The author of "Six Earth Cities That Will Provide Blueprints for Martian Settlers" picked Black Rock City, an Antarctic base, Dubai, Las Vegas, Nunavut and pueblos of the Southwest. The illustrations show the buildings sitting on the surface or on the sloping side of a crater.
Presumably the inhabitants of these cities, when they're not playing with their Perky Pat Layouts, would either be recovering from radiation sickness or cleaning out the everpresent dust.
I'd suggest as my six models,
Interesting attractions in Coober Pedy include the mines, the graveyard, and the underground churches. The first tree ever seen in the town was welded together from scrap iron. It still sits on a hilltop overlooking the town. The local golf course - mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime temperatures - is completely free of grass and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off.
The Siq is a natural geological fault produced by tectonic forces and worn smooth by water erosion. The walls that enclose the Siq stand between 91-182 meters (300-600 feet) in height.
The walls are more than 4 feet (1.2 m) thick on average. All of the furniture is made of ice. In addition to using ice glasses as in the Kiruna ice hotel, the bar (and room service) also serves cold cuts on ice plates.
The great operational advantage of the DEPMEDS facility ... is the use of single or double expanding milvans to create hard sided, air conditioned, sterile operating rooms and intensive care facilities, which can produce surgical outcomes similar to that seen in fixed facility hospitals, and do so in an austere environment.
Conshelf III was tested in 1965, six divers lived in the habitat at 100 metres in the Mediterranean near the Ile du Levant for three weeks. In this effort, Cousteau was determined to make the station more self-sufficient, severing most ties with the surface. A mock oil rig was set up underwater, and divers successfully performed several industrial tasks.
Some of these huge tunnels reached 1640ft and contained a hotel, a mosque, arms depts and repair shops, a garage, a medical point, a radio center and a kitchen. A gasoline generator provided power to the tunnels and the hotel's video player. This impressive base became a mandatory stop for visiting journalists, dignitaries and other 'war tourists'.
Copyright 1999-2007 Mark Wahl. All rights reserved.