by Kerry M. Joels

Credit: Mars City/Kerry Joels

How many astronauts does it take to screw in a lightbulb? This is not really meant as a joke. Since space and planetary surfaces are hostile places, the ability to maintain spacecraft and settlements is a matter of survival. In the hostile environment of a vacuum or near vacuum, dangerous radiation, extreme temperatures, and remoteness from help, the two critical survival elements are hardware (physical systems and structures) and human factors. Anyone who has had an air conditioning system fail on a hot day, or experienced the blue screen of death on a computer, knows that systems, both electrical and mechanical, will need to be even more reliable in a space settlement. If you are on Mars, the nearest Home Depot is on average 48 million miles away when Earth and Mars are closest.

Humans are another problem. Not only will space settlements have interpersonal and intra-group dynamics to deal with, but people will have to be adept at keeping the systems and structures functioning to survive. This includes changing lightbulbs, as maintenance is the critical factor for survival. Maintenance is the critical factor for survival. Total Learning Research Institute (TLRI), supported with funding and a Space Act Agreement with NASA, has been looking at this problem. Mars City, a permanent settlement on Mars for a hundred people, is designed to be a stepping stone to building more complex settlements—a real-life teaching lab.