life on Mars seriously. A recent competition set up to find the best possible designs for a future human colony on Mars. Some of the entries as seen in the pictures look like an early 19 century utopian dream.
Called the HP Mars Home Planet Rendering Challenge, the contest saw about 87,000 entries from all over the world, each contestant coming up with their own visions of a future in Mars. The contest was open for a year and ended in August, the winners have also been announced. While this was a design competition, Space.com points out that it was more than just about the aesthetics of a Mars colony.
Designers had to come up with a sustainable townscape that could house one million people with the harsh conditions on Mars including its thin atmosphere—about 1,000 times thinner than Earth's, intense radiation, and dust storms that some times cover the entire planet. The designs were judged not just on appearance and futuristic looks, notes the report. It had to include Mars physics and geology, taking into account atmosphere, surface gravity, soil conditions, surface terrain, cosmic radiation, supply of drinking water and breathable air -- just like any other city on Earth.
There were three branches in the competition, notes the report- 3D Modelling, rendering, and concept. Open to public, participants were encouraged to submit designs in one of five categories in two major branches- buildings and vehicles.
All the entries and dowloadable source files can be found at the competition site. There are thousands of entries and some of them really do look like what one would think of as a Mars city.
