RE D
P R I M E/
PLANTING OUR SEED IN MARTIAN SOIL/
ELEVATORS COULD BE BUILT ON BOTH EARTH AND MARS—EXPORTATION/
A Study of the Typeface ‘Mercury’ by Means of Word Association + Specimen Display
31 000 mi
A SPACE ELEVATOR WOULD ELIMINATE THE NEED OF FUEL
DE SIG NE D BY:
DIST R IBUTOR :
Hoefler + Frere-Jones Identifont / H+FJ
RE D P R I M E/
PLANTING OUR SEED IN MARTIAN SOIL/
ELEVATORS COULD BE BUILT ON BOTH EARTH AND MARS—EXPORTATION/
A Study of the Typeface ‘Mercury’ by Means of Word Association + Specimen Display
31 000 mi
A SPACE ELEVATOR WOULD ELIMINATE THE NEED OF FUEL
DE SIG NE D BY:
DIST R IBUTOR :
Hoefler + Frere-Jones Identifont / H+FJ
C N/
OD CTS = HIGH
//Copyright © 2012 Identifont + Hoefler + Frere-Jones// All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without permission of copyright holder. ME RCU RY D I S P L AY A N D ME RCU RY T E X T I S A RE G IST E R E D T R ADE MAR K OF HOE F LE R & F R E R E - J ONE S. AP E X NE W IS A R E G IST E R E D T R ADE MAR K O F V I L L AGE I N D E P E N D E N T D I ST RI B U TO RS , P UBLISHE R S AND DE SIG NE R S.
∂This is a work of fantasy for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. Mars used to be covered in water, there are traces of riverbeds and channels
28.4
TOTAL AREA OF MARS COMPARED TO EARTH [ LAND MASS ]
DE DICAT ION
DEDIC ATION
For Alexandra ( AND E VE RYONE BACK HOME )
thank you.
11
13
18
24
30
38
44
50 +
004.987
54
58
60
[home 053K M
1 67 KM
290KM
RED PRIME Content/ Page # 012 013 016 018 022 024 028 030 034
TA B L E O F CO N T E N T
Section Title Mind Map + Adaptation ( INT R ODUCT ION) Concept ( STAT E ME NT ) Mars ( I N T RO DUCT ION) Reasons + Ethics Atmosphere + Global Warming Adding Heat + Orbital Mirror Asteroid Impact Imports + Exports Soil + Rover Trials
Page # 038 044 046 050 052 054 056 058 060
TABLE OF CONT E NT
Section Title Microbes Interplanetary Space Travel Space Elevator Martian Architecture Radiation Trade + Economics Final Thoughts Photo Credits Contact Information
01 6.981
RED PRI ME [ ALPHA C OLONY ]
CONTENT /
60
sweet home]
IT IS SPECULATED THAT EARTH WILL BE OUT OF ITS HABITABLE ZONE BEFORE THE SUN ENTERS ITS RED GIANT PHASE/
RE CE I V I N G I N CO MI N G_ ME S SAGE / RE CE I V I N G I N CO MI N G_ ME SSAG E
YOUR R R R R R R R R R R / / / / P LE A
S E E
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T HE
P LEAS E
BEWAR E
RE CE I V I N G I N CO MI N G_ ME S SAGE / RE CE I VING INCOMING _ ME SSAG E R E CE IVING INCOMING _ ME SSAG E / R E CE IVING INCOMING _ ME SSAG E R E CE IVING INCOMING _ ME SSAGE / REC EI V I
E E E E RRRRRRRRRRR O O O O O O O RRRRRR // / / E R R OR ME SSAG E > R E START ING ... WE
MIS S I O N IS A S UCCESS
HAV E
FOU
R EC EIVI NG INC O M I NG _M ES SAG E / RE CE I V I N G I N CO MI N G_ ME S SAGE [RE CE I V I N G I N CO MI N G_ MESSAG E / R E CE IVING INCOMING _ ME SSAG E ]
VIN G I N CO M ING _MESSAGE / RE C EIVI NG INC O M I NG _M ES SAG E H I S > E
H YO U RRRRRRRRR R R / / / / P L E A M E
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E E E E R R R R R R R R R R R RRR R R R R R R R OOOOOOORRRRRR //// ER R O R M ES SAG E> R ESTA RT I N G. . . WE HAVE F OUND LIF E /
THE
AIR
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RRRRR R R R R R //// P LE A TH IS M ES SAG E H AS BEEN [R EC E I V E D ] I N E RRO R T HIS ME SSAG E HAS BE E N [REC EI V E ME S SAGE HAS RRR R R R R R R R OOOOOOORRRRRR //// ER R O R M ES SAG E> R ESTA RT I N G. . .E E E E RRRRRRRRRRR O O O O O O O RRRRRR / / / / E RRO R ME SSAG E > R E START ING ... EEEERRRRRRRRRRR T HIS ME SSAG E
ME S SAGE RRR R R R R R R R OOOOOOOR R R R R R THIS AIR
HAS
ME SSAG E
IS
ST ILL
IS N OT A R EC EIVI NG INCO MI N G_ ME S SAGE / RE CE I V I N G I N CO MI N G_ ME S SAGE W I ND S
T E ST P LE ASE
SE ND
R E PEAT
SUP P LIE S—A.S.A.P / /
“DE DISTANT ST R OYEFDUT UR E OF T HE SUN AND E ART H R E VISIT E D”. MONT OURHLY NOT ICE S OF T HE R OYAL AST R ONOMICAL SOCIE T Y
H AV E
ASE E_DO _ N OT_ U S E_T HE_COMMUN ICATIO NS _I NSTR U M ENTS _FO R _P E RS O N A L _ CA L L S AR E
++
Schröder, [DAMAG K.-P.; E D]Connon Smith, Robert I (2008)/ /
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ME SSAG E
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OF
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T E ST S
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[THANK // ///////
.
ME S SAGE>RESTA C ON FI RMED
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// /
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OF
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/
TU R BU LENC EP LEAS E
SEND
SUP P LIE S—A.S.A.P / /
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OF
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/
E F F E CT S O F E N V I RO N ME N T O N T E CH N O LO GY
TEM P ER ATU R E CO N T RO L
ABLE TO ADAP T TO ALIE N E NVIR ONME NT S
I N CRE AS I N G E F F I CI E N CY O F T E CH N O LO GY
E F F I CI E N T
FLEX IBLE
UNIQUE LIKE NE SS
ADAP TABILIT Y D ES IG NED FO R NEWS P R IN T
GR ADE S
ABILIT Y TO BLE ND IN RA N GE
MERCURY/ TYPE PROMO
SYM BO LS
WIDE AR R AY OF OP T IONS E F F E CT S OF R ULE + C ON QUER
T R AVE L PLANET
COMME R CE + E CONOMICS
S PACE
M AR KI N G W I T H ME A N I N G
INT E R P LANE TARY SPACE T R ADE
ABBR EVIATI O NS
SOCIAL COR R UP T ION
IMP ORTANCE OF ICONS IN SOCIE T Y
I CO N O GRA P H Y
R E COG NIT ION + COG NIT IVE CONDIT IONING
A DAP T ING TO MAR S
TER R AFO R M I NG
//Terraforming// Terraforming (literally, “Earth-shaping”) of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to the biosphere of Earth, in order to make it habitable by humans and worthy of permanent settlement. The term is sometimes used more generally as a synonym for planetary engineering, although some consider this more general usage an error. The concept of terraforming developed from both science fiction and actual science. The term was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction story (“Collision Orbit”) published during 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction. ∂Based on experiences with Earth, the environment of a planet can be altered deliberately; however, the feasibility of creating an unconstrained planetary biosphere that mimics Earth on another planet has yet to be verified. Mars is considered by many to be the most likely candidate for terraforming. Much study has been done concerning the possibility of heating the planet and altering its atmosphere, and NASA has even hosted debates on the subject. Several potential methods of altering the climate of Mars may fall within humanity’s technological capabilities, but at present the economic resources required to do so are far beyond that which any government or society is willing to allocate. T H E LO N G T I ME S CA L E S AND P R ACT ICALIT Y OF T E R R AF OR MING AR E T HE SUBJ E CT OF DE BAT E . OT HE R UNANSWE R E D QUE ST IONS R E LAT E TO T H E E T H I CS , LO GI ST I CS, E CONOMICS, P OLIT ICS, AND ME T HODOLOGY OF ALT E R ING T HE E NVIR ONME NT OF AN E XT R AT E R R E ST R IAL WOR LD.
∂The terraforming of Mars is the hypothetical process by which the climate, surface, and known properties of Mars would be deliberately changed with the goal of making it habitable by humans and other terrestrial life, thus providing the possibility of safe and sustainable colonization of large areas of the planet. The concept is reliant on the assumption that the environment of a planet can be altered through artificial means; the feasibility of creating an unconstrained planetary biosphere is undetermined. There are several proposed methods, some of which present prohibitive economic and natural resource costs, and others which may be currently technologically achievable.
//Concept// The idea of adapting to an alien planet and possibly living there permanently stemmed from the adaptability of Mercuty Text and Mercury Display. Mercury, with the use of grades instead of weights, is able to adapt to certain substrates and paper types, allowing it to exist where not many other typefaces may be able to.
PAGE /013
RED PRI ME [ ALPHA C OLONY ]
ADAPTATION/
Similarly, terraforming allows human beings from Earth to adapt to the environment of Mars. Although the human body is not physically adapting, the idea of changing the ecosystem and atmosphere in order to suit the needs of the body is still a form of adaptation. ∂This book will introduce the idea of terraforming to the general public and open a discussion for future progress and initiatives. Movement, or transporation, is conveyed through the use of directional imagery and particle elements. The reader will feel as if they are travelling to an alien planet, but at the same time experience a feeling of lightness and air. The typography of this book will also portray motion and migration, communicating the idea of settlement.
WHY/ NOACHIAN PERIOD ASTEROID IMPACTS = HIGH
Mars used to be covered in water, there are traces of riverbeds and channels
28.4
TOTAL AREA OF MARS COMPARED TO EARTH [ LAND MASS ]
//Why Did Mars Die?// So, what happened on Mars? Why did this once warm and inviting place, with enough atmospheric pressure and a high enough temperature to support liquid water, become a frozen rock with an atmosphere too thin to support even water ice? The answer boils down to or rather, freezes out to volcanism and bombardment. ∂In the Noachian period, Mars experienced a high frequency of asteroid impacts. The energy and volatile gas introduced into the Martian environment by the Noachian bombardment helped maintain the warm, wet climate and the thick atmosphere. ∂The other key to Mars’ warm wet past are its rather impressive range of volcanoes. Olympus Mons, located in a highly volcanic region of Mars known as the Tharsis Bulge, is the largest mountain in the solar system, being some three times larger than Mount Everest and twice as large as Mauna Kea (which is the largest mountain on Earth.) As on Earth, volcanoes on ancient Mars played a vital role in atmospheric recycling. Atmospheric carbon dioxide and nitrogen bind readily with minerals on the surface, especially in the presence of water, to form carbonates and nitrates. Volcanoes recycle these volatile elements by cooking nitrogen and carbon dioxide out of minerals and reintroducing them into the atmosphere. Volcanoes were also useful for replacing gas lost from the Martian atmosphere. ∂When volcanic activity halted on Mars, atmospheric recycling stopped and Mars absorbed its atmosphere like a sponge. As the core cooled, any magnetic field Mars may have had would also have decreased, making Mars’ upper atmosphere vulnerable to stripping by the electrically charged winds. AS THE ATMOS P H ER E TH I NNED , TH E P LANET B E CA ME CO L D E R. E V E N T UA L LY, T H E T E MP E RAT U RE D RO P P E D LOW E NOUG H F OR CAR BON DIOXIDE ICE TO FORM AND D R AW M O R E GAS O U T O F T H E AT MO S P H E RE .
