Mars 1

Envisioned as part of a speculative, scaled mission to Mars, the Mars-1 project explored how humanity might sustainably generate and manage energy on a distant planet. Working as a member of the mission’s Energy Team, the task was to imagine systems capable of supporting long-term habitation in an environment defined by isolation, extreme conditions, and limited resources. Rather than simply designing infrastructure, the project sought to interpret the emotional and operational reality of living off-world, where every watt is precious and energy becomes a bridge between survival, comfort, and possibility.

Drawing on the inherent challenges of Martian exploration, the concept centred on a hybrid energy network combining nuclear and solar power. Nuclear generation offered reliability and consistency across long Martian nights and dust-storm seasons, while solar fields provided a renewable, expandable source of energy during periods of intense daylight. The goal was to choreograph these systems in a way that felt both plausible and poetically aligned with the rhythms of Mars: its muted skies, slow sunsets, and vast open plains where engineered light becomes a new form of landscape.

The creation of Mars-1 unfolded through a multi-platform digital workflow. Unreal Engine 5 served as the immersive environment in which the settlement came to life, its lighting, atmosphere, and material simulations enabling a visceral sense of place. Blender was used to sculpt and refine architectural and environmental assets, crafting structures that balanced technological sophistication with the rugged practicality required for Martian survival. Fusion 360 provided the precision needed to model energy infrastructure components, from modular reactor housings to articulated solar arrays, ensuring that the speculative designs retained a grounding in engineering logic.

Throughout the process, the project became an exploration of how design, science, and imagination intersect when envisioning life beyond Earth. It was a study not only in technical capability but in narrative world-building, examining how energy systems shape the lived experience of future astronauts, influence the growth of settlements, and define the boundaries of what is possible on another world. Mars-1 ultimately stands as a reflection on humanity’s potential to adapt, innovate, and create meaning in environments far removed from our own, offering a tactile glimpse into the infrastructure that could one day power life on Mars.