Earth-supported colony

The Earth-supported colony is the simplest colony types. As part of a colonization strategy it may be used for further on-site studies and the construction of more advanced colonies on Mars. It can be either a manned one-way mission or a colony with regularly changed crews. Growth would be mainly through immigration. If the colony grows, one would expect it to move from an Earth supported semi autonomous status then to fully autonomous status.

• If the installation is merely a mining settlement without planned growth, then it's not a colony, but merely an outpost. In such a case no significant growth is expected, and the end of the exploited resources means the end of the installation.

Requirements

To keep human beings alive the following basic supplies are necessary:

• Air to breathe at sufficient pressure
• Water to drink and to use for washing
• Food to provide energy for the human metabolism
• Heating of the artificial habitat to a temperature suitable for humans

But there is more to keep human beings well and fit:

• Facilities for daily physical exercise under the low Martian gravity
• Company as well as privacy
• Culture, motivation, psychological attendance, reason to live

Comparison with other concepts

Compared with an autonomous colony this concept has the following advantages:

• Fewer new technologies must be developed
• Smaller mass and volume of initial transportation
• Support can be adapted
• A smaller group of settlers is possible

and the following disadvantages:

• The more mass that must be shipped from Earth to maintain the colony, the higher the ongoing and long-term costs
• The colonists have fewer opportunities for their own advancement. They are subject to leadership from Earth
• Ends horribly if disasters (political, economic, or natural) on Earth cut off shipments to Mars
• Fails in a main goal of space colonization, creating a backup plan for the human species

An Earth supported colony may eventually become an autonomous one, as production capabilities grow and the use of In Situ resources grows as well.

Support types

Energy and food support

The colony receives regularly fuel and food from Earth. Greenhouses are not necessary. Energy generation is needed mainly for heating. It can possibly be generated with nuclear power or solar power.

Energy support

The colony receives regularly fuel from Earth. Greenhouses or biotechnology are necessary for local food production. The needed amount of energy is higher due to the fact that the energy efficiency factor of any food production is far below 1. With legacy greenhouse methods (artificially lit) the factor is about 0.001, which means the transportation of a thousand fold in energy from Earth to Mars in order to feed the colonists. This can be achieved with nuclear fuels. The high level of dependency creates a forcing function in regards to developing local sources of nuclear fuels.

Equipment support

If local energy resources are employed for local food production, the support from Earth may be reduced to cover equipment that cannot be manufactured in situ, or resources that are not available in concentrations that can be extracted economically.

Storage

• It would make sense for an Earth supported colony to stock enough goods to survive, in case of loss of contact with Earth, long enough to develop local sources. For example, a society using nuclear fuel from Earth should stockpile enough fuel for perhaps a decade's worth of power, enough time to develop local mines or asteroid sources of nuclear fuel. However, an alternative plan might be abandoning the colony and returning to Earth. The capability for this should be included in the colony plans.
• Food storage would also be required, at least enough to survive a long dust storm, or a missed synod.

Energy and travel costs

Local production of goods is favored by the high cost of travel between Earth and Mars. However, if the cost was low, then the economics of local production would not be as good, and an explicit policy of local production might be required to avoid overdependence on Earth if one of the settlement's goals is autonomy.