interstellar lab designs 'mars village' in mojave desert to help us survive climate change

paris-based research studio interstellar lab has announced plans to build a network of biomes in the mojave desert, california, in a bid to further research on how humans could live on mars. the closed-loop terrestrial village, called EBIOS, stands for experimental bio-regenerative station and is described as having ‘regenerative life support technologies.’

images courtesy of interstellar lab

the concept includes systems for water treatment, waste management, and food production, ensuring a carbon-neutral footprint, zero waste and nature preservation. when fully built, the EBIOS will be able to produce and recycle water, food and energy for up to 100 people.

‘sentient life is likely very rare in our universe — complex life may be rare in our solar system,’ said founder and CEO barbara belvisi. ‘at interstellar lab we are building technologies to help its preservation and regeneration on earth now and in the future on other planets.’

‘what we need to bring on mars for life is what we need to protect on earth right now. the only path to become a multiplanet species is to join our energy towards the same direction.’

interstellar lab has been working very closely with several NASA over the past few months. from water treatment, plant growth systems to 3D printing technologies and analysis of human behavior in a closed environment — there are a lot of areas of collaboration between the two structures.

‘we are currently exploring building our second EBIOS at the kennedy space center, we believe there are very strong synergies between what we do at interstellar lab, the state of florida, local universities and KSC.’

each station is designed as a hospitality and science center for astronaut training, scientific research and agriculture. they include an art and music center and a science area equipped with laboratories to experiment and test life support technologies.

for half the year, the facility will be dedicated to researchers doing work on habitations on other planets and sustainable living on earth. the other half of the year to tourists who want to spend a week experiencing the extreme sustainability lifestyle in order to monetize the project. the goal is for construction on the first EBIOS village to start in 2021.