//Relative Similarity to Earth// The Earth is much like its “sister planet” Venus in bulk composition, size and surface gravity, but Mars’ similarities to Earth are more compelling. The Martian day (or sol) is very close in duration to Earth’s. A solar day on Mars is 24 hours 39 minutes 35.244 seconds. (See timekeeping on Mars.) ∂Mars has a surface area that is 28.4% of Earth’s, only slightly less than the amount of dry land on Earth (which is 29.2% of Earth’s surface). Mars has half the radius of Earth and only one-tenth
DID M A WHEN VOLCANIC ACTIVITY HALTED ON MARS, ATMOSPHERIC RECYCLING STOPPED AND MARS ABSORBED ITS ATMOSPHERE LIKE A SPONGE/
//Differences From Earth// The surface gravity on Mars is 38% of that on Earth. It is not known if this is enough to prevent the health problems associated with weightlessness. Mars is much colder than Earth, with a mean surface temperature of −63 °C and a low of −140 °C. ∂There are no standing bodies of liquid water on the surface of Mars. Because Mars is farther from the Sun, the amount of solar energy reaching the upper atmosphere (the solar constant) is less than half of what reaches the Earth’s upper atmosphere or the Moon’s surface. However, the solar energy that reaches the surface of Mars is not impeded by a thick atmosphere like on Earth. Mars’ orbit is more eccentric than Earth’s, exacerbating temperature and solar constant variations. TH E ATM O S P H ER I C P R E S S U RE O N MA RS I S ~ 6 MB A R, FA R B E LO W T H E A RMST RO N G LIMIT ( 61 .8 MBAR ) AT WHICH P E OP LE CAN SURVIVE WIT HOUT P R E SSUR E S U I TS . S INC E TER R AFORMI N G CA N N OT B E E X P E CT E D AS A N E A R- T E RM S O L U T I O N , H ABITABLE ST R UCT UR E S ON MAR S WOULD NE E D TO BE CONST R UCT E D W I TH P R ES S U R E VES S E L S S I MI L A R TO S PACE CRA F T, CA PA B L E O F CO N TA I N I N G A P RE SSUR E BE T WE E N A T HIR D AND A WHOLE BAR .
∂The Martian atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide. Because of this, even with the reduced atmospheric pressure, the partial pressure of CO2 at the surface of Mars is some 15 times higher than on Earth. It also has significant levels of carbon monoxide. Mars has a very weak magnetosphere, so it cannot deflect solar winds in the proper manner to sustain neutrality.
[mars
PAGE /017
R ED P R I ME [ A LP H A C O LO N Y ]
MARS/
R Mars Quick Facts Atmosphere / Composition + Pressure
LARGEST VOCANO / Olympus Mons
Carbon dioxide (95.32%) Nitrogen (2.7%) Argon (1.6%) Oxygen (0.13%) Water vapor (0.03%) Nitric oxide (0.01%)
26 kilometers (16 miles) high 602 kilometers (374 miles) in diameter
7.5 millibars (average)
human]
POLAR CAPS Covered with a mixture of carbon dioxide ice and water ice
40° 44 24 N, 9° 27 36 W
(40.74°, -9.46°)
S
//Reasons for Terraforming// In many respects, Mars is the most earthlike of all the other planets in our Solar System. Indeed, it is thought that Mars once did have a more Earth-like environment early in its history, with a thicker atmosphere and abundant water that was lost over the course of hundreds of millions of years. Future population growth and demand for resources may necessitate human colonization of objects other than Earth, such as Mars, the Moon, and nearby planets. Space colonization will facilitate harvesting the Solar System’s energy and material resources. Additionally, In the event of a catastrophic extinction event, such as the meteor thought to have killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, Earth’s species, including humans, could live on this second habitable planet. ∂Further, in approximately 7.6 billion years the Sun will enter a red giant phase, as the hydrogen fuel in its core is completely consumed causing the Sun’s core to contract and the outer layers to expand. At this point, the Sun’s upper atmosphere will extend as far as 1.2 AU, out past the present orbit of the Earth. This expansion will likely destabilize the orbits of the inner planets, causing them to spiral inwards toward the sun and be destroyed. ∂It is speculated that Earth will be out of its habitable zone before the Sun enters its Red Giant phase. Astronomers estimate that the Sun will be 33% more luminous in three billion years. The warming Sun and increased solar radiation will cause the Earth’s oceans to evaporate, and the Earth to eventually become molten again and breathe the flame of history. T H E H A B I TA B L E Z O N E W O U L D MOVE FART HE R OUT F R OM T HE SUN, G IVING P OT E NT IAL MAR S COLONIST S SOME T HOUSANDS OF ADDIT IONAL Y E A RS TO D E V E LO P F U RT H E R S PACE T E CHNOLOGY TO SE T T LE E LSE WHE R E IN T HE MILKY WAY.
∂On the pro-terraforming side of the argument, there are those like Robert Zubrin and Richard L. S. Taylor who believe that it is humanity’s moral obligation to make other worlds suitable for Terran life, as a continuation of the history of life transforming the environments around it on Earth. They also point out that Earth will eventually be destroyed as nature takes its course, so that humanity faces a very long-term choice between terraforming other worlds or allowing all Earth life to become extinct. Dr. Zubrin further argues that even if native microbes have arisen on Mars, for example, the fact that they have not progressed beyond the microbe stage by this point, halfway through the lifetime of the Sun, is a strong indicator that they never will; and that if microbial life exists on Mars, it is likely related to Earth life through a common origin on one of the two planets, which spread to the other as an example of panspermia. Since Mars life would then not be fundamentally unrelated to Earth life, it would not be unique, and competition with such life would not be fundamentally different from competing against microbes on Earth, which thrive differently.
//Dr. Zubrin// “Some people consider the idea of terraforming Mars heretical - humanity playing God. Yet others would see in such an accomplishment the most profound vindication of the divine nature of the human spirit, exercised in its highest form to bring a dead world to life. My own sympathies are with the latter group. Indeed, I would go farther. I would say that failure to terraform Mars constitutes failure to live up to our human nature and a betrayal of our responsibility as members of the community of life itself. Today, the living biosphere has the potential to expand its reach to encompass a whole new world. Humans, with their intelligence and technology, are the unique means that the biosphere has evolved to allow it to make that land grab, the first among many. Countless beings have lived and died to transform the Earth into a place that could create and allow human existence. Now it’s our turn to do our part.” ∂Richard Taylor more succinctly exemplified this point of view with the slogan, “move over microbe”. Some critics label this argument as an example of anthropocentrism. These critics may view the homocentric view as not only geocentric but short-sighted, and tending to favour human interests to the detriment of ecological systems. They argue that an anthropocentrically driven approach could lead to the extinction of indigenous extraterrestrial life. ∂Martyn J. Fogg rebutted these ideas by delineating four potential rationales on which to evaluate the ethics of terraforming—anthropocentrism, zoocentrism, ecocentrism, and preservationism— roughly forming a spectrum from placing the most value on human utility to placing the most value on preserving nature. While concluding that arguments for protecting alien biota can be made from any of these standpoints, he also concludes with an argument, similar to Zubrin’s, that strict preservationism is “untenable”, since “it assumes that human consciousness, creativity, culture and technology stand outside nature, rather than having been a product of natural selection. I F H O MO SA P I E N S I S T H E F I RST SPACE FAR ING SP E CIE S TO HAVE E VOLVE D ON E ART H, SPACE SE T T LE ME NT WOULD NOT INVOLVE ACT ING ‘O U T S I D E N AT U RE ’, B U T L E GI T I MAT E LY ‘ WIT HIN OUR NAT UR E .’ ”
∂Strong ecocentrists like Richard Sylvan feel there is an intrinsic value to life, and seek to preserve the existence of native lifeforms. This idea is usually referred to as biocentrism. In response to these objections, weak anthropocentrism incorporates biocentric ethics, allowing for various degrees of terraforming. James B. Pollack and Carl Sagan might be described as moderate anthropocentrists. ∂Christopher McKay strikes a position between these two, what may be termed weak ecocentrism, proposing that an entire biosphere of alien life, even if only microbial life, has far more value than individual microbes, and should not be subject to interference by Earth life. H O W E V E R, H E A L S O P RO P O S E D T HAT IT WOULD BE VALUABLE AND DE SIR ABLE TO T E R R AF OR M A P LANE T TO NURT UR E T HE ALIE N LIF E , TO A L LO W I T TO T H RI V E AS W E LL AS TO E XHIBIT A BR OADE R R ANG E OF BE HAVIOR F OR SCIE NT IF IC ST UDY, AND T HAT SUCH ACT IVIT Y IS U LT I MAT E LY JU ST I F I E D BY T H E UT ILITAR IAN VALUE TO HUMANS OF BE ING ABLE TO ST UDY AND AP P R E CIAT E T HE ST ILL SOME WHAT U N D I ST U RB E D A L I E N L I F E .
//Christopher McKay//
/
“If we discover living or dormant organisms on Mars and these forms represent a different type of life than the life we have on Earth, then we should not bring life from Earth to Mars. Instead, we should alter the Martian environment so that this native Martian life can expand to fill a biosphere.
∂“It is essential to maintain the categorical distinction between killing individual microorganisms and extinguishing an entire alternative system of life. There is no logical argument against killing microorganisms per se, either for research, medical, sanitary, or even casual reasons. However... it does not logically follow that destroying or displacing the first example of life beyond Earth is acceptable if the only examples of that life are microscopic. ∂“If we terraformed Mars to allow the expansion of that life we would then reap the maximum benefits from the scientific study of that life form and its development into a full scale global biosphere. We would also enjoy the educational and benefits of life in a biologically richer solar system.” Even this “help” would be seen as a type of terraforming to the strictest of ecocentrists, who would say that all life has the right, in its home biosphere, to evolve at its own pace as well as its own direction, free of any outside interference. The impact of the human species on otherwise untouched worlds and the possible interference with or elimination of alien life forms are good reasons to leave these other worlds in their natural states; this is an example of a strong biocentric view.
IT TAKES 214 DAYS TO REACH MARS
E/
M/
CRI TI C S C LAIM TH IS I S A FO R M O F A N T I - H U MA N I S M A N D T H E Y AS S E RT T H AT RO CKS A N D B ACT ER IA CAN NOT HAVE R IG HT S, NOR SHOULD T HE DISC OVERY O F ALIEN LI FE P R EVEN T T E RRA F O RMI N G F RO M O CCU RRI N G.
∂Pragmatists argue that humanity on other planets is sociologically impractical. The basis is that being on another planet wouldn’t change human nature, so it wouldn’t be long until pollution and destruction by humankind began, and on a planet that has probably only known peace since the beginning of time. Since life on Earth will ultimately be destroyed by planetary impacts or the red giant phase of the Sun, all native species will perish if not allowed to move to other objects. ∂Some advocates of animal welfare have pointed out the ethical issues associated with spreading Earth-based wild-animal life by terraforming. In particular, they claim it may be ethically objectionable to bring into existence large numbers of animals that suffer greatly during their oftenshort lives in the wild. There are also concerns that even with full terraformation, distinct differences between Earth and Mars, such as gravity, lengths of the day and night cycles, and differing/lacking magnetic fields, would cause harm to many introduced species that have evolved for millions of years. T HO U G H S O M E S P EC IES M AY S U RV I V E , A N D OT H E RS P O S S I B LY CO U L D B E A DA P T E D T H RO U GH G E NE T IC MODIF ICAT ION, IF T HE INT R ODUCE D SPEC IES W ER E IS O LATED O N M AR S A N D N OT F RE Q U E N T LY I N T E RB RE D W I T H E A RT H CO U N T E RPA RT S, T HE SP E CIE S WOULD E VE NT UALLY E VOLVE T HR O U G H M ANY G ENER ATIO NS IN O RD E R TO B E T T E R S U I T T H E I R N E W E N V I RO N ME N T, P O S S IBLY LE ADING TO DIF F E R E NT E VOLUT IONARY L INES . TH U S , TH E INTR O D U C ED LI F E MAY E V E N T UA L LY LO O K A N D ACT V E RY D I F F E RE N T F RO M THE IR E ART HLY COUNT E R PART S.
∂Another aspect of terraforming ethics deals with an opposing extreme in this debate. Terraforming could be seen as a potential waste of precious materials, in light of alternative uses. Critics believe that it would constrict the growth potential of humanity by encapsulating the material inside of an astronomical object. Once the surface is terraformed and people have taken residence there, all the interior material is needed to sustain the maximum gravity potential for those inhabitants
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RED PRI ME [ ALPHA COLON Y ]
IF WE DISCOVER LIVING OR DORMANT ORGANISMS ON MARS AND THESE FORMS REPRESENT A DIFFERENT TYPE OF LIFE, THEN WE SHOULD NOT TERRAFORM/
ETHICS/
IF ALL O F TH E M ATER I AL W ER E U T I L I Z E D TO P RO D U CE S PACE H A B I TAT I O N SYST E MS , MO RE L I VE S WOULD T HE N BE SUP P ORT E D.
