(AI rendition of a Craterhab tourist base in Altiplano, Bolivia)
Background
Craterhab™ is the flagship patented concept of Mareekh Dynamics. These are ultra-high tensile strength fabric domes capable of holding at least 1 bar of internal inflation pressure. Consisting of hexagonal multilayered skeletal framework of Dyneema layers and cables, with silicone-aramid-carbon-fiber composite hexagonal patches in between, these domes are secured to the deep underground concrete anchors within the compact rims of small 50-500 m diameter craters, covering them to create a micro-terraformed pressurized environments inside these craters for permanent human settlement on the red planet.
(Author's impression of a Craterhab base on Mars)
Terrestrial applications of the Craterhab™ Technology
As we mentioned in our previous blog on the terrestrial business case of the Craterhab™ Technology with a brief mention of the H2M initiative, we feel a need to elaborate on it for its wider applications in high-altitude adventure tourism and healthcare in High-Altitude Low-Pressure (HALP) Environments.
What are HALP Environments?
We had to coin this term in order to define the environments on Earth higher than a certain altitude bearing immediate and long-term implications on human health.
Humans have a high degree of adaptability to different environments. We are by nature tropical mammals that evolved to live in tropical latitudes of Africa millions of years ago. Our bodies are designed to live comfortably in humid environments in ambient temperatures of around 28c with plenty of humidity and natural resources. Any location with parameters beyond this range of temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure has required the use of technology to survive in, including tools, clothes, dwellings, fire and harnessing natural resources. As humans migrated to higher latitudes with hotter and colder climates and higher altitudes, the technological need to survive in these environments also increased. Humans settled and called home even the harshest of the climatic zones in the world, including the deserts, Tundra, and high altitude regions thousands of years ago but not without the use of technology. These are the places where a human body, in its natural attributes, cannot survive a single day or night except through the use of technology ranging from simpler to higher levels of complexity.
(AI rendition of a tribe of early humans in their place of origin in the subtropical regions of the African Rift Valley, hundreds of thousands of years ago)
HALP environments above and beyond 2500 m altitude push tolerance of the human body and its physiology to its limits. Yet, humans have lived comfortably even above 4000 m altitudes for millenia, and created cities and communities with amazing contributions to the progress of modern society and human civilization, thanks to our sheer adaptability.
(Examples of HALP Environments)
While physiological and social adaptation may take only a few generations, evolution takes hundreds of thousands, even millions of years. And thus, adaptation comes with a price. In case of living in HALP environments, for short or long periods, the effect of low atmospheric pressure and oxygen concentration causes certain adverse changes in the human physiology, which, in the short term has an advantage of adapting the human body to survive in those environments, but at the cost of long-term health, productivity, and life span. In a world that has become a global village, this has manifested itself as the emergence of health inequity putting millions of residents of HALP environments at a certain disadvantage in terms of the quality of life.
Health challenges in HALP Environments
Nearly 140 million people live above 2500m altitude (Ref 1). Up to 10% of these residents are at risk of developing Chronic Mountain Sickness with long term health effects, loss of productivity and shorter life spans. Statistically, this is a huge number for its overall impact on the entire societies of these regions.
Acute impact of high altitude in terms of Altitude Sickness due to Hypoxia, leading to Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), High-Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) and High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) may not be of any immediate consequence at relatively lower HALP altitudes, but exponentially increases with increasing altitude, such as on the tourists visiting Lhasa, El Alto, La Paz or the base camps of the highest peaks such as Mt Everest and K2.
Untreated AMS, HACE and HAPE carry up to 40% mortality (Ref 2)
(Symptoms of Altitude sickness)
Current measures to prevent and treat Altitude Sickness includes staged acclimatization, hypoxia tents, portable hyperbaric chambers (or Gamow bags), and hyperoxia/hypoxia adaptation chambers. While being small and lightweight, relatively economical and easy to set up, their scope is limited due to their small size, difficulty in direct access for intervention, and limited use by mountaineers and tourists, and acutely unwell people only. They don’t significantly reduce the need for costly emergency airlifting and evacuations. They also don’t address the issue of chronic mountain sickness in millions of local residents of the HALP environments.
(Few examples of pressurized equipment in high altitude regions)
How Craterhab™ Technology can be a game changer
The concept of human habitation on Mars tests the limits of humanity’s innovative capabilities in all areas, including engineering, logistics, farming, mining, manufacturing, politics, trading, social cohesion and collaboration, and healthcare. Pre-emptive development, testing and training in all these areas on Earth prior to humanity’s grand excursion and settling on the red planet with set goals, will allay fears and help develop safety parameters and algorithms that will ensure smooth transition of human specie from being a terrestrial fauna to an interplanetary entity.
Through creation of large-scale micro-terraformed environments on Mars, Craterhab™ Technology will incorporate life inside these megastructures as close to an Earth-like environment as possible, in the unique Martian context. The whole concept of Craterhab™ Technology revolves around provision of near sea-level atmospheric pressure in all-inclusive environments with necessary amenities for human safety and comfort under “a single roof” in interconnected large-scale habitats, where people can live freely in a shirt-sleeve environment without the constraints of space suits.. This makes this a promising technology for its application wherever low atmospheric pressure is a permanent problem, such as the HALP environments on Earth.
