📖 Chapter 5 of 13 · Mysterious Space- Advance 2 · Class 9–10
Chapter 4: Building Homes on the Moon and Mars
The simple idea: carry as little as possible, use what is there
Everything sent from the Earth is fearfully expensive to launch. So a base on the Moon or Mars must, as much as possible, live off the land — using local water ice for drinking, growing food and making oxygen and fuel, and local soil for building shielding. The golden rule of settlement is: do not carry what you can make when you arrive.
The technical layer: the real dangers, and how to beat them
Both worlds are deadly to an unprotected human: no breathable air, extreme cold, and dangerous radiation with no thick atmosphere to block it. A base must therefore be sealed and pressurised, well insulated, and shielded — often by piling local soil over it, or building underground or in caves. Power might come from sunlight or from small nuclear reactors. And Mars is so far that help is months away, so a base must be able to fix its own problems. Self-reliance is survival.
Story Time — Living Off the Land
Meera · Kochi, Kerala
Meera, who had built a clay Solar System as a child, now tackled a harder project: designing a Moon base for a school competition. Her first sketch bristled with supplies rocketed from the Earth. Her mentor gently shook her head. “Count the cost of launching every one of those, Meera. You will run out of money before you run out of ideas.”
“Then how does anyone build a base?” Meera asked. “By living off the land,” the mentor said. “What did India's own missions find hidden near the Moon's south pole?” Meera remembered at once. “Water ice.” “Water ice,” the mentor agreed. “Melt it to drink. Split it to make oxygen to breathe and hydrogen for fuel. Grow plants with it. Suddenly you need to carry far less.”
Meera rebuilt her design around local resources. For shielding against radiation, instead of heavy panels from the Earth, she piled Moon soil over the living quarters. “The ground itself becomes the roof,” she said. “Now you are thinking like a settler,” her mentor smiled.
“It feels less like exploring and more like homesteading,” Meera said. “That is precisely what it is,” said the mentor. “Exploring is a visit. A base is a home. And a home must be able to feed, water and mend itself, because the nearest shop is a quarter of a million kilometres away.”
Meera's final design carried almost nothing but people, seeds and tools — and made everything else from Moon ice and Moon soil. It did not win first prize, but a judge wrote a single line on her sheet that she kept for years: “This student understands the real problem.”
Story Time — Months from Help
Vikram · a town in Maharashtra
Vikram, who grew up watching his father solve farm problems with whatever was at hand, was drawn to one hard fact about a Mars base. “If something breaks on Mars,” he asked his teacher, “how long until help arrives from the Earth?”
“Think it through,” the teacher said. “A spacecraft can only leave for Mars about every twenty-six months, and the trip takes many months more. So help could be a year or two away.” Vikram was stunned. “Then a Mars crew is on its own.” “Almost completely,” the teacher agreed. “They must be able to repair almost anything themselves.”
“So they need spare parts for everything?” Vikram asked. “Too heavy to carry spares for all. So instead they carry tools and knowledge — and machines that can make new parts, like 3D printers that build spares from local material. A Mars base must be a workshop, a farm, a power station and a hospital, all in one.”
Vikram thought of his father mending a pump with wire and patience, far from any shop. “It is like our village,” he said, “but with the whole planet as the distance.” “A very good comparison,” the teacher said. “The skills that matter most on Mars are not exotic. They are self-reliance, cleverness, and calm — the same skills that keep a remote farm running.”
Vikram began to see space not as a place for a special few, but as the ultimate test of the practical, resourceful spirit he had grown up admiring. “Then ordinary problem-solvers,” he said, “might matter as much as scientists up there.” “They will be the difference,” the teacher said, “between a base that survives and one that does not.”
Solved Examples
Think first, then read the answer.
1. Why must a Moon or Mars base 'live off the land'?
Show answer
Answer: Because launching everything from the Earth is fearfully expensive, so a base must use local ice and soil for water, air, fuel, food and shielding.
2. What are the main dangers to humans on the Moon and Mars?
Show answer
Answer: No breathable air, extreme cold, and dangerous radiation with little or no atmosphere to block it.
3. How can a base be shielded from radiation cheaply?
Show answer
Answer: By piling local soil over it, or building underground or in caves.
4. Why must a Mars base be highly self-reliant?
Show answer
Answer: Because help from the Earth could be a year or more away, so the crew must repair almost anything themselves.
5. How can a base make spare parts without carrying them all?
Show answer
Answer: With tools and machines such as 3D printers that build new parts from local material.
Check Your Understanding
A. Fill in the blanks
- A base should use local water _______ for drinking and fuel.
- Piling local _______ over a base shields it from radiation.
- On Mars, help from the Earth could be over a _______ away.
B. Write True or False
- Launching supplies from the Earth is cheap. ( ___ )
- A base can make oxygen by splitting water. ( ___ )
- A Mars crew must be able to fix its own problems. ( ___ )
C. Short answer
- Explain the golden rule of settlement in your own words.
- Why are practical problem-solving skills so vital on Mars?
D. Design task
- List three things your base would make locally, and how.
- Why is a base a 'home' rather than a 'visit'?
- Which everyday Indian skills might transfer well to a Mars base?
Check your understanding
Tap an answer to see if it is correct. This is just for fun — nothing is saved.
1. Why must a base 'live off the land'?
- For fun
- Launching everything from Earth is too costly
- Local food tastes better
Show answer
B. Launching everything from Earth is too costly
2. A cheap way to shield a base from radiation is...
- Piling local soil over it
- Painting it white
- Adding windows
Show answer
A. Piling local soil over it
3. Why must a Mars crew be self-reliant?
- They are lonely
- Help from Earth could be a year or more away
- Rules require it
Show answer
B. Help from Earth could be a year or more away