[ready the
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atmosphere]
IF WE WARMED EARTH THIS MUCH BY ACCIDENT, IMAGINE HOW MUCH WE COULD WARM MARS IF WE ACTUALLY TRIED/ MARTIAN FACTORIES GLOBAL WARMING USED FOR GOOD
If we accidentally warmed Earth this much, imagine if we did it on purpose
X 10 000
SYTHETIC GASES ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN CO2
//Heating Mars// To say that Mars is a chilly place would be an understatement. The Red Planet’s mean annual temperature is 55 degrees C below zero that’s about the same as the temperature of Earth’s south pole during winter. ∂If humans ever build communities on Mars, they might want to find a way to turn up the global thermostat. At a recent NASA-sponsored conference, “The Physics and Biology of Making Mars Habitable”, scientists discussed ways that future colonists might make the frigid planet a little more comfortable and livable, since the planet is all frozen and all. ∂One solution might be to pump enough greenhouse gases into the Martian atmosphere to create a runaway greenhouse effect. Here on Earth, the idea of a runaway greenhouse sets off alarm bells. But on Mars it could be a plus. Scientists at the conference speculated how it might be possible to warm Mars just enough to evaporate the planet’s available carbon dioxide (CO2 trapped in ices and frost) into the atmosphere, where such gases could contribute to keeping the planet warm. ∂But there are two problems. First, even if all of Mars’s available CO2 were coaxed into the atmosphere, it wouldn’t necessarily warm the planet enough to make it a comfortable place for humans, because no one knows just how much CO2 is there. Second, the best way to get Mars to release its CO2 spontaneously is, well... to warm it up. It’s a “Catch-22” situation! T H E B E ST WAY TO MA K E MA RS H A BITABLE WOULD BE TO INJ E CT SYNT HE T IC G R E E NHOUSE GASE S INTO IT S AT MOSP HE R E , R E SE AR CHE R S SAID T H U RS DAY. T H E ST U F F CO U L D B E SHIP P E D TO MAR S OR MANUFACT UR E D T HE R E .
∂Scientists and science-fiction authors have long pondered terraforming Mars, melting the vast stores of ice in its polar caps to create an environment suitable for humans. The topic is highly controversial. ∂Some think earthlings have no right to mess with the climate of another planet. Others see Mars as a refuge for people who might need to flee this world as conditions deteriorate. Another argument holds that Mars was likely warmer and wetter in its distant past, and it might have harbored life, so bringing it back to a previous state makes sense. A MO N G T H E I D E AS F O R H O W TO WAR M MAR S: SP R INKLING ST UF F NE AR T HE P OLE S T HAT WOULD ABSOR B MOR E SUNLIG HT, OR P LACING LAR G E MI RRO RS I N O RB I T A RO U N D T H E P LANE T TO R E F LE CT MOR E SUNLIG HT ONTO IT.
//Gas of Choice// The new research modeled how artificially produced greenhouse gases would affect Martian temperature and melt water ice and carbon dioxide ice at the poles. ∂Artificially created gases could be 10,000 times more effective than carbon dioxide in warming up the Red Planet, the study determined. The gases that would work the best contain fluorine and carbon, and could be made from elements readily available on Mars, Marinova and her colleagues found. (They said the best gas for the job would be octafluoropropane, which is used on Earth for refrigeration and semiconductor fabrication.) ∂Adding 300 parts per million of the gas mixture into the Martian air would trigger a runaway greenhouse effect, according to the models. The polar ice sheets that would slowly evaporate. The newly released carbon dioxide would cause further warming and melting, thus causing atmospheric pressure to rise and create a sort of bubble effect for the planet. ( T H E P RO CE S S W O U L D TA K E H U NDR E DS OR T HOUSANDS OF YE AR S TO COMP LE T E , T HE SCIE NT IST S R E P ORT )
P O LLU TIO N ARTIFIC I AL WAR M I N G
P O L L U TION A RT I F I C IAL WAR MING
SURFACE TEMPERATURE
WEATHER BALLOON TEMPERATURE
SATELLITE TEMPERATURE
0 16.981
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RED PRI ME [ ALPHA C OLONY ]
G L O B A L WA R
004.987
ATMOSPHERE/
+
O [reflecting
//Adding Heat// Adding heat and conserving the heat present is a particularly important stage of this process, as heat from the Sun is the primary driver of planetary climate. As the planet would become warmer through various methods the CO2 on the polar caps would sublime into the atmosphere and would further contribute to the warming effect. The tremendous air currents generated by the moving gasses would create large, sustained dust storms, which would heat (through absorbing solar radiation) the molecules in the atmosphere and create more comfortable conditions.
//Orbiting Mirrors// ∂Mirrors made of thin aluminized PET film could be placed in orbit around Mars to increase the total insolation it receives. This would direct the sunlight onto the surface and could increase the planet’s surface temperature directly. The mirror could be positioned as a statite, using its effectiveness as a solar sail to orbit in a stationary position relative to Mars, near the poles, to sublimate the CO2 ice sheet and contribute to the warming greenhouse effect. ∂Mirrors in orbit around Mars could create Earth-like conditions on a small patch of the planet’s surface, according to a NASA-funded study. The extra sunlight would provide warmth and solar power for human explorers, but some experts say the mirrors may be hard to deploy. ∂Scientists and science-fiction authors have long dreamed of turning Mars into a more Earth-like planet for future human colonists. The process, called terraforming, involves thickening Mars’s atmosphere and increasing its temperature. But schemes to transform the entire planet would take centuries and would require enormous resources. ∂Now, Rigel Woida, an engineering student at the University of Arizona in Tucson, US, is investigating the possibility of “terraforming” just a small patch of the planet’s surface by focusing sunlight on it from orbiting mirrors. This would help, if anything, to prove the concept.
R
BI
H E RE CE I V E D $9 000 TO ST U DY T HE IDE A F R OM T HE NASA INST IT UT E F OR ADVANCE D CONCE P T S ( NIAC) IN AT LANTA, G E OR G IA, US. T HE CO N CE P T CA L L S F O R 300 RE F L E CT IVE BALLOONS, E ACH 1 50 ME T R E S ACR OSS, AR R ANG E D SIDE - BY- SIDE TO CR E AT E A 1 .5- KILOME T R E - WIDE MI RRO R I N O RB I T A RO U N D MA RS. T HE SE MIR R OR S WOULD CIR CLE T HE P LANE T AND CR E AT E HE AT.
//Dangerous Radiation//
Margarita Marinova of Caltech in Pasadena, US, who is not involved in the study, says the extra solar power would greatly benefit future Mars missions. “This would be quite useful for many types of missions - both robotic and human.”
∂She cautions, however, that deploying objects in space can be challenging, citing an experimental tether that broke during deployment from the space shuttle in 1996 and the failure of solar sail experiments. The orbiting mirror for Mars “is not an easy project by any means”, she says. ∂Woida points out another potential problem. If not carefully designed, the mirrors could focus harmful high-frequency radiation such as ultraviolet light onto the surface. ∂Mars’s thinner atmosphere would not filter these out like Earth’s does, so the balloons would have to be coated with materials that would reflect only visible and infrared light, he says. ∂In his concept study, Woida will work out the structural details of the balloons and study how much extra light from the reflectors reaches the Martian surface.
//Balmy Conditions// The mirror would focus sunlight onto a 1-kilometre-wide patch of Mars’s surface. This would raise the temperature in this patch to a balmy 20° Celsius (68° Fahrenheit) from Mars’s typical surface temperature of between -140° C and -60° C (-220° and -76° F). ∂The extra warmth would mean the astronauts would not need heavily insulated suits or living quarters, allowing them to work more easily. The extra sunlight would also boost power from solar cells. And the higher temperature would melt any water ice on the ground. This could make precious liquid water available for astronauts to drink, and the water could also be used as a raw material to produce rocket fuel for the journey home, Woida says. “THE G R EATEST H O LD -U P TO EX P LO RAT I O N , T E RRA F O RMI N G A N D CO LO N I SAT I O N O F MA RS I S T HE LACK OF AVAILABLE MAT E R IALS.”
∂He says astronauts could maximise the amount of available water by warming up a region that includes a frozen lake, such as the one near the planet’s north pole that was imaged by Europe’s Mars Express spacecraft (see Frozen lake shines bright in Martian crater ).
BI T sunlight]
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RED PRI ME [ ALPHA C OLONY ]
SPACE MIR R OR P LANE TARY E NG IN EERI N G
ADDING HEAT/
SPACE MIR R OR P LANE TARY E NG INE E R ING
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RED PRI ME [ ALPHA C OLONY ]
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A ST MARTIAN TOPOGRAPHY 1 TO 3 KM ‘ZERO ELEVATION’ LEVELS
dichotomy between the northern and southern hemispheres
S 02
SOME CLIFFS IN THIS REGION ARE OVER A MILE HIGH
The first steps required in the terraforming of Mars, warming the planet and thickening its atmosphere, can be accomplished with surprisingly modest means using in-situ production of halocarbon gases. However the oxygen and nitrogen levels in the atmosphere would be too low for many plants, and if left in this condition the planet would remain relatively dry, as the warmer temperatures took centuries to melt Mars’ ice and deeply buried permafrost. The history of the planet is amazing. It is in this, the second phase of terraforming Mars, during which the hydrosphere is activated, the atmosphere made breathable for advanced plants and primitive animals, and the temperature increased further, that either space based manufacturing of large solar concentrators or human activity in the outer solar system is likely to assume an important role. ∂Activating the Martian hydrosphere in a timely fashion will require doing some violence to the planet, and , as discussed above, one way this can be done is with targeted asteroidal impacts. Each such impact releases the energy equivalent of 10 TW-yrs. If Plowshare methods of shock treatment for Mars are desired, then the use of such projectiles is certainly to be preferred to the alternative option of detonation of hundreds of thousands of thermonuclear explosives. After all, even if so much explosive could be manufactured, its use would leave the planet unacceptably radioactive. ∂The use of orbiting mirrors provides an alternative method for hydrosphere activation. For example, if the 125 km radius reflector discussed earlier for use in vaporizing the pole were to concentrate its power on a smaller region, 27 TW would be available to melt lakes or volatilize nitrate beds. This is triple the power available from the impact of 1 10 billion tonne asteroid per year, and would be more controllable. A S I N GL E S U CH MI RRO R CO U L D D R IVE VAST AMOUNT S OF WAT E R OUT OF T HE P E R MAF R OST AND INTO T HE NASCE NT MART IAN E COSYST E M VE RY Q U I CK LY. T H U S W H I L E T H E E N GI N E E R ING OF SUCH MIR R OR S MAY BE SOME WHAT G R ANDIOSE , T HE BE NE F IT S TO T E R R AF OR MING OF BE ING ABLE TO W I E L D T E N S O F T W O F P O W E R IN A CONT R OLLABLE WAY CAN HAR DLY BE OVE R STAT E D.
87 3KM
[strike
Another way to increase the temperature could be to direct small cosmic bodies (asteroids) onto the Martian surface; the impact energy would be released as heat and could vaporize Martian water ice to steam, which is also a greenhouse gas. Asteroids could also be chosen for their composition, such as Ammonia, which would then disperse into the atmosphere on impact, adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Lightning may have built up nitrate beds in the soil over the life of the planet. I MPACT I N G AST E RO I D S O N T H E S E NIT R AT E BE DS WOULD R E LE ASE ADDIT IONAL NIT R OG E N AND OXYG E N INTO T HE AT MOSP HE R E .
ASTEROID IMPACTS WOULD WARM THE MARTIAN SURFACE + VAPORIZE MARTIAN ICE/
1301K
500K M
ELEVATION PROFILE OF IMPACT REGIONS (SURFACE)
range]
2008 TC3 / Asteroid Impact
EAST LONGITUDE / Airburst
NASA/JPL (95.32%) Near-Mars Object (2.7%) 02:46 UT/21:30 UT (1.6%) Oxygen (0.13%) Water vapor (0.03%)
47 kilometers (1 kiloton) 78 kilometers (1.7 kiloton) NORTH LATITUDE
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Matching final impact predictions within 0.2s
RED PRI ME [ ALPHA C OLONY ]
Mars Impact Heating
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IMP //Water//
//Carbon Dioxide Sublimation//
An important step in building the martian atmosphere would be the importation of water, which would so be obtained, for example, from ice asteroids or from ice moons of Jupiter or Saturn, beyond the water ice already present at the Martian north pole. Another important step for building the atmosphere is keeping the atmosphere while building it.
