Dubai to build a Mars-like city

UAE government has recently announced that it would soon build up a city modeled entirely on Mars in Dubai.

The government declared that it would spend $140 million in order to develop a 1.9 million square feet city that imitates the environment of Mars. The main purpose of this city is to test long-term living on actual planet of Mars.

The Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE, Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced, “The UAE seeks to establish international efforts to develop technologies that benefit humankind, and that establish the foundation of a better future for more generations to come. We also want to consolidate the passion for leadership in science in the UAE, contributing to improving life on earth and to developing innovative solutions to many of our global challenges.”

The city would be named as ‘Mars Science City’ and would simulate the red rocky land at Mars. The project is a part of long-term Mohammad bin Rashid Space Centre’s Emirates Mars Mission for establishing a human settlement on the Red Planet, reported Science Alert.

Sheikh Mohammed tweeted about the city by calling it “an extraordinary national project”. “The Mars 2117 Project is a long term project, where our first objective is to develop our educational system so our sons will be able to lead scientific research across the various sectors. Human ambitions have no limits, and whoever looks into the scientific breakthroughs in the current century believes that human abilities can realize the most important human dream,” he expressed.

Experience Mars now with Virtual Reality

The city would make use of heat and radiation insulation for reconstructing the environment. The city will have interconnected domes that will house different laboratories and will be built by advanced 3D printing techniques from Emirates’ desert sand. The artificial city would also include a museum and recreational activities for young children. The labs will work on techniques to supply food, water and energy to Mars colonies, if that took place in near future, according to Mashable.

Though it is not yet known if the city would be open for residential purposes or not but, the country’s government aims to bring in people for an experiment that will last for a year.

Here are a few conceptual images of what the city would probably look like: