Can we call mars our second home?

Humans have yet to visit Mars, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is working hard to make it a reality. The best building material for a new home on Mars may be something unexpected: ice.

According to him, Mars will be colonized by Humans by 2050.

Professor Tamara Davis meets with Australian scientists who are tackling some of the many challenges of colonising Mars.

The Mars Ice Home is a large inflatable torus, similar to an inner tube, surrounded by a water ice shell.

It is light and portable, and it can be transported and deployed using simple robotics before being filled with water before the crew arrives.

The water in the Ice Home could be converted into rocket fuel for the Mars Ascent Vehicle, and the structure itself serves as a storage tank that can be replenished for the next crew.

If water could be extracted at higher rates, the design could be scaled up.

A layer of carbon dioxide gas would be used as insulation between the living space and the thick shielding layer of ice to manage temperatures.