View source for Failure of the settlement

A complete '''failure of the colony''' would mean the death of all settlers. Possible causes can be [[human failure]], [[fail-safe|technical failure]] and acts of nature beyond control. It could take decades or centuries before a subsequent colonization attempt is started. This article wants to collect situations, incidents, precautions and mitigations.


'''(under construction)'''


== Destruction of life support ==
===[[Oxygen]]===

===Temperature===
If [[heating]] systems fail, the [[temperature]] in on-surface buildings may drop rapidly and destroy equipment and plants. Humans may freeze to death.

Precaution: Underground parts of the settlement draw benefit from the high heat capacity of the surrounding rock, which keeps the temperature for a long time. The interior of the settlement rooms can be optimized to store large amounts of warmth. Big [[water]] tanks have a high heat capacity.

===[[Water]]===

== Contamination of [[air]] or [[food]] ==
... with radioactive, chemical or bacteriological substances

Precaution: If dangerous substances are not produced, they can not pose a threat. If such substances are unavoidable, they should be produced, used and stored in a separated part of the colony, where no other vital system can be affected in case of an incident.


== Destruction or contamination of [[greenhouse]]s ==


== Disconnection or destruction of [[energy]] network ==


== Disconnection or destruction of [[internet|telecommunication]] network ==


== Explosion, causing drop in air pressure ==


== Destruction of transportation means ==
... that are needed to reach peripheral sites of the colony 

== Destruction of [[equipment]] that is needed for maintenance of vital systems ==

==Biological==
The human metabolism need a great variety of substances. The full complexity of all interactions is not fully understood. If there is a shortage or an excess of some rather unknown substances, the [[health]] might be seriously affected. In worst case the ability to work and maintain the vital parts of the colony falls below a required minimum.
Such substances may possibly produced by some sort of [[germs]] that are omnipresent on Earth, but are not in the Martian colony.

The [[immune system]] may get out of balance, since the ensemble of germs around and inside of the settlers will be different or narrowed. If, unlike in the [[ISS]], the bacteriological profile is not updated frequently, some vital germs might become extinct.

Mitigation: A garden with soil is a living ground for many [[microbes]] and germs.


[[category: Safety]]