this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2023
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[โ€“] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago

First of all, domes in general aren't a great idea except for maybe greenhouses - at least on planets in our system. NASA and ESA have done some cool concept experiments as to what pressurized architecture could look like, and it's a lot more like a cross between a space station module and Earth architecture.

Second - assuming we've adapted/evolved to the low gravity, skyscrapers are probably the way to go. That said, if we've adapted that heavily we probably have similar adaptations to the atmosphere etc. - in which case architecture would probably be similar to Earth architecture, but able to build higher assuming the same materials.

But if we were trying to colonize a low-gravity world, we'd have to use an orbital station with centripetal-force "gravity" and only research stations on the surface, with a science crew rotation every 6-12 ish months to prevent bone loss.

This is actually the plan for the Moon and then Mars - use Gateway as a station to resupply and host crew rotations for Moon and Mars missions, and eventually to support long-term habitation. But until such a station exists, Lunar Gateway will be used for a waystation for crew rotations between the Moon and Earth.

Space engineering is about to become a very high demand field, on the absolute frontier of human exploration...