title: Airtight sealing a Mars base.
abstract: Atmospheric leakage from a Mars base would create a demand for continuous or periodic replenishment, which would in turn require extraction or mining for oxygen and other gases from local resources and attendant equipment and energy requirements for such operations. It therefore becomes a high priority to minimize leakage. This article quantifies leak rates as determined by the size of holes and discusses the implications of pressure for structural configuration. The author engineered the sealing of Biosphere 2 from which comparisons are drawn.
authors.affiliation: Biospheric Design, Inc., Santa Fe, NM 87505, USA. wfdempster@aol.com
authors.forename: William F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Dempster
mesh_terms: D000389:Air Conditioning; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D018504:Ecological Systems, Closed; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D008021:Life Support Systems; D018535:Mars; D010100:Oxygen; D013026:Space Flight
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen