What might living on Mars look like? How would everyday life be managed? Two artists from Bristol, working with an interdisciplinary team, have taken it upon themselves to answer this question by building the Martian House. Duravit is also in the mix thanks to development engineer Franziska Wülker and products like SensoWash® Starck f – the Martian Toilet.
Vision
Building a Martian
House is a public art project that aims to create a genuine prototype of a
Martian house. Mars is a place where we would have to live carefully and
resourcefully. The project is led and conceived by artists Ella Good and Nicki
Kent working with Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+. It is presented in
partnership with M Shed, and funded by the Edward Marshall Trust.
Artists Ella Good and
Nicki Kent have teamed up with Hugh Broughton Architects and Pearce+ to explore
the possibilities of what living on Mars might be like.
Exhibition in Bristol, UK
The house at M Shed Square in Bristol, UK, will be open to the public until the end of October 2022. It will start off as an empty façade and will come to life thanks to alternating interiors that provide opportunities to collectively explore a new, sustainable culture. It is a place where people can research, experiment, and discuss: a blank canvas to try things out and imagine new perspectives for today’s lifestyles.
It will be Britain’s first Martian house, created not exclusively by specialists, but by many different people – from rocket scientists to primary school children. All participants will work together through a co-design process, each sharing their expertise, perspectives, and imagination with one another.
We all have expertise to offer around how we live and a part to play in designing our shared future.
Concept Martian House -Cutaway credit Hugh Broughton Architects
Our contribution: the Martian Toilet
How do you develop a
toilet that functions both in a weightless environment and on the moon? In 2020
NASA hosted the Lunar Loo Challenge. When the winners were announced, NASA
awarded the third prize to Franziska Wülker for her design. Her new mission:
the Martian Toilet.
Three basic options are
feasible. Our solution: a shower-toilet. Find out why:
Upgrade your everyday – even on Mars
Franziska Wülker, Head
of Research & Development, Duravit AG
“Mars
is a relatively hostile environment for humans. Many activities that we take
for granted on Earth are simply impossible on Mars. A walk in the fresh air is
only possible in a space suit because there is no fresh air on Mars – the
atmosphere is mainly made up of CO2. Overall, everyday life on Mars
is challenging and fairly arduous as a result.
That’s
why it’s so important that everyday items in the home are designed to be as
simple and comfortable as possible. That applies especially to the things we
don’t like talking about, such as using the toilet.
For
that reason, we’ve selected a toilet that is not too dissimilar to what we’re
already familiar with. We’ve integrated a shower function, which is comfortable
and hygienic – plus there’s a lot more water than toilet paper on Mars.”
Hygienic and
comfortable: the shower-toilet as a Martian toilet. Find out more about
SensoWash® shower-toilets:
Franziska Wülker: “Why did we opt for
this specific toilet? First, it’s comfortable with a heated seat, Rearwash and
Ladywash, and hot-air dryer. It’s also hygienic – not only because of the
shower function, but also because the glaze we use – HygieneGlaze – inhibits
the growth of bacteria. And as a little
bonus there’s also an odor extractor, because on Mars it’s not the best idea to
open the window for ventilation.”
Water extraction on Mars
Water on Mars? Water ice!
The total volume of the ice reservoir on Mars is 5.000.000 km³. If the ice were
distributed equally over the whole of Mars, the ice sheet would be around 35 m
thick.
Franziska Wülker:
“On
Mars there are ice caps at the north and south poles. The volume of the polar
caps is equivalent to the Greenland ice sheet on Earth. Subterranean ice sheets
and glaciers can be pretty big. In some areas they’re up to 100m thick and
close to the surface, around 1m to 2m – all you need is a shovel. So it’s best
to build the Mars base where there’s lots of ice that’s easy to get at.
Bore
holes could be made to extract water. This would involve drilling a hole
through the cover layer and using a heat probe to melt and collect the ice.
Empirical data from glaciers on Earth could be used for the ice drilling
operations.”
Franziska Wülker’s
sketch: Water extraction by drilling and melting water ice
Alternative solutions for a Mars toilet
The shower-toilet is
not the only feasible option for a Mars loo. These variants satisfy a range of
requirements.
Requirements and
potential solutions for a Mars toilet
Incinerating toilet
“A standard
commercial incinerating toilet would be conceivable, which burns feces and
leaves just ash behind. You’d need a toilet bag to transport urine and feces to
the incineration chamber, which is operated by gas or electricity. However,
this option involves high energy consumption.”
Franziska Wülker, Head of Research & Development, Duravit AG
Composting toilet / separation toilet
“Other
alternatives would be a composting toilet or even better a separation &
composting toilet. The separation toilet separates urine and feces. Urine can
be stabilized with Ca(OH)2 to prevent the formation of ammonia,
enabling urine to be used as a fertilizer. Feces can be disposed of or
composted.”
Franziska Wülker, Head of Research & Development, Duravit AG
Freeze-drying
“Freeze-drying is also a feasible option. The aim here is to remove the water contained in waste and to dispose of the dried residue. First you need to freeze it. Then the pressure is reduced, which enables the ice to evaporate directly without an intermediate liquid phase (sublimation). Energy needs to be added to enable the ice to evaporate. This procedure involves high energy consumption on Earth, but Mars offers cold temperatures and low pressure on the doorstep. The first two steps (freezing and reducing pressure) would therefore be easier to do on Mars than on Earth. At the same time, the overall process is complex and we want to make life comfortable for the astronauts on Mars.”
Franziska Wülker, Head of Research & Development, Duravit AG
Shower-toilet
“We opted for a conventional shower-toilet with a water flush. SensoWash® reduces the consumption of toilet paper, which also ensures a high level of comfort and hygiene. Treated gray water from washbasins, showers, etc. can be used for flushing via a circular system. It is also conceivable that an additional urinal could be used to separate urine and turn it into fertilizer.”
Franziska Wülker, Head of Research & Development, Duravit AG