There is presently enough carbon dioxide (CO2) as ice in the Martian south pole and absorbed by regolith (soil) around the planet that, if sublimated to gas by a climate warming of only a few degrees, would increase the atmospheric pressure to 300 millibars, comparable to twice the altitude of the peak of Mount Everest.
ARTIFICIALLY C R EATING A M AG NETO S P H ERE W O U L D AS S I ST W I T H T HIS; SEE T H E S ECTIO N BELO W O N “ M AG N E T I C F I E L D A N D S O L A R RADIATION” FO R TH E BENEFI TS O F A M AG NE TO S P H E RE .
While this would not be comfortably breathable by humans, it would eliminate the present need for pressure suits, melt the water ice at Mars’s north pole (flooding the northern basin), and bring the year-round climate above freezing over approximately half of Mars’s surface. This would enable the introduction of plant life, particularly plankton in the new northern sea, to start converting the atmospheric CO2 into oxygen. P H Y TO P L A N K TO N CA N A L S O CONVE RT DISSOLVE D CO2 INTO OX YGE N , W H I CH I S I MP O RTA N T B E CAUSE MAR S’S LOW T E MP E R AT UR E W I L L , BY H E N RY ’S L AW, L E A D TO A HIG H R AT IO OF DISSOLVE D CO2 TO AT MO S P H E RI C CO 2 I N T H E F LO O DE D NORT HE R N BASIN.
//Ammonia//
//Hydrocarbons// Another way would be to import methane or other hydrocarbons, which are common in Titan’s atmosphere (and on its surface). The methane could be vented into the atmosphere where it would act to compound the greenhouse effect.Methane (or other hydrocarbons) also can be helpful to produce a quick increase for the insufficient martian atmospheric pressure. These gases also can be used for production (at the next step of terraforming of Mars) of water and CO2 for the Martian atmosphere, by reaction: CH 4 + 4 F E 2O 3 => CO 2 + 2 H 2O + 8 F E O
This could probably be initiated by heat or by Martian solar UV irradiation. Large amounts of the resulting products (CO2 and water) are necessary to initiate the processes.
Another, more intricate, method uses ammonia as a powerful greenhouse gas (as it is possible that large amounts of it exist in frozen form on asteroidal objects orbiting in the outer Solar System); it may be possible to move these (for example, by using very large nuclear bombs to blast them in the right direction) and send them into Mars’s atmosphere. Since ammonia (NH3) is high in nitrogen it might also take care of the problem of a buffer gas in the atmosphere. SUSTAINE D SMALLE R IMPACT S WILL ALSO CONT R IBUT E TO INCR E ASE S IN T HE T E MP E R AT UR E AND MASS OF T HE AT MOSP HE R E .
∂The need for a buffer gas is a challenge that will face any potential atmosphere builders. On Earth, nitrogen is the primary atmospheric component, making up 77% of the atmosphere. Mars would require a similar buffer-gas component although not necessarily as several more. Still, obtaining significant quantities of nitrogen, argon or some other comparatively inert gas is difficult.
H2 + FE2 O 3 = > H 2 O + 2 FEO
∂Depending on the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, importation and reaction of hydrogen would produce heat, water and graphite via the Bosch reaction. Alternatively, reacting hydrogen with the carbon dioxide atmosphere via the Sabatier reaction would yield methane and water.
//Fluorine Compounds// Since long-term climate stability would be required for sustaining a big human population, the broader use of especially powerful fluorinebearing greenhouse gases possibly including sulfur hexafluoride and / or halocarbons such as chlorofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons (or PFCs) has been suggested. These gases are the most cited candidates for artificial insertion into the Martian atmosphere because of their strong effect as a greenhouse gas. This can conceivably be done relatively cheaply by sending rockets with payloads of compressed CFCs on collision courses with Mars.. When the rockets crash onto the surface they release their payloads. A ST E A DY B A RRAGE O F T HE SE “CF C R OCKE T S” WOULD NE E D TO BE S U STA I N E D F O R A L I T T LE MOR E T HAN A DE CADE WHILE T HE P LANE T CH A N GE S CH E MI CA L LY AND BE COME S WAR ME R .
In order to sublimate the south polar CO2 glaciers, Mars would require the introduction of approximately 0.3 microbars of CFCs (chlorofluoro-carbons) into Mars’s atmosphere. CFCs are powerful greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more effective at warming than CO2. The 0.3 microbars needed would mass approximately 39 million metric tons, which is about three times the amount of CFC manufactured on Earth from 1972 to 1992 when CFC production was banned by international treaty. MINE R ALOG ICAL SURVE YS OF MAR S HAVE F OUND SIG NIF ICANT AMOUNT S OF T HE OR E S NE CE SSARY TO P R ODUCE T HE AMOUNT OF CF C GAS R E QUIR E D. T HIS IS SUCH A CR UCIAL ST E P.
∂Fluorine-containing minerals as a source of CFCs and PFCs is supported by the belief that since the quantities present are expected to be at least as common on Mars as on Earth, this process could sustain the production of sufficient quantities of optimal greenhouse compounds to maintain Mars at ‘comfortable’ temperatures, as a method of maintaining an Earth-like atmosphere produced previously by some other means.
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For example, hydrogen could react with iron (III) oxide from the Martian soil, which would give water as a product:
THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP IN BUILDING THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE IS THE IMPORTATION OF WATER. THE NEXT STEP IS KEEPING THE ATMOSPHERE ONCE IT IS BUILT/
RED PRI ME [ ALPHA C OLONY ]
Hydrogen importation could also be done for atmospheric and hydrospheric engineering, or terraforming.
IMPORTS/
//Hydrogen//
ORT
the rocks on the plains of gusev are a type of basalt/ THE Y CON TAI N TH E M INER ALS O LI VINE, PY ROX E N E , P L AGI O CL AS E , AN D MAGN ETITE, AND TH EY LO O K LI KE VO LCA N I C B ASA LT AS T H E Y ARE FIN E-GRA INED W I TH IR R EG U LAR H O LES. (GE OLOGIST S W O U LD SAY TH EY H AVE VES IC L E S A N D V U GS )
[below
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the surface]
Alt MARTIAN TOPOGRAPHY 1 TO 3 KM ‘ZERO ELEVATION’ LEVELS
ELEVATION PROFILE OF MARS TERRAIN (ESTIMATED)
dichotomy between the northern and southern hemispheres
S 02
SOME CLIFFS IN THIS REGION ARE OVER A MILE HIGH
//Oxygenating the Planet// The most technologically challenging aspect of terraforming Mars will be the creation of sufficient oxygen in the planet’s atmosphere to support animal life. While primitive plants can survive in an atmosphere without oxygen, advanced plants require about 1 mb and humans need 120 mb.
SOIL+ ROVER TRIALS/
While Mars may have super-oxides in its soil or nitrates that can be pyrolysed to release oxygen (and nitrogen) gas, the problem is the amount of energy needed: about 2200 TW-years for every mb produced. Similar amounts of energy are required for plants to release oxygen from CO2. Plants, however, offer the advantage that once established they can propagate themselves. The production of an oxygen atmosphere on Mars thus breaks down into two phases. In the first phase, brute force engineering techniques are employed to produce sufficient oxygen (about 1 mb) to allow advanced plants to propagate across Mars. Assuming 3 125 km radius space mirrors active in supporting such a program and sufficient supplies of suitable target material on the ground, such a goal could be achieved in about 25 years. At that point, with a temperate climate, a thickened CO2 atmosphere to supply pressure and greatly reduce the space radiation dose, and a good deal of water in circulation, plants that have been genetically engineered to tolerate Martian soils and to perform photosynthesis at high efficiency could be released together with their bacterial symbiotes. Assuming that global coverage could be achieved in a few decades and that such plants could be engineered to be 1% efficient (rather high, but not unheard of among terrestrial plants) then they would represent an equivalent oxygen producing power source of about 200 TW. By combining the efforts of such biological systems with perhaps 90 TW of space based reflectors and 10 TW of installed power on the surface (terrestrial civilization today uses about 12 TW) the required 120 mb of oxygen needed to support humans and other advanced animals in the open could be produced in about 900 years. I F MO RE P O W E RF U L A RT I F I CI A L E NE R GY SOUR CE S OR ST ILL MOR E E F F ICIE NT P LANT S WE R E E NG INE E R E D, T HE N T HIS SCHE DULE COULD BE ACCE L E RAT E D ACCO RD I N GLY, A FACT WHICH MAY WE LL P R OVE A DR IVE R IN BR ING ING SUCH T E CHNOLOG IE S INTO BE ING . I T MAY B E N OT E D T H AT T H E RM ONUCLE AR F USION P OWE R ON T HE SCALE R E QUIR E D F OR T HE ACCE LE R AT ION OF T E R R AF OR MING ALSO RE P RE S E N T S T H E K E Y T E CH N O LOGY F OR E NABLING P ILOT E D INT E R ST E LLAR F LIG HT. IF T E R R AF OR MING MAR S WE R E TO P R ODUCE SUCH A S P I N O F F, T H E N T H E U LT I MAT E RESULT OF T HE P R OJ E CT WILL BE TO CONF E R UP ON HUMANIT Y NOT ONLY ONE NE W WOR LD F OR HABITAT ION.
[dedication
∂ Martian soil is the fine regolith found on the surface of Mars. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil. The term Martian soil typically refers to the finer fraction of regolith, that which is composed of grains one centimeter in diameter or less. Some have argued that the term “soil” is not correct in reference to Mars because soil is defined as having organic content, whereas Mars is not known to have any. However, standard usage among planetary scientists is to ignore that distinction. Martian dust generally connotes even finer materials than Martian soil, the fraction which is less than 30 micrometres in diameter. Disagreement over the significance of soil’s definition arises due to the lack of an integrated concept of soil in the literature. The pragmatic definition “medium for plant growth” has been commonly adopted in the planetary science community but a more complex definition describes soil as (bio)geochemically/physically altered material at the surface of a planetary body that encompasses surficial extraterrestrial telluric deposits. This definition emphasizes that soil is a body that retains information about its environmental history and that does not life to form. ∂Mars is covered with vast expanses of sand and dust and its surface is littered with rocks and boulders. The dust is occasionally picked up in vast planet-wide dust storms. Mars dust is very fine and enough remains suspended in the atmosphere to give the sky a reddish hue. The reddish hue is due to rusting iron minerals presumably formed a few billion years ago when Mars was warm and wet, but now that Mars is cold and dry, modern rusting may be due to a superoxide that forms on minerals exposed to ultraviolet rays in sunlight. The sand is believed to move only slowly in the Martian winds due to the very low density of the atmosphere in the present epoch. In the past, liquid water flowing in gullies and river vallies may have shaped the Martian regolith. Mars researchers are studying whether groundwater sapping is shaping the Martian regolith in the present epoch, and whether carbon dioxide hydrates exist on Mars and play a role. It is believed that large quantities of water and carbon dioxide ices remain frozen within the regolith in the equatorial parts of Mars and on its surface at higher latitudes. Water contents of Martian regolith range from <2% by weight to more than 60%. T H E P RE S E N CE O F O L I V I N E , W H ICH IS AN E ASILY WE AT HE R ABLE P R IMARY MINE R AL, HAS BE E N INT E R P R E T E D TO ME AN T HAT P HYSICAL RAT H E R T H A N CH E MI CA L W E AT HE R ING P R OCE SSE S CUR R E NT LY DOMINAT E ON MAR S.
