Martian refugee colony

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Morilore
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Martian refugee colony

Post by Morilore »

I know something like this has been done before, specifically Zor's Martian Colony thread, but nothing exactly like it, to the best of my knowledge.

Q approaches you and tells you that in about a month's time, civilization on Earth will be wiped out by asteroid/virus/nuclear winter/etc. He offers to take the minimum number of the most genetically diverse, intelligent, and fit individuals, including your own family and closest friends, that is necessary to prevent a population from inbreeding to extinction, and create a Martian colony in a not-too-unfriendly place on the Martian surface for them to survive in.

The catch is that you must list the various facilities and technologies present in this colony... and no spaceships are allowed. That is the difference between this thread and Zor's thread. You are to operate as if Earth has ceased to be habitable for human life. No technologies that would not be feasible within the next 10-15 years are allowed, though hitherto unused applications of existing technologies are, provided that they, too, would be feasible within the next 10-15 years. The entire colony must take up no more than 25 km^2. Maybe 35, if absolutely necessary

So, what do you do for
1) Power
2) Food/water/air
3) Living quarters
4) Expansion requirements. How do you increase the size of the colony for future generations.

Some things to consider
A) How do you provide enough infrastructure and mining facilities to allow the colony to expand? Since civilization is effectively gone and you can't go back to Earth, humanity's future depends on your ability to expand this refugee colony into a workable settlement, and eventually a city, nation, etc.
B) What will your descendants do for clothing, or computers, or paper, or any number of silly things people in this situation usually forget about? "Bring along lots" is an unworkable answer in this case, because this colony has to survive indefinitely.
C) What kind of society would be set up?
D) If Q allowed you to bring whatever literature you specified (of any type), what would you bring?
E) Where on Mars would be the least unfriendly place to settle, if Q gave you the choice?

My answers:

1) Nuclear fission reactor. Yes, this requires uranium, but it beats the alternatives, as far as I know. The sun is dim and blocked by the dusty atmosphere, which is not thick enough for wind. And I don't have enough surface area for wind generators or solar power, anyway. I would also have to specify mining tools to get additional uranium, and request a place on the Martian surface where uranium would be available. This leads to requiring scanning tools, geiger counters, etc.
2) Hydroponics facility for food, I guess. I don't know enough right now to specify what kinds of food. There has to be a way to get water and air from the Martian surface, but I don't know how; that's why I'm posting this. Efficient recycling systems are a given.
3) Fairly spartan, to make room for more industrial facilities. Double-bunks, iron kitchens, public bathrooms, etc. And, of course, a hospital.
4) Engineers or mechanics would know better than I.

A) See directly above.
B) I honestly know nothing about how to provide for clothing in an environment with little/no available biomatter. Computers might be solved with the appropriate facilities, and as for paper, my descendants will probably be writing with slabs of graphite on smooth rock for a while.
C) Dictactorial by complete and utter necessity. Not one man-hour can afford to be wasted, and not one slacker can be afforded. I also think we might get some polyamory going on, so as to mix up genes the most we can.
D) All the scientific and historical literature that I know to exist, and copies of every Warhammer 40K book just for kicks.
E) Again, I have no idea. Martian topography is fairly obscure, though I know enough to say that it is a choice between rocky highlands to the south and comparatively smooth lowlands to the north (they might have become the ocean in a different universe), with exceptions around Olympus Mons (north) and the Hellas impact basin (south).
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Master of Cards
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Post by Master of Cards »

Read Red Mars
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Morilore
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Post by Morilore »

I was under the impression that the Mars books concerned terraforming more than settlement. I'm leery of using those books as a source because from what I've gathered about them, the Martian colony still had supplies from Earth to rely on/go back to. Also, the things I've heard about it from members of this board make me afraid to touch it lest I die of poor writing.
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Master of Cards
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Post by Master of Cards »

no only red mars it has air exanpers that take water and stuff from the air
same thing for the ground
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Einhander Sn0m4n
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Post by Einhander Sn0m4n »

Master of Cards wrote:no only red mars it has air exanpers that take water and stuff from the air
same thing for the ground
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CaptainChewbacca
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Post by CaptainChewbacca »

Picture it as a jet turbine which draws in air, and filters out/breaks down components. It separates chemical nitrogen, okygen, hydrogen, and everything else a chemist could want.
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Einhander Sn0m4n
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Post by Einhander Sn0m4n »

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Picture it as a jet turbine which draws in air, and filters out/breaks down components. It separates chemical nitrogen, okygen, hydrogen, and everything else a chemist could want.
Oh, an air fractionator/gas refinery. That's an easy concept to do, just apparently beyond MoC to describe properly...
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