Offworld Voyage: Can Training for Mars Exploration Also Address Human Adaptation to Climate Bio-devastation on Earth? (WHY2025)

This talk will present the design philosophy behind Offworld Voyage, a decentralized science initiative that develops ecologically sustainable training habitats for use in simulated Mars surface exploration missions - while also solving for adaptation to extreme climate change on Earth. The Offworld Voyage M.A.R.S. Tesseract Space Analog Simulation Habitats were designed with a zero waste ethos for minimal environmental impact by inventor Scott Beibin and visual wizard Michael Flood. The modular and portable structures of the habitats include: a bio-dome for cultivating organic vegan plant-based and fungi-based nutrition sources, autonomous power production, advanced waste reclamation, a science laboratory for experimentation and research, a space medicine bay, a fabrication lab for prototyping and repair, facilities for fitness and creativity as well as a kitchen and living quarters. Mission immersions incorporate a vision of the future when space has become accessible to all through the use of emerging ecologically sustainable appropriate technologies enabled by new types of egalitarian economic structures and coordination methods. Crew activities include EVA explorations in pressurized space suits outfitted with bio-sensors, 3D printed construction using regolith, utilization of open source communications tools, cooperative governance exercises and the practice of mutual aid and consensus decision making in mission planning, problem-solving and self-sufficiency challenges in the face of extreme resource scarcity, simulated time-delayed communications and experiments to analyze the effects of isolation on astronauts during offworld missions. The inaugural mission for the M.A.R.S. Tesseract habitats will occur in a remote desert location in the near future. It will include the founders of the project, Scott Beibin and Elizabeth Jane Cole, who are both alumni of the Mars Desert Research Station (Mission 286) and core committee members of the Journal for Space Analog Research. Future plans for the project include the development of pressurized facilities and closed loop systems, as well as development of public goods including hardware and software for Space Analog Research and S.T.E.A.M based educational programs. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ about this event: https://program.why2025.org/why2025/talk/ZDE7NN/