Provision of large-scale habitats with amenities where people, especially the soft segments of the society with varying fitness levels can live and spend most of their time to prevent and mitigate the progression of high-altitude related syndromes such as Chronic Mountain Sickness. This will ensure better health, enhanced productivity, and improved lifespan. Habitat system built on the same principles as the Craterhab™ Technology on a smaller scale can also be constructed in key areas of adventure tourism such as the base camps of highest peaks and areas of high interest in extreme altitudes, and used to treat Acute Sickness.
(AI rendition of a 20 m diameter pressurized fabric dome at the base camp of Mt Everest for immediate treatment of AMS, HACE and HAPE)
(Author's impression of the interior of a large Craterhab containing multipurpose buildings and green spaces within the dome at sea-level pressure)
What is Mareekh Dynamics’ Halfway-to-Mars vision?
Halfway-to-Mars (H2M) is our signature vision for the direct technology development for large-scale habitation solution for Mars. This includes application of Craterhab™ Technology to establish pressurized habitation structures with amenities in ultra-HALP environments (Plateau regions over 5000m in altitude) in Tibet in China, and Altiplano in Bolivia and Chile.
Vision H2M aims to create mock Mars bases in ultra-HALP environments with atmospheric pressures approaching 0.5 bar or lower. The objective is to simulate living on Mars for;
Tourists to experience living on Mars in a simulated environment.
Training of medical professionals to develop and test treatment protocols well before humanity’s true excursion and settlement on the red planet.
Mars astronaut (“Marstronaut”) training.
Here is how it will work.
On Mars, inside a Craterhab dome, the pressure will be constantly maintained at 0.6 bar which is similar to the altitude in El Alto city in Bolivia at 4000 m altitude with a population of nearly a million individuals. The reason for maintaining this low pressure inside the Carterhab habitat system on Mars is to reduce the structural stresses on the composite fabric structure of the dome, reducing the risk of structural failure, and prolonging its life. Outside pressure on Mars is barely above vacuum at 0.006 bar. The pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the Craterhab will be 0.6 bar in that case.
In ultra-HALP environments on Earth, setting 1 bar or sea-level pressure inside the habitat systems will achieve a 0.5 bar pressure difference against a 0.5 bar external pressure, exerting the same structural stresses as on the actual Craterhab dome system on Mars. This has huge implications for developing, testing and refining the Craterhab engineering. This will create an opportunity to thoroughly test Craterhab Technology here on Earth before deploying it in its real proving grounds on Mars.
Such pressurized habitats with 0.5 bar pressure difference to the exterior will have another advantage…promotion of astro-tourism simulating a life on the red planet and training of astronauts bound for Mars (or “Marstronauts”). Living inside large pressurized habitats with amenities of daily living such as residential buildings, places of business activities, entertainment areas, healthcare facilities, and more, in the same manner as would be on Mars, will simulate living on the red planet. Due to the 0.5 bar pressure difference between interior and exterior, it will be extremely uncomfortable to do an excursion outside the domes without wearing a pressurized space suit similar to the ones designed for Mars. Astro-tourists will explore the surroundings and do excursions in pressurized rovers and space suits, which will be a necessity, thus giving the same feeling as living and doing activities on Mars. This will help train the astronauts and prepare them mentally and physically for living on Mars. As in the not so distant future, hundreds or thousands of people will travel to Mars and settle there, calling it home, astro-tourism through H2M will pave the way for training of the general public for a life on Mars.
Treating astro-tourists participating in the H2M initiative will help develop medical protocols for treating general illnesses on Mars, addressing subtle to major differences between life on Mars and Earth. The biggest role will be that of the rural and remote generalists such as those working in the remote areas of Australia, emergency room physicians, hypoxia specialists such as pulmonologists, and paramedical staff which can be trained through H2M, allowing them to use their expertise to develop treatment protocols addressing unique attributes of the life in ultra-HALP environments and eventually on Mars.
Conclusion
Craterhab™ Technology and the Halfway-to-Mars (H2M) initiative exemplify Mareekh Dynamics' commitment to pioneering advanced habitation solutions. By addressing the unique challenges of HALP and Martian environments, we are not only enhancing health and productivity for millions on Earth but also preparing for humanity's inevitable journey to Mars. Our innovative approach promises to transform how we live and thrive in extreme conditions, paving the way for a sustainable and prosperous interplanetary future. Through continuous development and real-world testing, we are turning the dream of Martian colonization into a tangible reality.
References
Francisco V., and Neomi C. Chronic Mountain Sickness: Clinical Aspects, Etiology, Management, and Treatment. Link: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4913504/
Gustavo C. High Altitude Pulmonary Edema, High Altitude Cerebral Edema, and Acute Mountain Sickness: an enhanced opinion from the High Andes – La Paz, Bolivia 3,500 m.
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