NASA has concluded that the best protective material to make a protective home for astronauts exposed to the harsh radiations in the rarefied atmosphere of Mars will be ice. The Martian environment is very harsh and unlike Earth which has a magnetosphere to protect it from the harsh solar and deep space radiation, it does not have any magnetosphere. It also does not have an atmosphere like Earth with an Ozone layer.
Therefore after extensive research, NASA has found that the Ice Home just like an igloo made by the Eskimos will the best place which astronauts can call a home in Mars. However, the ice igloo will not be like the ones in Greenland and will be constructed in a different way. It will be in the form of an inflatable torus with an inner tube which is surrounded by an ice shell.
In a statement, NASA said that it tried out many ideas, some even preposterous before perfecting the ice homes as the best solution for an ideal home for astronauts on the red planet. Some of the benefits of the ice home include lightweight which makes it ideal for transporting. It can be deployed quite easily with the aid of rockets and erected before the crews arrive to reside.
The materials can be easily obtained locally from the planet. The water which goes into making the ice will also find use as rocket fuel for the spacecraft which will be used by astronauts to return home. The structure is left behind and will serve as a storage tank which will be ready for use for the next visiting. Water is the best material to protect the inmates of the ice house because it contains hydrogen and it is a very good material to shield the inmates of intergalactic cosmic rays. Cosmic rays can pass into the body causing mutative damages in the DNA of the body, which can precipitate cancer and other deadly diseases later in life.
