University of Regina engineers working on technology intended for life on Mars

We’re years away from humans being able to live on Mars, but some engineers at the University of Regina might have a part to play when that eventually happens.

Wil Norton is the team lead for a group of engineers focused on building an airlock chamber suitable for humans to live on the red planet.

“Think of it as a chamber that we can alter the atmosphere of at will,” Norton said on Tuesday’s Greg Morgan Morning Show.

“The airlock is a small room where we can change the pressure of the air, we can change the concentration of gases, sort of like a bridge between the Martian environments and whatever Earth-like environment you have in your habitat.

“It’s the Martian equivalent of your sort of entryway. So it’s the first step that has to be done before you can go into the habitat and it has got to be used at all stages of any sort of Martian colonization.”

The chamber Norton and his team have been working on has been an ongoing project since 2018.

It has also won a number of awards in North American competitions for the initial design of the project as well as the prototype.

“Whether it’s the very first missions or whether it’s 100 years in the future, when we have people on Mars, airlocks are going to be a vital part of the infrastructure. And hopefully some of our work can go towards making that a reality,” Norton said.

It’s not just in competitions that this chamber has drawn interest: Companies in the space industry have taken notice as well.

“We have received interesting inquiries from some players in the space industry. Currently, we’re refining our prototype in the hopes of having an industry showcase to some of these interested parties and also sharing our work at various aerospace conferences,” Norton added.

“The industry is interested and they think there is value in the work that we’re doing here at the University of Regina.”