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One of the interesting consequences of water on Mars is the fact that it can be used to make methane and oxygen (used by both SpaceX's Raptor and Blue Origin's

One of the interesting consequences of water on Mars is the fact that it can be used to make methane and oxygen (used by both SpaceX's Raptor and Blue Origin's BE-4 engines). This potentially increases the amount of cargo one can carry from Earth to Mars as one no longer needs to bring hydrogen (for the Sabatier process for making methane) from Earth for the return trip back to Earth

withinboredom 5y ago
That sounds like a ridiculous waste of such a scarce resource.
- vermilingua 5y ago
  Why? This is one of the only economic advantages for settling mars; serving as a lower-g refueling station.
  - withinboredom 5y ago
    Unless the water is replenished somehow, sending it all off-planet would mean no one could settle Mars.
    - perl4ever 5y ago
      How much water do you think is on Mars?
  - eunoia 5y ago
    Refueling for what? The realities of orbital dynamics mean that Mars isn’t a convenient stopping place on the way to say, the outer solar system. I don’t have the numbers in my head but the delta-v requirements to intercept, match velocity and land negate any potential refueling benefit in my understanding. (Not to mention the added complexity vs a straight shot, this is a lot to pull off even in a sim like KSP) You might be able to make an argument for refueling bases on Mar’s tiny moons with their negligible gravity wells for Martian missions themselves but that’s about all I can see. What am I missing?
    - R0b0t1 5y ago
      You're not missing much, but orbital transfer hooks from Mar's moons work out.
    - dylan604 5y ago
      But what if you built a base there that continuously flung refueling pods into orbit? Make these pods leave orbit to rendezvous with another craft somewhere else rather than the craft needing fuel to come to a stop on Mars.
- simonh 5y ago
  >According to the researchers, 40 percent of the near-surface material of the 15,830 square mile (41,000 square kilometer) region could be water ice. That’s potentially billions of tons of water ice.

withinboredom 5y ago

That sounds like a ridiculous waste of such a scarce resource.

vermilingua 5y ago
Why? This is one of the only economic advantages for settling mars; serving as a lower-g refueling station.
- withinboredom 5y ago
  Unless the water is replenished somehow, sending it all off-planet would mean no one could settle Mars.
  - perl4ever 5y ago
    How much water do you think is on Mars?
- eunoia 5y ago
  Refueling for what? The realities of orbital dynamics mean that Mars isn’t a convenient stopping place on the way to say, the outer solar system. I don’t have the numbers in my head but the delta-v requirements to intercept, match velocity and land negate any potential refueling benefit in my understanding. (Not to mention the added complexity vs a straight shot, this is a lot to pull off even in a sim like KSP) You might be able to make an argument for refueling bases on Mar’s tiny moons with their negligible gravity wells for Martian missions themselves but that’s about all I can see. What am I missing?
  - R0b0t1 5y ago
    You're not missing much, but orbital transfer hooks from Mar's moons work out.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    But what if you built a base there that continuously flung refueling pods into orbit? Make these pods leave orbit to rendezvous with another craft somewhere else rather than the craft needing fuel to come to a stop on Mars.
simonh 5y ago
>According to the researchers, 40 percent of the near-surface material of the 15,830 square mile (41,000 square kilometer) region could be water ice. That’s potentially billions of tons of water ice.