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Folding Houses...

Wasn't this implied in all that boilerplate for Traveller fast setup expeditionary habitats in equipment lists?
 
It's...neat? I guess?

I just don't think it's as widely applicable as they make it.

It's certainly nice being able to deploy a building in 2 minutes, but I think you can go farther, cheaper, and more versatile with simply pre-fab housing -- even to the point that the housing is simply ship "flat pack" like Ikea furniture.

Don't discount the ability of people to throw stuff like this together, readily, and easily. In most of the situations hypothesized here, labor is likely not a limiting factor.

Plus it doesn't address things like plumbing and wiring.

It's cool, really, fun to watch. They have some interesting ideas, but they just seem like a lot of engineering for a basically simple task, especially with pre-fab housing components.
 
It's certainly nice being able to deploy a building in 2 minutes, but I think you can go farther, cheaper, and more versatile with simply pre-fab housing -- even to the point that the housing is simply ship "flat pack" like Ikea furniture.

Think military camps, disaster relief, etc. Things where you need to be able to set up and then re-stow and store for next time.
 
Habitable containers would be easier. Get out of the cargo hold, secure them to the ground, fill up water tanks, and turn the power plant on.

Then I was just reading in the account of the First Marine Brigade (Provisional) and its occupation of Iceland in 1941 where it took 6 men who knew what they were doing one 8-hour day to erect a British Nissan hut. The Nissan hut would hold 6 men,

I also have some U.S. Army Corps of Engineer manuals covering military construction of facilities to include materials and time needed, along with how much floor space for a given number of men was required.
 
Given their construction, one thing that occured to me is that they would be difficult to seal against the Martian regolith, which, I'm told, will get into anything and will be difficult to get out of an environment once there. Other than that, yeah, they're cool engineering, and that merits a thumbs-up. :cool:
 
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