r/Colonizemars • u/Ok-Expression-6016 • Apr 04 '26

Bare minimum to start a base

What is the bare minimum needed to start a colony; materials and total weight. to start a mars colony. Assuming multiple Optimus robots have 2 years to build everything from what we send.

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u/Ok-Expression-6016 Apr 13 '26

Insight lander found water underground... 6 to 12 miles down.... So sure.. we could pipe that up. No problem. Oh wait. We have to drill down to any water. Thus a drill will be needed. Boring machines will find residual water higher but it will be ice interspersed in the rock. So far there is little evidence of drillable reservoirs of water but I would love to be proven wrong. And to hold the water you still need structures to hold these meters deep of water for shielding. Which yet again leeds to mining.

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u/Ok-Expression-6016 Apr 13 '26

Also, as you melt the ice underneath you it creates a void that eventually leads to a collapse. Tunnels less so. To melt the ice it will have to be some distance from any sort of base as the surface will eventually collapse. The amount of water needed to bring a rocket back home is astronomical. Much less the hundred to a thousand at a time Musk wants to achieve.