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Mars has some stuff that the Moon doesn't: volatiles. According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatiles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatiles):
by curtis 9y ago
Mars has some stuff that the Moon doesn't: volatiles.
According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatiles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatiles):
In planetary science, volatiles are the group of chemical elements and chemical compounds with low boiling points that are associated with a planet's or moon's crust or atmosphere. Examples include nitrogen, water, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen, methane and sulfur dioxide.
Of these the only one we're likely to find on the moon is water, and there probably isn't very much of it. In comparison, there's a whole bunch of water just sitting on the Martian surface in the northern polar ice cap. Carbon dioxide and nitrogen are available literally all over the planet -- sure the Martian air is thin, but compressing it is a fairly trivial exercise.
And if we can figure out how to aerobrake large vehicles then the delta-V to Mars isn't a whole lot different than to get to the Moon.
Mars is a much better science target as well. It's pretty unlikely that there was ever any life on the moon, but with Mars it seems like there is a real possibility. Mars also appears to have experienced geological processes similar to the earth. Studying the up close may allow us to learn things about similar processes on earth.
It's farther away, and that certainly adds a lot of difficulty and risk, but it is still reachable with essentially the same technology as the moon, and there are compelling reasons to go.
(That said, I totally think we should use moon missions as a testing ground for the technology needed for a Mars mission.)
- WalterBright 9y ago> adds a lot of difficulty and risk That's a vast understatement. Don't forget expense and time! Orders of magnitude more. I don't think there's any realistic way of getting a sustainable base on Mars without doing it first on the moon. On the moon you can learn from mistakes. On Mars you die from the first mistake.
- curtis 9y agoMars will be a dangerous environment, but it won't be as dangerous as the moon. For example, if your Mars base is set up near the polar cap or near easily mineable permafrost, then a major atmospheric loss can be replaced by combining oxygen cracked from the ice using electrolysis and nitrogen sourced from the martian atmosphere. It is unlikely that a moonbase would have a similar option. The martian atmosphere may not provide a lot of radiation protection but it provides way more than you get on the moon. And again, if you've got access to ice, you can use it to fairly easily create radiation shielding for your base. It could be a situation where difficulty of receiving aid from Earth is offset by a lower risk of things going catastrophically wrong. That said, if I was planning a mission to Mars, I would want extensive redundancy throughout all of my systems. One thing to keep in mind, a modern Mars mission does not need to be mass-limited in the same way that the Apollo missions were. SpaceX has already greatly reduced the cost of putting mass in orbit, and if Blue Origin can actually make New Glenn work, then you are looking at a substantial reduction from SpaceX's current cost-to-orbit.
- WalterBright 9y agoRadiation shielding on the moon can be done by living in a crevasse. We have yet to know what can be produced from Moon materials. A couple bags of rocks tell is pretty much nothing about the variety that may be available. After all, what would a couple bags tell you about Earth?
- mobiletelephone 9y agoDoes it matter? I think there will be enough qualified candidates who know, understand and are willing to take the risk.
- moemoeg 9y agoOne thing worth noting is the soil, if memory serves, the moon soil hs been described as being very sharp and clingy with some properties of asbestos, as in its very problematic. This is because there has been no water, winds etc to grind the sand as on earth. Now on Mars the soil has been moved by winds and other natural phenomenon, so it should be far less problematic to just brush it off, not to begin on the more useful composition of it, I can imagine the iron will come in handy when the habitat gets to the point where they can start refining and producing.
- skybrian 9y agoMars soil is apparently toxic chemicals [1]. Antarctica is looking good in comparison. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jul/06/mars-covered-in-toxic-chemicals-that-can-wipe-out-living-organisms-tests-reveal https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jul/06/mars-covered...