The first ever Mars "show home" is set to be unveiled next month, offering a fascinating glimpse of what life on the red planet could be like in a matter of decades.
The show home, which is based on extensive consultation with Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomers and Stephen Petranek, author of How We’ll Live on Mars , will be unveiled by National Geographic on November 10.
It is designed to be situated in Valles Marineris, a 4,000km long, 100km wide system of canyons that runs along the equator of Mars.
The dome-like structure, constructed over several months by Cardiff company Wild Creations, will resemble brickwork forged from regolith (Martian soil) and microwaved to create sturdy building material.
This will be combined with recycled spacecraft parts, including a double air-locked entrance, to protect the early settlers from Mars' unforgiving atmosphere and freezing temperatures.
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The exterior will also feature a large transmitter and stability "wings".
One side of the show home will be transparent, giving visitors a glimpse of Mars life inside, as well as a depiction of an underground area, containing sleeping quarters, food supplies, scientific equipment and linking tunnels to other habitats.
A small exhibition around the home will bring to life visions of the colony and facts about our future on Mars and the very real prospect of becoming a multi-planetary species.
The exhibition coincides with the launch of a six-part docu-drama from the Academy Award-winning team of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, called MARS, which premieres on Sunday 13 November at 9pm on National Geographic.
Set in the year 2033, MARS tells the story of the first manned mission to the red planet and our attempts to colonise it.
It is interwoven with present-day documentary, with space visionaries such as Elon Musk and Neil deGrasse Tyson explaining the science behind the drama, and how modern-day pioneers and technology will make the colonisation of Mars a reality.
Earlier this month, Elon Musk revealed a few ideas for how humans could actually live long-term on the red planet.
"Initially, glass panes with carbon fiber frames to build geodesic domes on the surface, plus a lot of miner/tunneling droids," he said in an "ask-me-anything" session on Reddit .
"With the latter, you can build out a huge amount of pressurized space for industrial operations and leave the glass domes for green living space."
Last month, Musk outlined his vision of colonising Mars at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he received a warm welcome from the avid space buffs in the crowd.
The billionaire entrepreneur envisions 1,000 passenger ships flying en masse to the red planet within the next century - Battlestar Galactica style.
"I think Earth will be a good place for a long time, but the probable lifespan of human civilisation will be much greater if we're a multiplanetary species," he said at the time.
