I think you will find more recent studies suggest special plastic double layer walls, with water stored in between two layers of the walls. And then outside the walls only about 1.5 meters of regolith. That's just one of various possible concepts. 6 meters?? Not necessary if other shielding added. Viable engineering approaches include multiple layers for the wall/ceiling, such as ~1.5 meters regolith, then two thin plastic walls separated by about 10cm, with water stored in between the walls in that 10cm separation. And then a final thick plastic layer with embedded metal mesh, and an electric current run through the mesh to create an electric barrier - an electric shield in effect. ... This is just one such idea and there are others - likely superior to that speculation of mine. Sure - one could live 6-meters underground, but why, when there are alternatives? But as i suspect you agree, there are deeper issues. Absolutely not there yet. But serious studying is ongoing to figure this out. For example ... Propellant production (to allow rockets such as a future Starship derivative) to refuel a rocket on Mars is theoretically possible. Propellant production on Mars relies on In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), which extracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water ice from the subsurface; consequently, landing sites are being carefully selected with local ice accessibility in mind. Through electrolysis, water is split into hydrogen and oxygen; the hydrogen is then combined with carbon dioxide in a type of Sabatier reactor to synthesize methane (CH4). Early Starship missions will likely carry the industrial hardware required to perform this synthesis on-site. This capability to manufacture both fuel and oxidizer (LOX) is one of the reasons why methane was chosen for Starship as part of the propellant, as it enables a closed-loop refueling system for return missions, eliminating the need to haul return propellant from Earth. .... Again , obviously there are other massive factors and very difficult challenges, but this is seriously being examined. As noted less than 6-meters is viable ... still , the distance under ground aside, I think we agree, who would want to live on Mars or on the Moon, which are IMHO ugly places to live compared to earth? Not me. Even if living on the surface with some radiation shielded accommodation, I for one, would not want to live there. It can't possibly (IMHO) compare to earth. I suspect some of the young may find it appealing, but I suspect, IF development continues (and that is a BIG 'if' ), we are over a century away from creating a Martian habitat of suitable structure with facilities, to make such adequate for a self sustaining civilization. One step at a time, I guess.
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