Caves Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Previous research shows that establishing habitats underground in Martian caves, specifically lava tubes, would efficiently address many of the risks derived from the Martian environment. The lack of magnetic field will leave the crew at the mercy of cosmic ray and solar radiation, Mars' thin atmosphere will not be able to filter the UV rays, and the extreme temperature cycles and dust storms would additionally pose a big hazard for both humans and equipment. However, we would be able to reduce these problems by building permanent habitats underground. Not to mention the interest on caves based on the spread consensus in the astrobiology community pointing those cavities as the most plausible locations where life could have been retracted when life conditions on Mars started to become harsher. Research on human Mars missions, including most of the analog studies conducted on Earth, has focused mainly on surface operations. Thus, more research and data are needed to address the specific requirements and challenges of subsurface habitability and operational performance. For that reason, Astroland has developed and operates the first permanent Mars cave analog in the extreme environment of a cave near Santander, Spain, which has a max height of 60 m and a length of 1.5 km. Completely isolated from external interferences, the cave hosts Astroland's own Martian analog habitat, named Ares Station, fully equipped to enable to test End-to-End mission concepts: e.g., research laboratories, made-to-measure astronaut suits, technical clothing for the various missions, hydroponics lab, autonomous power, 3D printer, survival kits, food supplies specifically adapted for each crew member, as well as kitchen, leisure and gym areas, plus the provision to expand modules. All the field operations on (simulated) Mars are monitored and supported from a dedicated Mission Control Center, the Space Center, located in Santander, enabling the implementation of different levels of autonomy for the crew and the support of a wide team of experts if needed. After over 15 tests campaigns and 2 main missions, Astroland's concept and infrastructure has achieved the maturity level to support long duration research analog missions to test and validate technology as well as operations roadmaps, and to establish a research hub for international cooperation.