Unlike habitats on Mars, why must underground structures on Mercury function as entirely self-contained pressure vessels, even when buried deep?
Answer
Mercury lacks a significant gaseous envelope to assist in passive shielding or pressure support
When planning subterranean habitats on Mercury, engineers face a greater containment challenge compared to Mars. While Mars has a low surface pressure, it still possesses a thin gaseous envelope that provides some passive environmental support. Mercury, however, lacks a significant atmosphere entirely. Therefore, any habitat built underground, even deep within the crust, must be designed as a completely self-contained pressure vessel. This requirement mandates near-perfect material science and rigorous redundancy checks, as any breach could lead to catastrophic failure due to pressure loss, regardless of the depth of burial.
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