∂In June, 2008, the Phoenix Lander returned data showing Martian soil to be slightly alkaline and containing vital nutrients such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride, all of which are necessary for living organisms to grow. Scientists compared the soil near Mars’ north pole to that of backyard gardens on Earth, and concluded that it could be suitable for growth of plants. However, in August, 2008, the Phoenix Lander conducted simple chemistry experiments, mixing water from Earth with Martian soil in an attempt to test its pH, and discovered traces of the salt perchlorate, while also confirming many scientists theories that the Martian surface was considerably basic, measuring at 8.3. The presence of the perchlorate, if confirmed, would make Martian soil more exotic than previously believed. Further testing is necessary to eliminate the possibility of the perchlorate readings being caused by terrestrial sources, which may have migrated from the spacecraft either into samples or the instrumentation, which accounts for human error. ∂While our understanding of Martian soils is extremely rudimentary, their diversity may raise the question of how we might compare them with our Earth-based soils. Applying an Earth-based system is largely debatable but a simple option is to distinguish the (largely) biotic Earth from the abiotic Solar System, and include all non-Earth soils in a new World Reference Base for Soil Resources Reference Group or USDA soil taxonomy Order, which might be tentatively called Astrosols.
//Mars Exploration Rover//
PAGE /035
ROVERS/
The mission’s scientific objective was to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. The mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, which includes three previous successful landers: the two Viking program landers in 1976 and Mars Pathfinder probe in 1997. These landings were a milestone. ∂The rocks on the plains of Gusev are a type of basalt. They contain the minerals olivine, pyroxene, plagioclase, and magnetite, and they look like volcanic basalt as they are fine-grained with irregular holes (geologists would say they have vesicles and vugs). Much of the soil on the plains came from the breakdown of the local rocks. Fairly high levels of nickel were found in some soils; probably from meteorites. Analysis shows that the rocks have been slightly altered by tiny amounts of water. Outside coatings and cracks inside the rocks suggest water deposited minerals, maybe bromine compounds. All the rocks contain a fine coating of dust and one or more harder rinds of material. One type can be brushed off, while another needed to be ground off by the Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT).
R ED P R I ME [ A LP H A C O LO N Y ]
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the sending of the two rovers—MER-A Spirit and MER-B Opportunity—to explore the Martian surface and geology.
THE R E AR E A VAR IETY O F R O C KS I N T H E CO L U MB I A H I L L S ( MA RS ) , S O ME O F W H I CH H AV E B E E N ALT E R E D BY WAT E R , BUT NOT MUCH WAT E R .
∂The dust in Gusev Crater is the same as dust all around the planet. All the dust was found to be magnetic. Moreover, Spirit found the magnetism was caused by the mineral magnetite, especially magnetite that contained the element titanium. One magnet was able to completely divert all dust hence all Martian dust is thought to be magnetic. The spectra of the dust was similar to spectra of bright, low thermal inertia regions like Tharsis and Arabia that have been detected by orbiting satellites. A thin layer of dust, maybe less than one millimeter thick covers all surfaces. Something in it contains a small amount of chemically bound water. ∂Observations of rocks on the plains show they contain the minerals pyroxene, olivine, plagioclase, and magnetite. These rocks can be classified in different ways. The amounts and types of minerals make the rocks primitive basalts. The rocks are similar to ancient terrestrial rocks called basaltic komatiites. Rocks of the plains also resemble the basaltic shergottites, meteorites which came from Mars. One classification system compares the amount of alkali elements to the amount of silica on a graph; in this system, Gusev plains rocks lay near the junction of basalt, picrobasalt, and tephite.
exploration]
THE I RVI NE-BAR AG ER C LAS S I FI CAT I O N CA L L S T H E M B ASA LT S . P L A I N ’S RO CKS H AV E B E E N V E RY SLIG HT LY ALT E R E D, P R OBABLY BY T HIN F ILMS OF WATER BECAU S E TH EY AR E S OF T E R A N D CO N TA I N V E I N S O F L I GH T CO LO RE D MAT E RI A L T HAT MAY BE BR OMINE COMP OUNDS, AS WE LL AS COATI NG S O R R I ND S . I T IS TH O U GH T T H AT S MA L L A MO U N T S O F WAT E R MAY H AV E GOT T E N INTO CR ACKS INDUCING MINE R ALIZAT ION PRO C ES S ES ). C OATING S O N TH E R OCKS MAY H AV E O CCU RRE D W H E N RO CKS W E RE B U RI E D A N D INT E R ACT E D WIT H T HIN F ILMS OF WAT E R AND DUST. O NE S I G N TH AT TH EY W ER E A LT E RE D WAS T H AT I T WAS E AS I E R TO GRI N D T H E S E RO CKS COMPAR E D TO T HE SAME T YP E S OF R OCKS FOU ND O N EARTH .
//Columbia Hills// Scientists found a variety of rock types in the Columbia Hills, and they placed them into six different categories. The six are: Clovis, Wishbone, Peace, Watchtower, Backstay, and Independence. They are named after a prominent rock in each group. Their chemical compositions, as measured by APXS, are significantly different from each other. Most importantly, all of the rocks in Columbia Hills show various degrees of alteration due to aqueous fluids. They are enriched in the elements phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, and bromine—all of which can be carried around in water solutions or similar conditioned liquids. T H E CO L U MB I A H I L L S ’ R OCKS CONTAIN BASALT IC G LASS, ALONG WIT H VARYING AMOUNT S OF OLIVINE AND SULFAT E S. T HE OLIVINE A B U N DA N CE VA RI E S I N VE R SE LY WIT H T HE AMOUNT OF SULFAT E S. T HIS IS E XACT LY WHAT IS E XP E CT E D BE CAUSE WAT E R DE ST R OYS OLIVINE B U T H E L P S TO P RO D U CE SULFAT E S. T HE SE SULFAT E S AR E NE CE SSARY TO P R ODUCE QUANT IF IE D R E SULT S.
∂The Clovis group is especially interesting because the Mossbauer spectrometer (MB) detected goethite in it. Goethite forms only in the presence of water, so its discovery is the first direct evidence of past water in the Columbia Hills’s rocks. In addition, the MB spectra of rocks and outcrops displayed a strong decline in olivine presence, although the rocks probably once contained much olivine. Olivine is a marker for the lack of water because it easily decomposes in the presence of water. Sulfate was found, and it needs water to form. Wishstone contained a great deal of plagioclase, some olivine, and anhydrate (a sulfate). Peace rocks showed sulfur and strong evidence for bound water, so hydrated sulfates are suspected. Watchtower class rocks lack olivine consequently they may have been altered by water. The Independence class showed some signs of clay (perhaps montmorillonite a member of the smectite group). Clays require fairly long term exposure to water to form. One type of soil, called Paso Robles, from the Columbia Hills, may be an evaporate deposit because it contains large amounts of sulfur, phosphorus, calcium, and iron. Also, MB found that much of the iron in Paso Robles soil was of the oxidized, Fe3+ form. TO WA RD S T H E MI D D L E OF T HE SIX YE AR MISSION ( A MISSION T HAT WAS SUP P OSE D TO LAST ONLY 90 DAYS) , LAR G E AMOUNT S OF P UR E SILICA W E RE F O U N D I N T H E SOIL. T HE SILICA COULD HAVE COME F R OM T HE INT E R ACT ION OF SOIL WIT H ACID VAP OR S P R ODUCE D BY VOLCANIC ACT I V I T Y I N T H E P RE S ENCE OF WAT E R OR F R OM WAT E R IN A HOT SP R ING E NVIR ONME NT.
∂After Spirit stopped working scientists studied old data from the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer, or Mini-TES and confirmed the presence of large amounts of carbonate-rich rocks, which means that regions of the planet may have once harbored water. The carbonates were discovered in an outcrop of rocks called “Comanche.”
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ECOPOIE SIS PLANETARY E NG I NEER I NG
E CO P O I E S I S P L A N E TA RY E N GI N E E RI N G
//Extremophilic Terraforming//
MI
Ecopoiesis is a neologism created by Robert Haynes. Ecopoiesis refers to the origin of an ecosystem. In the context of space exploration, Haynes describes ecopoiesis as the “fabrication of a sustainable ecosystem on a currently lifeless, sterile planet”.
Ecopoiesis is a type of planetary engineering and is one of the first stages of terraformation. This primary stage of ecosystem creation is usually restricted to the initial seeding of microbial life. As conditions approach that of Earth, plant life could be brought in, and this will accelerate the production of oxygen, theoretically making the planet eventually able to support animal life. Once conditions become more suitable for life, the importation of microbial life could begin. As conditions approach that of Earth, plant life could also be brought in. This would accelerate the production of oxygen, which theoretically would make the planet eventually able to support animal and human life.
YOU’D THINK IT WOULD TAKE A PRETTY BIG TOOLKIT TO PREPARE THE MARTIAN SURFACE FOR HUMAN LIFE. NOT NECESSARILY, AT LEAST AT THE LEVEL OF A HUMAN HABITAT, ACCORDING TO ROBERT RICHMOND OF NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER.
—Rebecca Sloan Slotnick
∂One significant reason for the huge surge in optimism is a series of discoveries suggesting that extremophilic organisms—those that thrive under extreme environmental conditions may be uniquely equipped to serve as vectors of change on Mars’s inhospitable surface. Among the most promising of those organisms is the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans, which has been found in many types of soil and such unappealing spots as sewage systems and animal fecal material. Richmond, a radiation biologist at the Space Flight Center, along with Michael Daly of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Rajagopalan Sridhar of Howard University Medical Center, has been testing the limits of D. radiodurans in the hopes of harnessing its unusual characteristics for a toolkit. ∂It is widely accepted that current planetary conditions on the immediate surface of Mars eliminate the possibility of sustaining life as we know it: Low atmospheric pressure and surface temperature combined with relatively high levels of ultraviolet and ionizing radiation would appear effectively to prevent the long-term survival of organic life, or alien forms or any kind. IN T HE 1 970S, TH E VI KI NG M IS S IO NS ESTABL I S H E D T H AT MA RT I A N S O I L CO N TA I N S H I GH L E V E L S O F CE RTAIN ME TALS AND OXIDIZING SP E CIE S. TO SURVIVE S U C H A NOX IO U S ENVI R O NM EN T, A N O RGA N I S M MU ST B E H I GH LY RE S I STA N T TO OX I D I Z I N G C ONDIT IONS.
∂Hence the excitement over D. radiodurans. Not only can this bug withstand extreme amounts of radiation (whence it receives its name), but it has proved quite resistant to the effects of peroxides and other oxidizers as well. And when subjected to desiccation, freeze-drying and exposure to solar-flux ultraviolet radiation, the organism fares extremely well. Its multiple resistances have led Richmond and his colleagues to term the bacterium a “polyextremophile.” Although scientists have documented the existence of extremophiles living in isolated environments like deep-sea hot vents or hotsprings for decades, rarely, if ever, has an organism been found to withstand such conditions. THE “CHANCE TO ACTUALLY U NC OVER TH E U T I L I T I E S O F T H E B ACT E RI U M A N D N OT JU ST I S O L AT E A N D CL ASSIF Y IT.”
∂Those possible utilities have increased dramatically in number since the successful sequencing of the bacterium’s genome in November 1999. Sequencing the DNA revealed that many copies of the genome are present in any given bacterial cell in register—all the bases making up the DNA sequence are lined up in the same way, and the sequence itself is full of repetitions. It has since been proposed by Daly and coworkers that D. radiodurans’s durability is the product of an efficient and highly accurate repair system: If exposure to radiation damages one strand of DNA, another strand may serve as a template. This hypothesis provides an explanation for each of the microbe’s resistances. Thanks to its efficient repair system, D. radiodurans can survive any number of extreme environments.
EXTREMOPHILES THRIVE IN PHYSICALLY OR GEOCHEMICALLY EXTREME CONDITIONS THAT ARE DETRIMENTAL TO MOST LIFE ON EARTH/ WE CAN USE THESE ORGANISMS TO BEGIN THE TERRAFORMING PROCESS LONG BEFORE WE DECIDE TO STEP FOOT ON MARTIAN SOIL/
With a more thorough understanding of what causes D. radiodurans’s multiple durabilities, scientists such as Daly are now working to genetically engineer the bacterium to perform work that people cannot. After all, Richmond says, “you must always think of the organism’s utility in managing a habitat you have to put the bug to work for you.” Because it could successfully withstand the high levels of oxidants found on the Martian surface, D. radiodurans might be engineered to detoxify the soil. In Daly’s lab, for example, he and his colleagues insert genes that code for an enzyme capable of oxidizing organic toluene, thereby rendering this toxic component harmless to humans. I T MAY B E P O S S I B L E TO E N GI N E E R A BUG CAPABLE OF R E DUCING IR ON OR MANGANE SE IONS TO T HE IR E LE ME NTAL F OR MS, T HUS R E DUCING T H E CO N CE N T RAT I O N S O F N OX I OUS SUBSTANCE S, AND ADVANCING ONE ST E P CLOSE R TO T HE CR E AT ION OF A HABITABLE SPACE .
