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.
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.
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.
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:
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.”
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 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.”
The shower-toilet is not the only feasible option for a Mars loo. These variants satisfy a range of requirements.
“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
“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 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.”
“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.”
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