Energy Resources
Hey, stop! We have to think, how will we operate our space station on the surface of mars? What energy resource we will use? What will provide our rovers and machinery power? Let us see one by one.
To the date two energy resources utilized for mars mission have been sunlight and radioactive decay. A manned mission or permananat settlement would likely also have to choose between these two.
Useful resources on Mars
Spacecraft exploration of Mars has shown that the essential resources necessary for life support are present on the martian surface. The key life-support compounds O2, N2, and H2O are available on Mars. The soil could be used as radiation shielding and could provide many useful industrial and construction materials. Compounds with high chemical energy, such as rocket fuels, can be manufactured in-situ on Mars. Solar power, and possibly wind power, are available and practical on Mars. Preliminary engineering studies indicate that fairly autonomous processes can be designed to extract and stockpile Martian consumables. The ability to utilize these materials in support of a human exploration effort allows missions that are more robust and economical than would otherwise be possible.
Magnesium, Aluminium, Titanium, Iron, and Chromium are relatively common in them. In addition, lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, niobium, molybdenum, lanthanum, europium, tungsten, and gold have been found in trace amounts.
Generate electricity on Mars
Wind turbines designed to make electricity at the South Pole and in remote regions of Alaska may someday lead to similar wind machines for Mars bases, according to NASA scientists.
During missions to Antarctica, where there are about six months of darkness each year, NASA scientists first seriously considered modifying cold-weather wind machines so they could make vital electric power for bases on Mars. One reason scientists proposed use of wind power on Mars is that wind turbines still could generate electricity during month-long martian global dust storms that can make days on the red planet as dark as night.
"Wind power and solar power may complement each other on Mars. When you have a large dust storm blocking the sunlight on Mars, a wind turbine can still generate electricity," said scientist David Bubenheim of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
"Only during dust storms on Mars is there enough wind energy to operate a wind turbine," said Michael Flynn, another NASA Ames scientist. On Earth about 10 meters (33 feet) per second wind speed is needed to make electricity with wind turbines; on Mars about 30 meters (98 feet) is needed because of the extremely thin air, according to Bubenheim.
Does Mars have oxygen?
Atmospheric gases on Mars sure provide us with plenty of mystery. First, there was that business with the disappearing, reappearing methane. Now, oxygen levels have been observed rising and falling over the Gale Crater, by amounts that just don't fit any known chemical processes.
The data comes from Curiosity, the Mars rover that's been making its slow and methodical trek across the crater floor and up the foot of Mount Sharp in the centre of it.
Mars' atmosphere is dominated by carbon dioxide (CO₂) at a concentration of 96%. Oxygen is only 0.13%, compared with 21% in Earth's atmosphere. Moxie can strip oxygen atoms from CO₂ molecules, which are made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms.
The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment is a technology demonstration on the NASA Mars 2020 rover Perseverance investigating the production of oxygen on Mars. On April 20, 2021, MOXIE produced oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere by using solid oxide electrolysis.
Martian Rock and Soil
The surface of the planet Mars exhibits a world of reddish rock, soil, and dust as revealed by Mars landers. Such an environment is quite distinct from the earth except for the desert areas and the big question is whether we can find or produce soils suitable for agriculture on Mars. If we send astronauts to Mars, they will have to stay for 18-24 months.
Therefore, considering agriculture is important to living off the land, recycle air, water, provide food etc as reviewed by Ming and Henninger (1989). In this chapter we review the information about the chemistry and mineralogy of the rocks and soils present on the surface of Mars and then discuss available resources and energy sources that can be utilized to perform Martian agriculture. There is also discussion of using released methane.
There are mainly two available sources to obtain information about rocks and soils on Mars. One is from direct analyses of meteorites originating from Mars that were ejected by heavy impacts that eventually reached the earth. The other is from data collected by spacecraft exploration of Mars. Both sources have provided valuable insight into the geochemistry and mineralogy of Mars surface materials.
Nuclear energy
Nuclear power is an attractive alternative to solar for several reasons. Its power output is constant in time, meaning less risk of prolonged power shortages that could prove hazardous to a human crew. It also weighs less per nameplate capacity than does solar when considering a Mars operating environment - a 2016 NASA study found that about 18,000 kg of solar power generation equipment would be needed to match the output of a 9000 kg fission system. This was considering a relatively small system meant to provide 21 kW peak electric power for a handful of astronauts, which translates to roughly 1.2 watts per kilogram for the solar power system and 2.3 watts per kilogram for the nuclear system.
The nighttime temperature on Mars as measured by the Opportunity rover reach as low as -98°C with diurnal temperature variations of up to 100°C, so even a temporary power loss in such an environment could quickly become life-threatening as the heating systems fail. This presents another advantage of nuclear power: even in the event of an electrical fault, the passive heat from the reactor or radioisotopes could be used to warm the habitat.
Conclusion
Though solar is increasingly popular on Earth, its intermittency, especially in the face of extreme weather events like long-lasting dust storms, makes it is less attractive on Mars. Considerable storage would be necessary to provide adequate backup power, which would result in a very heavy system. In contrast, nuclear power could provide both steady electricity and a constant source of direct heat. Thus, from a reliability perspective, nuclear power appears better suited to powering a small Mars colony. However, this is not to say that nuclear power is necessarily the best technology for extraterrestrial planetary outposts - it does introduce a set of safety and environmental concerns that may necessitate further testing and research to address.
