During Starship update presentation on Thursday SpaceX CEO and lead designer Elon Musk shared to us SpaceX's latest vision for Mars Base Alpha. Here are some images from the animation.
Part of Mars Base Alpha is covered with a large, transparent dome:
Starships are landing on landing pads some distance away from the base:
Settlers arriving at Mars Base Alpha:
Animation of Starship landing at Mars Base Alpha shared by Elon:
Great site. Its very well thought out. Have made loads of concept drawings myself going back a few decades of probable Mars colonies. Perhaps the eventual Mars capital will be named Aeropolis - Mars City. Where it may or should be located would be debatable and depends on readly available resources close by to sustain it for a long duration. However the Melas Chasma region located inside the Valles Marineris may be favourable due to large amounts of sub surface water detected and of course being close to the equator.
The latest public information (could be outdated by now) - SpaceX is considering several locations in Phlegra Montes, Erebus Montes and Southern Arcadia Planitia for Mars Base Alpha: https://www.humanmars.net/2021/03/spacex-has-downselected-7-potential.html
But you are right - 2 months ago it was discovered there are large amounts of subsurface ice in Candor Chaos region, Melas Chasma. It would be a much more preferable location because of lower altitude and closeness to the equator - https://www.humanmars.net/2021/12/map-of-shallow-subsurface-water-in.html
Great site. Its very well thought out. Have made loads of concept drawings myself going back a few decades of probable Mars colonies. Perhaps the eventual Mars capital will be named Aeropolis - Mars City. Where it may or should be located would be debatable and depends on readly available resources close by to sustain it for a long duration. However the Melas Chasma region located inside the Valles Marineris may be favourable due to large amounts of sub surface water detected and of course being close to the equator.
ReplyDeleteThe latest public information (could be outdated by now) - SpaceX is considering several locations in Phlegra Montes, Erebus Montes and Southern Arcadia Planitia for Mars Base Alpha: https://www.humanmars.net/2021/03/spacex-has-downselected-7-potential.html
DeleteBut you are right - 2 months ago it was discovered there are large amounts of subsurface ice in Candor Chaos region, Melas Chasma. It would be a much more preferable location because of lower altitude and closeness to the equator - https://www.humanmars.net/2021/12/map-of-shallow-subsurface-water-in.html