∂In fact, NASA is considering launching probes to specific Martian sites. This allows consideration of the use of extremophile organisms such as D. radiodurans to begin microterraforming small surface areas. The bacteria could begin transforming the harsh and uninhabitable Martian terrain in such a future scenario into one capable of sustaining human life. At its most fantastic, terraforming involves the alteration of an entire planet’s environment, but, realistically speaking, says Richmond, we can perhaps imagine modifying the oxygen and soil content of a small room in direct contact. ∂When can we expect microterraforming to occur? Obviously, planetary biologists are still investigating the possibility that life might exist on Mars without human intervention, and they will want to be certain of its sterility before infecting it with engineered bacterial colonies. The notion of interplanetary contamination raises many difficult ethical questions, and although the NASA Planet Protection Committee has developed strict guidelines to prevent the contamination of other planets, it will most likely prove difficult to maintain such regulations if and when humans do land on Mars.
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RED PRI ME [ ALPHA C OLONY ]
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ECOPOIESIS IS THE FABRICATION OF A SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEM ON A CURRENTLY LIFELESS, STERILE PLANET/
PLANT LIFE WILL ACCELERATE THE PRODUCTION OF OXYGEN
finds a way]
USING A HOHMANN TRANSFER ORBIT, A TRIP TO MARS REQUIRES APPROXIMATELY 9 MONTHS/ //Communication// Communications with Earth are relatively straightforward during the half-sol when the Earth is above the Martian horizon. NASA and ESA included communications relay equipment in several of the Mars orbiters, so Mars already has satellites.
[across
While these will eventually wear out, additional orbiters with communication relay capability are likely to be launched before any colonization expeditions are mounted. ∂The one-way communication delay due to the speed of light ranges from about 3 minutes at closest approach (approximated by perihelion of Mars minus aphelion of Earth) to 22 minutes at the largest possible superior conjunction (approximated by aphelion of Mars plus aphelion of Earth). Realtime communication, such as telephone conversations or Internet Relay Chat, between Earth and Mars would be highly impractical due to the long time lags involved. NASA has found that direct communication can be blocked for about two weeks every synodic period, around the time of superior conjunction when the Sun is directly between Mars and Earth, although the actual duration of the communications blackout varies from mission to mission depending on various factors - such as the amount of link margin designed into the communications system, and the minimum data rate that is acceptable from a mission standpoint, or objective balance of measure. [ I N RE A L I T Y MO ST MI S S I O N S AT MAR S HAVE HAD COMMUNICAT IONS BLACKOUT P E R IODS OF T HE OR DE R OF A MONT H ]
∂A satellite at either of the Earth-Sun L4/L5 Lagrange points could serve as a relay during this period to solve the problem; even a constellation of communications satellites would be a minor expense in the context of a full colonization program. However the size and power of the equipment needed for these distances make the L4 and L5 locations unrealistic for relay stations, and the inherent stability of these regions, while beneficial in terms of station-keeping, also attracts asteroids, which could pose a severe risk to any satellite or other obital structure in danger of this. ∂Recent work by the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Space Concepts Laboratory, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, has suggested an alternative relay architecture based on highly nonKeplerian orbits. These are a special kind of orbit produced when continuous low-thrust propulsion, such as that produced from an ion engine or solar sail, modifies the natural trajectory of a spacecraft. Such an orbit would enable continuous communications during solar conjunction by allowing a relay spacecraft to “hover” above Mars, out of the orbital plane of the two planets. Such a relay avoids the problems of satellites stationed at either L4 or L5 by being significantly closer to the surface of Mars while still maintaining continuous communication between the two planets.
//Transportation// Mars requires less energy per unit mass (delta V) to reach from Earth than any planet. U S I N G A H O H MA N N T RA N S F E R OR BIT, A T R IP TO MAR S R E QUIR E S AP P R OXIMAT E LY NINE MONT HS IN SPACE . MODIF IE D T R ANSF E R T RA JE CTO RI E S T H AT CU T T H E T R AVE L T IME DOWN TO SE VE N OR SIX MONT HS IN SPACE AR E P OSSIBLE WIT H INCR E ME NTALLY HIG HE R A MO U N T S O F E N E RGY A N D F U E L COMPAR E D TO A HOHMANN T R ANSF E R OR BIT, AND AR E IN STANDAR D USE F OR R OBOT IC MAR S MISSIONS.
Shortening the travel time below about six months requires higher delta-v and an exponentially increasing amount of fuel, and is not feasible with chemical rockets, but would be perfectly feasible with advanced spacecraft propulsion technologies, some of which have already been tested, such as VASIMR, and nuclear rockets. In the former case, a trip time of forty days could be attainable, and in the latter, a trip time down to about two weeks. Another possibility is constant-acceleration technologies such as space-proven solar sails and ion drives which permit passage times at close approaches on the order of several weeks. Both of these propulsion systems have been deployed and could readily obtain a constant acceleration of 0.1 g. ∂During the journey the astronauts are subject to radiation, which requires a means to protect them. Cosmic radiation and solar wind cause DNA damage, which increases the risk of cancer significantly. The effect of long term travel in interplanetary space is unknown, but scientists estimate an added risk of between 1% and 19%, most likely 3.4%, for male persons to die of cancer because of the radiation during the journey to Mars and back to Earth.
//Landing on Mars// Mars has a gravity 0.38 times that of the Earth and the density of its atmosphere is 1% of that on Earth. The relatively strong gravity and the presence of aerodynamic effects makes it difficult to land heavy, crewed spacecraft with thrusters only, as was done with the Apollo moon landings, yet the atmosphere is too thin for aerodynamic effects to be of much help in braking and landing a large vehicle. Landing piloted missions on Mars will require braking and landing systems different from anything used to land crewed spacecraft on the Moon or robotic missions on Mars. ∂If one assumes carbon nanotube construction material will be available with a strength of 130 GPa then a space elevator could be built to land men and material on Mars. A space elevator on Phobos has also been proposed, but this may take several additional steps to complete.
Hohmann demonstrated that the lowest energy route between any two orbits is an elliptical “orbit” which forms a tangent to the starting and destination orbits. Once the spacecraft arrives, a second application of thrust will re-circularize the orbit at the new location. In the case of planetary transfers this means directing the spacecraft, originally in an orbit almost identical to Earth’s, so that the aphelion of the transfer orbit is on the far side of the Sun near the orbit of the other planet. A spacecraft traveling from Earth to Mars via this method will arrive near Mars orbit in approximately 18 months, but because the orbital velocity is greater when closer to the center of mass the Sun and slower when farther from the center, the spacecraft will be traveling quite slowly and a small application of thrust is all that is needed to put it into a circular obit around Mars. If the manoeuver is timed properly, Mars will be “arriving” under the spacecraft when this happens. ∂The Hohmann transfer applies to any two orbits, not just those with planets involved. For instance it is the most common way to transfer satellites into geostationary orbit, after first being “parked” in low earth orbit. However the Hohmann transfer takes an amount of time similar to ½ of the orbital period of the outer orbit, so in the case of the outer planets this is many years too long to wait. It is also based on the assumption that the points at both ends are massless, as in the case when transferring between two orbits around Earth for instance. With a planet at the destination end of the transfer, calculations become considerably more difficult and possibility for error is higher. ∂Human physiological adaptation to the conditions of space is a challenge faced in the development of human spaceflight. The fundamental engineering problems of escaping Earth’s gravity well and developing systems for in-space propulsion have been examined for well over a century, and millions of man-hours of research have been spent on them. In recent years there has been an increase in research into the issue of how humans can survive and work in space for extended time. THIS Q U ESTIO N R EQ U I R ES I NP U T F RO M T H E W H O L E GA MU T O F P H YS I CA L A N D B I O LO GI CA L S CI E NCE S AND HAS NOW BE COME T HE G R E AT E ST CHA LLENG E, OTH ER TH AN FU ND ING, TO H U MA N S PACE E X P LO RAT I O N . A F U N DA ME N TA L ST E P I N OVE R COMING T HIS CHALLE NG E IS T RYING TO UND ER STAND TH E EFFECTS AND TH E I MPACT LO N G- T E RM S PACE T RAV E L H AS O N T H E H U MA N B ODY.
//Importance// Space colonization efforts must take into account the effects of space on the body. The sum of human experience has resulted in the accumulation of 58 solar years in space and a much better understanding of how the human body adapts. In the future, industrialisation of space and exploration of inner and outer planets will require humans to endure longer and longer periods in space. The majority of current data comes from missions of short duration and so some of the long-term physiological effects of living in space are still unknown. A round trip to Mars with current technology is estimated to involve at least 18 months in transit alone. How the human body reacts to such time periods in space is a vital part. ∂ On-board medical facilities need to be able to cope with any type of trauma or emergency as well as contain a huge variety of diagnostic and medical instruments in order to keep a crew healthy over a long period of time, as these will be the only facilities available on board a spacecraft to cope with not only trauma, but also the adaptive responses of the human body in space.
//Psychological Effects// The psychological effects of living in space have not been clearly analyzed but analogies on Earth do exist, such as Arctic research stations and submarines. The enormous stress on the crew, coupled with the body adapting to other environmental changes, can result in anxiety, insomnia and depression. According to current data however astronauts and cosmonauts seem extremely resilient to psychological stresses. Interpersonal issues can have an enormous influence on a human’s well-being and yet little research has been undertaken to examine crew selection issues in relation to this. The Mars Arctic Research Station and Mars Desert Research Station have examined the influence of different crew selections when living in a completely isolated environment and may provide vital data for future experiences. The amount of people and relationships play a big role.
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Hohmann Transfer Orbit: a spaceship leaves from point 2 in Earth’s orbit and arrives at point 3 in Mars’ For many years economical interplanetary travel meant using the Hohmann transfer orbit. This orbit would eliminate the need for so much fuel.
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SPACE TRAVEL/
//Hohmann Transfers//
the universe]
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EXTRA TERRES TRIAL/ +
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ELEVATORS COULD BE BUILT ON BOTH EARTH AND MARS—EXPORTATION/
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Launching materials directly into space would save fuel for other usages
E CO P O I E S I S P L A N E TA RY E N GI N E E RI N G
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A SPACE ELEVATOR WOULD ELIMINATE THE NEED OF FUEL
E COP OIE SIS P LANE TARY E NG INE E R ING
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ELEVATOR/
The concept is also applicable to other planets and celestial bodies. Many elevator variants have been suggested, all of which involve traveling along a fixed structure instead of using rocketpowered space launch. The fixed structure is most often a cable that reaches from the surface of the Earth on or near the equator, up through the level of geostationary orbit (GSO), and terminating at a counterweight above that level.
//Extraterrestrial Elevator//
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space elevators could also be constructed on other planets, asteroids and moons. A Martian tether could be much shorter than one on Earth. Mars’ surface gravity is 38% of Earth’s, while it rotates around its axis in about the same time as Earth. Because of this, Martian stationary orbit is much closer to the surface, and hence the elevator would be much shorter. Current materials are already sufficiently strong to construct such an elevator. Building a Martian elevator would be complicated by the Martian moon Phobos, which is in a low orbit and intersects the Equator regularly (twice every orbital period. ∂On the near side of the moon, the strength-todensity required of the tether of a lunar space elevator exists in currently available materials. A lunar space elevator would be about 50,000 kilometers (31,000 mi) long. It would extend through the Earth-Moon L1 point from an anchor point near the center of Earth’s moon. ∂On the far side of the moon, a lunar space elevator would need to be very long (more than twice the length of an Earth elevator) but due to the low gravity of the Moon, can also be made of existing engineering materials. ∂Rapidly spinning asteroids or moons could use cables to eject materials to convenient points, such as the Earth orbits; or conversely, to eject materials to send the bulk of the mass of the asteroid or moon to Earth orbit or a point. FREEM AN DYS O N, P H YS IC I ST AND MAT H E MAT I CI A N , H AS S U GGE ST E D USI NG S U C H S M ALLER SYSTEM S AS P O W E R GE N E RATO RS AT P O I N T S DISTANT FR O M TH E S U N W H ER E S O L A R P O W E R I S U N E CO N O MI CA L .
