Mars Prospective Energy and Material Resources
The manned mission is seen as a first step towards a Mars surface exploration base-station and, later, establishing permanent settlement. The location and use of Mars’s natural resources is vital to enable cost-effective long-duration human exploration an
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Viorel Badescu (Ed.)
Mars Prospective Energy and Material Resources
ABC
Prof. Viorel Badescu, Candida Oancea Institute Polytechnic University of Bucharest Spl. Independentei 313, Bucharest 060042 Romania E-mail: [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-03628-6
e-ISBN 978-3-642-03629-3
DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-03629-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2009934313 c 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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This book is dedicated to those who believe that any sensible decision should be made by taking into account the world as it will be.
Foreword
Mars, the Red Planet, fourth planet from the Sun, forever linked with 19th and 20th Century fantasy of a bellicose, intelligent Martian civilization. The romance and excitement of that fiction remains today, even as technologically sophisticated robotic orbiters, landers, and rovers seek to unveil Mars’ secrets; but so far, they have yet to find evidence of life. The aura of excitement, though, is justified for another reason: Mars is a very special place. It is the only planetary surface in the Solar System where humans, once free from the bounds of Earth, might hope to establish habitable, self-sufficient colonies. Endowed with an insatiable drive, focused motivation, and a keen sense of exploration and adventure, humans will undergo the extremes of physical hardship and danger to push the envelope, to do what has not yet been done. Because of their very nature, there is little doubt that humans will in fact conquer Mars. But even earth-bound extremes, such those experienced by the early polar explorers, may seem like a walk in the park compared to future experiences on Mars. Mars is a small planet, with a radius about half that of Earth, but it is a place of extremes. The temperature can fall to a low of -140°C (-220°F) in polar winter, but seem an almost pleasant 20°C (68°F) in tropic summer. The atmosphere is thin. Even at the surface, Mars’ atmospheric pressure is comparable to Earth’s at an altitude of 35 km (22 miles), but with an extreme difference
