Martian venture
Course considers the logistics of living on the Red Planet
Archived article from Dec 1, 2000
By Michele Hujber
With space exploration a reality, how do today's college students perceive the possibility of living on another planet?
In the Advanced Life Support Systems Colloquium, an undergraduate course being offered at Rutgers for the third year, upperclass students propose a vision of the future with plans for a space community on Mars. The course draws on students' expertise acquired during their first two or three years at Cook College.
Students are organized into teams or "companies" that must develop proposals for colonies on Mars and begin creating an Earthlike environment. The students not only consider the colonists' physical needs, but must consider their psychological health as well. They must make accommodations for recreation, family life, quality-of-living conditions and life satisfaction. Also of critical importance are the budget and potential development of a monetary system within the colony. Each team then presents its final proposal to a panel of Rutgers and NASA scientists.
"The students can focus their proposals in many different directions based on the background of the individuals on the team, because just about any major at Cook is vital for a colony on Mars to be successful," says Harry Janes, plant science research professor and director of the New Jersey–NASA Specialized Center for Research and Training for Bioregenerative Life-Support Systems, known as NJ–NSCORT.
"For example," he continues, "a food science major may put in more details and emphasize food preparation and food safety, while an environmental science major may make a case for greater emphasis on recycling and the need to develop edible packaging or the need for an advanced composting system."
As they develop their proposals, students attend lectures by interdisciplinary faculty, experts from NJ–NSCORT and members of the NASA community. "This mixture of technical and social lectures is designed to give the students a solid grounding in the material they will need to complete their industry simulation as well as prepare them for life," says Janes.
Last year, the winning team proposed a colony named "Broedenom." The design and master planning of the colony relied heavily on the psychological and physiological needs of the inhabitants. Human touches in the proposed colony included homes constructed of regolith, a material that would create an adobe-style appearance, gardens, extensive theater and musical districts, and "molecular" restaurants that allow diners to create their own no-calorie exotic foods.
The Cook College course is based on an international high school competition conceived by space shuttle engineers and others. Brian Sauser, senior program administrator of NJ–NSCORT, formed a collaboration with the creators to bring the program to Cook.
The course isn't designed to prepare students to become space explorers or rocket scientists, explains Sauser. "The goal," he says, "is to give the students real-world industry experiences that they will use two to five years after they graduate."
Commenting on her experience, Mary Jane Beebe, a plant science major and "president" of the team that produced the award-winning proposal, notes, "The biggest challenge was integrating different areas into a single document that presented a working settlement. This is where one of the most notable lessons was learned: compromise. Each member had his or her own ideas on the best presentation for the end product and was understandably proprietary about specific research. However, each member was forced to compromise for the sake of the team. That was not easy."
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