For the basic purpose of mass ejection, it is not necessary to rely on the asteroid or moon to be rapidly spinning. Instead of attaching the tether to the equator of a rotating body, it can be attached to a rotating hub on the surface. This was suggested in 1980 as a “Rotary Rocket” by Pearson and described very succinctly on the Island One website as a “Tapered Sling”. ∂Space elevators using the available engineering materials could be constructed between mutually tidally locked worlds, such as Pluto and Charon or the components of binary asteroid Antiope, with no full terminus disconnect, according to Francis Graham of Kent State University. HOWEVER , S P O O LED VAR IABLE LE N GT H S O F CA B L E MU ST B E U S E D DUE TO ELLI P TI C ITY O F TH E O R BIT S .
R ED P R I ME [ A LP H A C O LO N Y ]
A space elevator is a proposed structure designed for the transport material from Earth’s surface directly into space or orbit without using large rockets.
TRANSPORT MATERIAL FROM MAR’S SURFACE DIRECTLY INTO SPACE WITHOUT THE USE OF LARGE ROCKETS// IMPORTS / EXPORTS VIA ELEVATOR
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[martian
D O ME D ST RU CT U RE S [ P RE S S U RI Z E D ]
40째 44 24 N
9째 27 36 W
D O ME D ST RU CT U RE S [ P RE S S U RI Z E D ]
lifestyle]
//Radiation//
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Mars has no global magnetic field comparable to Earth’s geomagnetic field. Combined with a thin atmosphere, this permits a significant amount of ionizing radiation to reach the Martian surface. The Mars Odyssey spacecraft carried an instrument, the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE), to measure the dangers to humans. MARIE found that radiation levels in orbit above Mars are 2.5 times higher than at the International Space Station. This could mean serious trouble for terraforming.
[solar wind
Average doses were about 22 millirads per day (220 micrograys per day or 0.08 gray per year.) A threeyear exposure to such levels would be close to the safety limits currently adopted by NASA. Levels at the Martian surface would be somewhat lower and might vary significantly at different locations depending on altitude and local magnetic fields. ∂Occasional solar proton events (SPEs) produce much higher doses. Some SPEs were observed by MARIE that were not seen by sensors near Earth due to the fact that SPEs are directional, making it difficult to warn astronauts on Mars early enough. ∂Much remains to be learned about space radiation. In 2003, NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center opened a facility, the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, at Brookhaven National Laboratory that employs particle accelerators to simulate space radiation. The facility will study its effects on living organisms along with shielding techniques. There is some evidence that this kind of low level, chronic radiation is not quite as dangerous as once thought; and that radiation hormesis occurs. T H E CO N S E N S U S A MO N G T H O S E T HAT HAVE ST UDIE D T HE ISSUE S IS T HAT R ADIAT ION LE VE LS, WIT H T HE E XCE P T ION OF T HE SP E S, T HAT W O U L D B E E X P E RI E N CE D O N T H E SUR FACE OF MAR S, AND WHILE J OUR NE YING T HE R E , AR E CE RTAINLY A CONCE R N, BUT AR E NOT T HOUG HT TO P RE V E N T A T RI P F RO M B E I N G MADE WIT H CUR R E NT T E CHNOLOGY.
SOME GALACTIC COSMIC RAYS ARE SO ENERGETIC THAT NO REASONABLE AMOUNT OF SHIELDING CAN STOP THEM/ //Magnetic Field + Solar Radiation// Earth abounds with water because its ionosphere is permeated with a magnetic field. The hydrogen ions present in its ionosphere move very fast due to their small mass, but they cannot escape to outer space because their trajectories are deflected by the magnetic field. Venus has a dense atmosphere, but only traces of water vapor (20 ppm) because it has no magnetic field. The Martian atmosphere also loses water to space. Earth’s ozone layer provides additional protection. Ultraviolet light is blocked before it can dissociate water into hydrogen and oxygen. Since little water vapor rises above the troposphere and the ozone layer is in the upper stratosphere, little water is dissociated into hydrogen and oxygen.Mars would be uninhabitable to most life-forms due to high solar radiation levels. Because of the planet’s lack of a magnetosphere, the Sun is thought to have thinned the Martian atmosphere to its current state; the solar wind adding a significant amount of energy to the atmosphere’s top layers which enables the atmospheric particles to reach escape velocity and leave Mars. I N D E E D , T H I S E F F E CT H AS E V E N BE E N DE T E CT E D BY MAR S- OR BIT ING P R OBE S. ANOT HE R T HE ORY IS T HAT SOLAR WIND R IP S T HE AT MOSP HE R E AWAY F RO M T H E P L A N E T AS I T B E COME S T R AP P E D IN BUBBLE S OF MAG NE T IC F IE LDS CALLE D P LASMOIDS.
∂Venus, however, shows that the lack of a magnetosphere does not preclude a dense (albeit dry) atmosphere. A thick atmosphere could also provide protection against solar radiation to the surface, similar to Earth’s. In the past, Earth has regularly had periods where the magnetosphere changed direction and collapsed for some time. This is completely normal and expected. ∂The lack of a protective magnetic field would also have possible health effects on colonists due to increased cosmic ray flux. The health threat depends on the flux, energy spectrum, and nuclear composition of the rays. The flux and energy spectrum depend on a variety of factors, which are incompletely understood. The Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) was launched in 2001 in order to collect more data. So far, so much more has been recorded and learned. E ST I MAT E S A RE T H AT H U MA N S UNSHIE LDE D IN INT E R P LANE TARY SPACE WOULD R E CE IVE ANNUALLY R OUG HLY 400 TO 900 MILLISIE VE RT S ( MSV ) ( CO MPA RE D TO 2. 4 MSV ON E ART H) AND T HAT A MAR S MISSION ( 1 2 MONT HS IN F LIG HT AND 1 8 MONT HS ON MAR S) MIG HT E XP OSE S H I E L D E D AST RO N AU T S TO ~ 500 TO 1 000 MSV. T HE SE DOSE S AP P R OACH T HE 1 TO 4 SV CAR E E R LIMIT S ADVISE D BY T HE NAT IONAL COUNCIL O N RA D I AT I O N P ROT E CT I O N A N D ME ASUR E ME NT S F OR LOW E ART H OR BIT ACT IVIT IE S.
∂Shielding from cosmic rays can be accomplished by placing habitation modules either within lava tubes or under igloo structures built from sintered regolith bricks.
R ADIAT ION SOLAR WIND DE F LE CT ION
Several strategies are being studied for ameliorating the effects of this radiation hazard for planned human interplanetary spaceflight. The following points are relevant. Spacecraft can be constructed out of hydrogen-rich plastics, rather than aluminum. Unfortunately, “Some ‘galactic cosmic rays are so energetic that no reasonable amount of shielding can stop them,’ cautions Frank Cucinotta, NASA’s Chief Radiation Health Officer. ‘All materials have this problem, including polyethylene.’” This may be the weak point in the plan ∂Liquid hydrogen, which would be brought along as fuel in any case, tends to give relatively good shielding, while producing relatively low levels of secondary radiation. Therefore, the fuel could be placed so as to act as a form of shielding around the crew. However, as fuel is consumed by the craft, the crew’s shielding decreases. This could compromise the crew and equipment. ∂Water, which is necessary to sustain life, could also contribute to shielding. But it too is consumed during the journey unless waste products are utilized. Asteroids could serve to provide shielding. ∂Magnetic deflection of charged radiation particles and/or electrostatic repulsion is a hypothetical alternative to pure conventional mass shielding under investigation. In theory, power requirements for the case of a 5 meter torus drop from an excessive 10 GW for a simple pure electrostatic shield (too discharged by space electrons) to a moderate 10 kW by using a hybrid design.
However, such complex active shielding is untried, with workability and practicalities more uncertain than material shielding. Special provisions would also be necessary to protect against a solar proton event (SPE), which could increase fluxes to levels that would kill a crew in hours or days rather than months or years. Potential mitigation strategies include providing a small habitable space behind a spacecraft’s water supply or with particularly thick walls or providing an option to abort to the protective environment provided by the Earth’s magnetosphere. THE AP O LLO M I S S I O N U S ED A C O MB I N AT I O N O F B OT H ST RAT E GI E S . U P O N RE CE I V I N G CO N F I RMAT ION OF AN SP E , AST R ONAUT S WOULD MOVE TO TH E C O M M AND M O D U LE, WH I CH H A D T H I CK E R A L U MI N U M WA L L S T H A N T H E L U N A R MO D ULE , T HE N R E T UR N TO E ART H. IT WAS LAT E R DETER M I NED FR O M M EAS U R EM EN T S TA K E N BY I N ST RU ME N T S F LO W N O N A P O L LO T H AT T H E COMMAND MODULE WOULD HAVE P R OVIDE D SUFFI C IENT S H IELD I NG TO P R EVEN T S I GN I F I CA N T CRE W H A RM. + 004 . 9 87 01 6.981
∂None of these strategies currently provides a method of protection that would be known to be sufficient while conforming to likely limitations on the mass of the payload at present (~ $10000/ kg) launch prices. Scientists such as University of Chicago professor emeritus Eugene Parker are not optimistic it can be solved any time soon. For passive mass shielding, the required amount could be too heavy to be affordably lifted into space without changes in economics (like hypothetical nonrocket spacelaunch or usage of extraterrestrial resources). + FO R I NSTANC E, A N ASA D E S I GN ST U DY F O R A N A MB I T I O U S L A RGE S PACESTAT ION E NVISIONE D 4 ME T R IC TONS P E R SQUAR E ME T E R OF S H IELD I NG TO D RO P RA D I AT I O N E X P O S U RE TO 2. 5 MSV A N N UA L LY ( +/ - A FACTOR OF 2 UNCE RTAINT Y) , LE SS T HAN T HE T E NS OF MSV OR MOR E IN S O M E P O P U L AT E D H I GH N AT U RA L B ACKGRO U N D RA D I AT I O N A RE AS O N E ART H, BUT T HE SHE E R MASS F OR T HAT LE VE L OF MIT IGAT ION WAS C O NS ID ER ED P R ACT I CA L O N LY B E CAU S E I T I N VO LV E D F I RST B U I L D I N G A L U NAR MASS DR IVE R TO LAUNCH MAT E R IAL.
∂Several active shielding methods have been considered for lesser mass than passive mass shielding, but they remain in the realm of uncertain speculation at the present time. Since the segment of space radiation penetrating farthest through thick material shielding, deep in interplanetary space, is GeV-level positively charged nuclei, a repulsive positively charged electrostatic shield has been hypothesized, but issues include plasma instabilities and power needs for an accelerator constantly keeping the charge from being neutralized by deep-space electrons. A more common proposal is magnetic shielding using superconductors (or plasma currents), although, among other complications, if designing a relatively compact system, magnetic fields up to 10-20 Tesla could be required around a manned spacecraft higher than the several Tesla in MRI machines. TH E EM P LOYM E N T O F MAGN E T I C ST RU CT U RE S W H I CH E X P O S E CRE W TO S U CH A HIG H MAG NE T IC F IE LD MAY F URT HE R COMP LICAT E MAT T E R S, TH O U G H , S I NC E H I GH - F I E L D ( 5 T E S L A O R MO RE ) MRI S H AV E B E E N N OT E D TO P R ODUCE HE ADACHE S AND MIG R AINE S IN MR I PAT IE NT S, AND H IG H -D U R ATI O N E X P O S U RE TO S U CH F I E L D S H AS N OT B E E N ST U D I E D . O P P O SING - E LE CT R OMAG NE T DE SIG NS MIG HT CANCE L T HE F IE LD IN T HE C R EW S ECTIO NS O F T H E S PACE CRA F T, B U T S U CH W O U L D RA I S E MAS S .
may hinder results]
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Material shielding can be effective against galactic cosmic rays, but thin shielding may situationally actually make the problem worse for some of the higher energy rays, because more shielding causes an increased amount of secondary radiation, although very (arguably impractically) thick shielding could counter such too. The aluminum walls of the ISS, for example, are believed to have a net beneficial effect. In interplanetary space, however, it is believed that thin aluminum shielding would have a negative net effect. The material is so thin that it may worsen conditions.
