Captivating conceptual images reveal what life on Mars could be like for human settlers

By Dean Murray via SWNS

A colony designed for life on Mars would see us living in a giant BAGEL.

The settlement – dubbed Plan C - features a huge circular wall built within a crater to protect settlers from sandstorms and radiation.

Ukraine-based architecture Studio Makhno wanted to make plans for life away from planet Earth.

They studied how future societies could operate once the technology has mastered a process for producing the required amount of oxygen, water, and food – as well as developed robots to carry out the required construction.

The result is an enclosed environment split equally between comfortable living quarters and technical, research, and common areas.

(Studio Makhno/SWNS)

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Studio Makhno explains: “Plan C is an autonomous settlement, the outer walls of which must be built with 3D printers. People won't be able to do it because it is only inside buildings where it's possible to move freely without suits and oxygen devices.

“It should be located on the slope of the crater that will protect it from sandstorms and radiation. Thus, the shape of the building resembles a torus or, simply put, a bagel.

“The settlement needs to be as close to the equator as possible to enable the achievement of such pressures and temperatures that will make the environment as habitable as possible.”

Importantly, the designers have looked beyond basic survival and addressed keeping the mental health of inhabitants in check through green areas and an aesthetically soothing environment.

There would be gyms, chill-out areas featuring floating capsules, and the ability to go for long walks around the ‘bagel’s’ circumference.

Food would be grown in impressive spherical greenhouses that resemble “small planets”.

Makhno explains: “The ambiance of the interiors combines two worlds — the unknown Mars and the near-and-dear Earth. Sandstorms were responsible for the color scheme, plants — for the ability to breathe deeply, and the science of the future — for the ability to live on a dead planet.

“Plants are the best friends in the process of earthlings' adaptation to space life. Along the entire hall, there are trees and greenery, which will convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen with the help of phyto-lighting. Therefore, a way to the common areas resembles a walk in the open air.”

Volodymyr Usov, a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and former head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, commented on the plans: "During a long stay on an alien planet, one of the main problems for our mental health is the lack of usual aesthetics. People want to see the beauty around them, even on Mars. Your team has managed to integrate a beautiful and practical space into a rather harsh Martian landscape."

“It would be a dream to look years ahead and see what life will be like on other planets,” add Makhno. “As true romantics, we strongly believe in it. Because after all, what else besides our dreams can move us forward?”