When building the Hab, we had some things to keep in mind; it has to be airtight. The materials that were available to me was a beach ball, canvas, duct tape, and aluminum foil; however, we had to negotiate a deal for it. The beach ball would have been a better air tight system, but it didn’t meet up to some survival standards it needed to. The aluminum would have been a good material to use to cover the Hab and make it more metallic. The canvas is a great material for the survival standards, and it looks pleasing to the eye. Lastly, the duct tape is the material that can keep everything together with its stickiness. When we began our negotiations with the countries, we were only able to get contracts with India and Iran. We had to adjust some of our offers, however, to make it more appealing to the countries; such as more money than offered before. The canvas and duct tape were really good things to obtain! In the Martian by Andy Weir it says, “ “With no magnetic field, Mars has no defense against harsh solar radiation. If I were exposed to it, I’d get so much cancer, the cancer would have cancer. So the HAB canvas shields from electromagnetic waves.” (page 108) This quote proves that the canvas is actually used and can protect vs the beach ball that isn’t even mentioned in the book. Andy Weir also states, “Also i have duct tape. Ordinary duct tape, like you buy at a hardware store. Turns out even NASA can’t improve on duct tape.” *page 32) All the materials we are using for our HAB has been used in the book, showing that they are the best materials to use.

Weir, Andy.  The Martian.  New York: Random House, 2014. Print.

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