Life on the Red Planet: Mars 'show home' goes on display in London
If you’ve ever wondered what life on Mars might be like, then this could be your chance to glimpse it.
A red planet “show home”, created by National Geographic, opens at the Royal Observatory Greenwich today.
The home, which was made in consultation with Royal Observatory astronomers and Stephen Petranek, the author of How We’ll Live on Mars, is open for a week.
The structure resembles brickwork made from microwaved Martian soil. There are also recycled spacecraft parts, such as a double air-locked entrance.
How the home might look on the red planet
The home is designed to stand in Valles Marineris – a 4,000km long system of canyons that runs along Mars’s equator.
One side of the show home, which was constructed over several months by Cardiff company Wild Creations, is transparent to allow visitors a glimpse of indoors Mars life.
They can also see an ‘underground’ area, that contains sleeping quarters, food, scientific equipment and tunnels that link it to other dwellings.
The show home gives a glimpse of what life on Mars might be like
“It’s amazing to live at a time when space agencies and private companies are seriously contemplating sending humans to Mars,” said Royal Observatory Greenwich Public Astronomer Dr. Marek Kukula.
“Science fiction is on the verge of turning into science fact and it’s exciting to think that a young visitor to the show home here in Greenwich might turn out to be the first human to actually set foot on Mars in the not so distant future.”
The exhibition coincides with the launch of a six-part docu-drama called MARS, which starts n Sunday on the National Geographic channel.
Set in the year 2033, MARS tells the story of mankind’s attempts to colonise the planet.
It is interwoven with present-day documentary footage of the likes of Elon Musk and Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining the science behind the drama, and the colonisation of the red planet could one day become a reality.
Pictures from Rex Features
