Mars Airship

This submittal is for a mobile rigid airship Mars base. For the 2014 NASA Mars base challenge.

It is assumed that a manned mars mission would run 5-10 years, and that the range of any rovers, etc in a stationary base would be limited to a few hundred kilometers. With a mobile base, any site on Mars can be studied.

The base survivability will be improved by being nomadic, whenever a surface exploration is not underway the base can be in motion to keep up with the sunlight or avoid inclement weather (using some orbital weather satellites).

The top of the airship will have greenhouses and solar arrays (my model shows two greenhouses and three solar arrays. And the lower portion will be the living quarters, laboratory, and engines.

It is assumed that the mobile base will act primarily as a robot control center and repair facility. Most of the scientific/exploratory missions will still be handled by robtots, but the robots will be controlled, deployed/retrieved, and maintain