M.I.R.A.G.E.

• This is a grand Mars Construction Plan inspired by Operations Research. The optimal goal is to establish a city cluster on Mars & be fully prepared for further exploration.
• We've created a fictional enterprise M.I.R.A.G.E.(Mars Innovation & Research Associated General Establishment) as the entity of the whole project.
• The project is still in its early stages, but it will be updated continuously in the long term.
• Complete Project includes:
  • envisionary optimization models &
  • code implementations &
  • integrated problem-solving software &
  • other stuff
• Everyone is welcomed to share your ideas & make necessary modifications & point out new research directions and insights so that we can build the future together!

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Acknowledgement

• Special thanks to my other 3 teammates for their wonderful ideas in the early planning stages of this project.
• And to Professor Zhou from this course for his valuable experiences and ideas that has reignited my desire to explore.

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Development Concept & Timeline (Preliminary)

• Phase One —— Initial Construction

  • This phase focuses on establishing the initial habitable settlement, encompassing the construction of essential infrastructure such as housing, life support systems, and energy facilities. During this period, cost still needs to be considered and the construction relies heavily on resources transported from Earth. The core optimization challenge is to devise the most efficient strategy for spacecraft construction and launch to meet the demands for resource and manpower transportation while minimizing the total cost.

• Phase Two —— Further Expansion

  • This phase focus on expanding the initial habitable area into a larger city, which will eventually turn into a city cluster capable of accommodating around half a million people through constant collection of local resources and exploration of unexploited area. The central city will provide most of the energy sources for the surrounding cities. Earth-Mars transportation system will also be established. Launches from Earth are still needed, which shall be self-financed by motivated applicants attracted to the wonders of Martian life, so cost won't be a problem during this period. However, there are some other Possible optimization problems including ①optimization of metro operation; ②scheduling of elevator system inside each city; ③design a space-travel qualification distribution system that maximizes corporation's profit & reputation....

• Phase Three —— Continuous Progression

  • The main goal of the final phase is to achieve self-sufficiency in energy supply within each city in the cluster, reducing reliance on the central city by introducing power plants. This involves assessing & selecting the suitable locations of power plants and the construction & maintenance of an energy distribution network. It should be noted that 'cost' needs to be reconsidered from now on, because all future development on Mars will be financed by a common wealth system(miniCUminiCU system) of all Martian citizens. The key optimization problem is to ensure that the energy needs of each city and energy supply station are met through mutual support, while also maintaining a certain surplus of energy to mitigate future risks, all the while minimizing the cost of operating the entire energy supply network per unit of time.

• Phase Beyond...

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Models in Progress

• Phase 1

  • Starship Scheduling Problem
  • Warehouse Locating Problem
  • ...

• Phase 2

  • Elevator Scheduling Problem
  • Metro Route Planning
  • Space-Travel Qualification Distribution Model Design
  • ...

• Phase 3

  • Power Distribution Network Planning
  • Comet City Initiative
  • ...

Hope that some day this M.I.R.A.G.E. can become a R.E.A.L.I.T.Y !