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The one difference is that for Biosphere II they tried to be cut out of the Earth atmosphere. They tried to be totally autonomous. For Mars, they will mine the
by Loic 10y ago
The one difference is that for Biosphere II they tried to be cut out of the Earth atmosphere. They tried to be totally autonomous. For Mars, they will mine the local resources so they will not be "sustainable" at first.
- Animats 10y agoMining will be tough. Water, if it can be found, will be in the form of brine ice mixed with perchlorate. It's going to take a lot of energy and equipment to get usable water out of that. Reverse osmosis and ion-exchange resins will work, but they have consumables which must be brought from Earth. The atmosphere of Mars, such as it is, is mostly CO2. It takes a lot of effort to get oxygen out of that. Sunlight intensity on Mars is about a quarter of what it is on Earth, so solar panels and plants will have about a quarter of the effectiveness. There are no easily exploitable resources on Mars. It's going to be more like an Arctic base - you have to bring almost everything.