Human imagination has no boundaries. It is free to cross the whole galaxy and build new worlds. Bulgarian Yavor Ivanov who studied architecture has already built his new world. He already made an imaginary trip to Mars. His project Marsian envisages the construction of a base on the Red Planet. It impresses with its reliability and is able to compete with the projects of some of the world's most celebrated experts from NASA.

The construction of the base resembles a honeycomb and can accommodate astronauts for up to 550 days. It provides conditions for scientific research in an area with a radius of 80 kilometers, young Bulgarian architect Ivanov told Radio Bulgaria and added:

“The base consists of 88 modules. They will be transported separately to Mars and will form a bigger inner space when connected to each other. There will be a laboratory, a gym, cooking and dining areas and areas for the manufacture of rocket fuel. There are the so-called air locks between the different zones, which provide better security to the spacemen, if a given area gets damaged. Besides, there will be enough oxygen, electricity and water at the base. The project also envisages the construction of an aquaponics system which would allow astronauts to grow plants and produce their own food.”

The Ismenius Cavus basin is the most appropriate place on Mars to host that base. Astronauts will be engaged in various research activities outside the base. They will also work at the laboratory inside the base and communicate with the Earth. Communication between Mars and Earth will include video and text messages, which will be delivered to Earth with a 12 minute delay. The day on Mars lasts almost as long as the one on Earth (just over 24 hours). However, atmosphere on the Red Planet is quite thin and the average temperature is minus 63C.

“It will take 210 days to the astronauts to reach Mars and they will stay on the Red Planet for 550 days. This is so, because Earth flies between Mars and the Sun every two years”, Yavor Ivanov explains. “The team on Mars will change like the one on the International Space Station. The casing of the base and of the space ship will contain a special layer, which will protect astronauts from the harmful cosmic and sun rays.”

Unlike other futuristic dreams, Yavor Ivanov's project complies with NASA's requirements and can be completed with modern materials in the next 20 years.

“According to NASA's plans, a human is to step on Mars by 2035. The private space companies such as SpaceX have the ambition to do that even earlier. However, I believe that it will happen around 2040, which means that by 2055 we can build a base on Mars. Its construction will take between 4 and 5 years. Each of the modules will be made on the Earth and will be sent to Mars in 6 to 8 years”, architect Ivanov contends.

Is humanity going to populate the Moon or Mars first?

“Moon can be the first step to Mars, because it is much closer to Earth. However, life conditions on Mars are better, including the duration of the day. In other words, people would feel more comfortable on Mars, than on the Moon.”

Yavor Ivanov dreams of departing to Mars one day and see a Bulgarian base there. Until then he will take part at an international contest for space architecture with his project and would be happy if he gets the opportunity to present to Bulgarian scientists his plans about life on Mars.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

Photos: private library