RADIATION/
//Mitigation//
R ED P R I ME [ A LP H A C O LO N Y ]
RA D I AT I O N S O L A R W I N D D E F L E CT I ON
+
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//Martian Architecture// In every serious study of what it would take to land humans on Mars, keep them alive, and then return them to Earth, the total mass required for the mission is simply stunning. The problem lies in that to launch the amount of consumables (oxygen, food and water) even a small crew would go through during a multi-year Mars mission, it would take a very large rocket with the vast majority of its own mass being propellant.
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This is where multiple launches and assembly in Earth orbit come from. However even if such a ship stocked full of goods could be put together in orbit, it would need an additional (large) supply of propellant to send it to Mars. The delta-v, or change in velocity, required to insert a spacecraft from Earth orbit to a Mars transfer orbit is many kilometers per second. When we think of getting astronauts to the surface of Mars and back home we quickly realize that an enormous amount of propellant is needed if everything is taken from the Earth. This was the conclusion reached in the 1989 ‘90-Day Study’ initiated by NASA in response to the Space Exploration Initiative. ∂Several techniques have changed the outlook on Mars exploration. The most powerful of which is insitu resource utilization. Using hydrogen imported from Earth and carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere, the Sabatier reaction can be used to manufacture methane (for rocket propellant) and water (for drinking and for oxygen production through electrolysis). Another technique to reduce Earth-brought propellant requirements is aerobraking. Aerobraking involves skimming the upper layers of an atmosphere, over many passes, to slow a spacecraft down. It’s a time-intensive process that shows most promise in slowing down cargo shipments of food and supplies. NASA’s Constellation program does call for landing humans on Mars after a permanent base on the moon is demonstrated, but details of the base architecture are far from established. I T I S L I K E LY T H AT T H E F I RST P E R MANE NT SE T T LE ME NT WILL CONSIST OF CONSE CUT IVE CR E WS LANDING P R E FABR ICAT E D HABITAT MODULE S I N T H E SA ME LO CAT I O N A N D L I N KING T HE M TOG E T HE R TO F OR M A BASE .
∂In some of these modern, economy models of the Mars mission, we see the crew size reduced to a minimal 4 or 6. Such a loss in variety of social relationships can lead to challenges in forming balanced social responses and forming a complete sense of identity. It follows that if long-duration missions are to be carried out with very small crews, then intelligent selection of crew is of primary importance. Role assignments is another open issue in Mars mission planning. The primary role of ‘pilot’ is obsolete when landing takes only a few minutes of a mission lasting hundreds of days, and when that landing will be automated anyway. Assignment of roles will depend heavily on the work to be done on the surface and will require astronauts to assume multiple responsibilities. As for surface architecture inflatable habitats, perhaps even provided by Bigelow Aerospace, remain a possible option for maximizing living space. In later missions, bricks could be made from a Martian regolith mixture for shielding or even primary, airtight structural components.
C
T H E E N V I RO N ME N T O N MA RS O F FE R S DIF F E R E NT OP P ORT UNIT IE S F OR SPACE SUIT DE SIG N, E VE N SOME T HING LIKE T HE SKIN- T IG HT BIO- SUIT. A H U MA N MI S S I O N TO MA RS I S A LSO AN OP P ORT UNIT Y TO INCLUDE WOME N ON A MAJ OR E XP LOR AT ION MISSION. SPACE AR CHIT E CT UR E CAN A L LO W H U MA N I T Y TO S E N D A T RULY DIVE R SE AND R E P R E SE NTAT IVE CR E W ON IT S F IR ST E XP E DIT ION TO ANOT HE R P LANE T.
BROAD REGIONS OF MARS CAN BE CONSIDERED FOR POSSIBLE SETTLEMENT SITES/ POLAR REGIONS/ Mars’ north and south poles once attracted great interest as settlement sites because seasonally-varying polar ice caps have long been observed by telescope from Earth. Mars Odyssey found the largest concentration of water near the north pole, but also showed that water likely exists in lower latitudes as well, making the poles less compelling as a settlement locale. Like Earth, Mars sees a midnight sun at the poles during local summer and polar night during winter. EQUATORIAL REGIONS/ See also: Caves of Mars Project Mars Odyssey found what appear to be natural caves near the volcano Arsia Mons. It has been speculated that settlers could benefit from the shelter that these or similar structures could provide from radiation and micrometeroids. Geothermal energy is also suspected in the equatorial regions.
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MIDLANDS/ Eagle Crater, as seen from Opportunity (2004) The exploration of Mars’ surface is still underway. The two Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have encountered very different soil and rock characteristics. This suggests that the Martian landscape is quite varied and the ideal location for a settlement would be better determined when more data becomes available. As on Earth, seasonal variations in climate become greater with distance from the equator and so on and so forth.
VALLES MARINERIS/ Valles Marineris, the “Grand Canyon” of Mars, is over 3,000 km long and averages 8 km deep. Atmospheric pressure at the bottom would be some 25% higher than the surface average, 0.9 kPa vs 0.7 kPa. River channels lead to the canyon, indicating it was once flooded. LAVA TUBES/ Several lava tube skylights on Mars have been located. Earth based examples indicate that some should have lengthy passages offering complete protection from radiation and be relatively easy to seal using on site materials, especially in small subsections or other subjective areas in the immediate location. ADVOCACY/ Making Mars colonization a reality is advocated by several groups with different reasons and proposals. One of the oldest is the Mars Society. They promote a NASA program to accomplish human exploration of Mars and have set up Mars analog research stations in Canada and the United States. Also are MarsDrive, which is dedicated to private initiatives for the exploration and settlement of Mars, and, Mars to Stay, where initial explorers are to remain on Mars.
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As with early colonies in the New World, economics would be a crucial aspect to a colony’s success. The reduced gravity well of Mars and its position in the solar system may facilitate Mars-Earth trade and provide the rationalization for continued settlement of the planet.
Mars’ reduced gravity together with its rotation rate makes it possible for the construction of a space elevator with today’s materials, although the low orbit of Phobos could present engineering challenges. If constructed, the elevator could transport minerals and other natural resources extracted from the planet. A major economic problem is the enormous up-front investment required to establish the colony and perhaps also terraform the planet. Some early Mars colonies might specialize in developing local resources for Martian consumption, such as water and/or ice. Local resources can also be used in infrastructure construction. ONE SOURCE O F M ARTIAN O R E C U R R ENTLY K N O W N TO B E AVA I L A B L E I S RE D U CE D I RO N I N T H E F O RM O F NICKE L- IR ON ME T E OR IT E S. IR ON IN T HIS FORM IS M O R E EAS I LY EX TR ACTED TH A N F RO M T H E I RO N OX I D E S T H AT COV E R T H E P L A N E T.
∂Another main inter-Martian trade good during early colonization could be manure. Assuming that life doesn’t exist on Mars, the soil is going to be very poor for growing plants, so manure and other fertilizers will be valued highly in any Martian civilization until the planet changes enough chemically to support growing vegetation on its own. ∂Solar power is a candidate for power for a Martian colony. Solar insolation (the amount of solar radiation that reaches Mars) is about 42% of that on Earth, since Mars is about 52% farther from the Sun and insolation falls off as the square of distance. BUT T HE T HIN ATM O S P H ER E W O U LD ALLO W A L MO ST A L L O F T H AT E N E RGY TO RE ACH T H E S U RFACE AS COMPAR E D TO E ART H, WHE R E T HE AT MOSPHE RE ABS O R BS R O U G H LY A Q UARTE R O F T H E S O L A R RA D I AT I O N .
//Motivation for Colonizing Mars// Several people have considered trade within the solar system as one of the ways in which colonization of Mars is both important and can be made self-sufficient. Zubrin, of Lockheed Martin Astronautics, in a paper on the economic viability of colonizing Mars, puts forward interplanetary trade as one way in which a hypothetical Martian colony could become rich, pointing out that the energy relationships between the orbits of Earth, Mars, and the asteroid belt place Mars in a far better position for involvement in any future asteroid mining trade than Earth. ∂Jim Plaxco, in a paper putting forward the case for colonizing Mars, mentions that Phobos and Deimos can be developed, in the long term, from being short-term testbeds for the techniques of asteroid mining and staging posts for colonization of Mars itself, into key trading posts in interplanetary trade, again because of their favourable position within the solar system. ∂It is theorized that if different locations within the Solar System become inhabited by humans, they would need to transport valuable resources between different planets, moons and asteroids. T HE ASTE ROI D BELT IS TH EO R IZ ED TO BEC O ME A S O U RCE O F VA L UA B L E O RE S W H I CH MAY D E V E LO P INTO INDUST R IAL AST E R OID MINING IN FRAST RUCT U R E, WH I LE EARTH M AY E X P O RT H I - T E CH P RO D U CT I O N . T H E FACTO R O F E N E RGY - E F F ICIE NCY OF INT E R P LANE TARY T RAN SPORTATI O N M AY BEC O M E VERY IM P O RTA N T TO E ST I MAT E E CO N O MI C VA L U E O F A T RA D E RO U T E .
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Nakhla meteorite, one of many pieces of Mars that have landed on the Earth. Visible are its two sides and its inner surfaces after breaking it in 1998. ∂It has for some time been accepted by the scientific community that a group of meteorites came from Mars. As such, they represent actual samples of the planet and have been analyzed on Earth by the best equipment available. In these meteorites, called SNCs, many valuable elements have been detected, which can serve many purposes if used in certain ways at specific times in life. MAG NES I U M , ALU M I NIU M , TI TANI U M, I RO N , A N D CH RO MI U M A RE RE L AT I V E LY CO MMO N I N T H E M. IN ADDIT ION, LIT HIUM, COBALT, NICKE L, COP P ER , Z I NC , NIO BIU M , M O LYBD E N U M, L A N T H A N U M, E U RO P I U M, T U N GST E N , A N D GO L D H AV E BE E N F OUND IN T R ACE AMOUNT S. IT IS QUIT E POS S I BLE TH AT I N S O M E P LAC ES T H E S E MAT E RI A L S MAY B E CO N CE N T RAT E D E N O U GH TO B E MINE D.
∂The Mars landers Viking I, Viking II, Pathfinder, Opportunity Rover, and Spirit Rover identified aluminium, iron, magnesium, and titanium in the Martian soil. Opportunity found small structures, named “blueberries” which were found to be rich in hematite, a major ore of iron. These blueberries could easy be gathered up and reduced to metallic iron that could be used to make steel. ∂In addition,both Spirit and Opportunity Rovers found nickel-iron meteorites sitting on the surface of Mars. These could also be used to produce steel. ∂In December 2011, Opportunity Rover discovered a vein of gypsum sticking out of the soil. Tests confirmed that it contained calcium, sulfur, and water. The mineral gypsum is the best match for the data. It likly formed from mineral rich water moving through a crack in the rock. The vein, called “Homestake,” is in Mars’ Meridiani plain. Plain and simple, this is such a great idea.
IT CO U LD H AVE BEEN P R O D U C ED I N CO N D I T I O N S MO RE N E U T RA L T H A N T H E H A RS H LY ACI D I C CONDIT IONS INDICAT E D BY T HE OT HE R SULFAT E DE P O S ITS ; H ENC E TH IS ENVIR O NM E N T MAY H AV E B E E N MO RE H O S P I TA B L E F O R A L A RGE VA R IE T Y OF LIVING OR GANISMS. HOME STAKE IS IN A Z O NE W H ER E TH E S U LFATE-RI CH S E D I ME N TA RY B E D RO CK O F T H E P L A I N S ME E T S O L D E R, VOLCANIC BE DR OCK E XP OSE D AT T HE R IM OF INTERPLANETARY COMMERCE WOULD E ND EAVO U R C R ATER . Destination: RED PRIME [MARS] / Destination: RED PRIME [MARS] / CREATE JOBS AND RESOURCES
MARS IS THE FOURTH PLANET FROM THE SUN—EARTH IS 3RD
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C R E D I T S+ THANKS/ //Copyright Š 2012 Identifont / Hoefler + Frere-Jones// All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without permission of copyright holder. MERCURY DISP LAY AND M ER C U RY TEX T IS A RE GI ST E RE D T RA D E MA RK O F H O E F L E R & F RE RE - JO N E S . A P E X NE W IS A R E G IST E R E D T R ADE MAR K OF VILL AGE IND EP END ENT D ISTR I BU TO R S , P U B L I S H E RS A N D D E S I GN E RS .
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