The project is called Solar 54 and emulates the living conditions on Mars in the Parque de los Colorados. Its creator, Martín Bueno, dreamed of space since he was a child.
Martín Bueno has been travelling through the universe with his mind for as long as he can remember. Readings of Ray Bradbury and Jules Verne have always accompanied him on his dreamlike journey, which until then had been unattainable. At the age of 16, as a computer science student, he was able to delve into it. And now, at 52 and with a career in the field of technology, he already inhabits that realm in reality.
The project is called Solar 54 and emulates living conditions on Mars in the Parque de los Colorados.
“We think of Mars with our feet on the ground,” said Martín in an epic tone. That is what his new innovative project is about: Solar 54 , a high-tech aerospace simulator that, once built in the Parque de los Colorados, in the province of La Rioja, will emulate the living conditions on Mars . In other words, the reddish, hot and rocky environment in the north of the country will be like being on the red planet.
There are currently seven similar systems in the world – and plans are underway to build a total of 11 more. But the one in Argentina will be the only one that can be self-built : its structure, in the futuristic style of Fuller’s dome, will have six nodes made of triangular bricks made of “high-hardness ceramic.” This lightweight cement will be created by mixing Riojan soil, vegetable oil, heat and pressure.
But, as if that were not enough, the geometric shapes of the entire architecture will be fitted together by “robotic hands .” This detail makes Martín Bueno –as co-founder and technical designer of the project– definitively cross the line between science fiction and reality.
Since the first dome structure will occupy only a quarter of the 5,000 hectares available, the expert explains: “The idea is to expand and have the robot be able to self-create a city of domes .”
The call for applications “for interested architects and engineers to participate in the logistics of the assembly” was open until early April. It is estimated that the complex will be ready by mid-2022. It will have its doors open for experimental missions, the creation of technology and to satisfy the curiosity of researchers and students of “scientific tourism.”
Thus, Solar 54 will generate a virtuous circle: science will boost even more science . Firstly, in its Research and Development (R&D) laboratories, they will design nanosatellites and micro-launchers : “This is great news for the country because it has to do with our access to space. In this way, Argentina will be able to put satellites into low-altitude orbit ,” he said enthusiastically.
Secondly, with its own hydroponic farm, the food production system, such as basil and oregano, will be tested, and artificial intelligence will monitor the crops.
“Discoveries about extreme temperature variations can then be applied in other areas, such as desert areas in Patagonia or Antarctica,” he explained.
Precisely, one could say that the seed that originated the entire project was planted four years ago by SmartCultiva , an agribusiness company also co-founded by Martín.
“We were making progress in the area of hydroponic crops and we had the idea of creating a small dome that would simulate the conditions of Mars, but we couldn’t find the ideal place to install it,” he revealed.
Government support is essential. You can’t buy a desertMartin Bueno
That’s how the proposal from the provincial government of La Rioja came for them to carry it out on their land. “Government support is essential. You can’t buy a desert,” he said with an incredulous smile.
For this reason, Bueno reiterates with emphasis the importance of collaborative work between public and private agents. The “cornerstone” was also to have the support of: the government of the Nation; the CONAE and CONICET organizations , the National Technological University and the National University of La Rioja; and the Space Technology Center. In addition, Mars Society Argentina; SmartCultiva; and the Misiones company FANIOT participated, a public and private consortium that has Martín as part of the board and is “the first Argentine factory of IOT NanoSensors . “
You could say that Martín Bueno already has both feet on Mars: one with Solar 54 and the other with NASA.
Before the La Rioja project , together with his partner Eileen Ebene, he created nanosensors to measure data on hydroponic crops, which sparked interest among scientists from the US space agency. These devices – which will also be on display at Solar 54 – measure parameters such as humidity, CO2 and temperature.
“Argentine engineer Pablo de León, who has been with NASA for 20 years , contacted me to use these sensors to measure crop growth on Mars,” he said. That’s how he ended up working with researchers from the University of North Dakota, United States, and they became NASA’s suppliers for the Mars 2030 mission.
“I wouldn’t like to go to Mars. It’s something for the new generation and we are committed to working and researching,” he said.
Always one step ahead
Martín used to meet up with friends to play “Magic Brain,” but far from being interested in watching the light show, at 11 years old he was interested in understanding how the things that made those flashes possible worked. That was his first encounter with science. Years later, it was the film “War Games” that introduced him to the world of computing.
As a student at the Otto Krause Technical School, he remembers spending long hours inside a tiny apartment full of screens, testing and investigating his computer and modem. And so, at just 16 years old, he became a pioneer at a national level: in 1984 he launched one of the first Argentine BBSs called “Los Pinos II” , which 10 years later became one of the main commercial Internet providers in the country.
As a faithful promoter of the Internet, he began to apply it to everyday life (with the famous Internet of Things ) . Thus, in 1995 he created Fiera.com , the first large e-commerce in Latin America for the sale of products; in 1999, the visionary eFood Corporation , a platform for ordering food online like those known today; and AgTech , the company that makes technology interact with the field. With the latter, he created SmartCultiva and its technologies that monitor and optimize agronomic processes.
It has no limits: its robots roam the Argentine and international fields; and now with Solar 54 –in a not-too-distant future– they will be on an extraterrestrial surface.
