ISRUs on Moon and Mars Create Synergistic Interdependencies

As we have learned from history, settlers in a new "land" depend on the effective use of ISRU in order to ensure a sustainable presence. Even explorers who tried to traverse large spaces on earth with plentiful provisions ended up being fed and saved by aborigines, natives of the land, who had learned to adapt to the environment within they lived. The importance of "harvesting" in-situ resources will permeate most everything that will have to be designed, planned, and built to support the exploration of space, similar to the British penal colonies established in Australia. This paper provides a comparison of issues faced by terrestrial colonies in colonial times with those faced while planning to "live-off-the-land" on the Moon and Mars. It is argued that the synergistic phenomenon of In-Situ-Resources (ISRs) as part of an interdependent whole will not only influence the establishment of any type of habitat, but also be one of the key elements penetrating the most effective design, construction, and support of human exploration efforts as well as the commercialization of space.