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They are certainly easier, but how useful are they? A base on Mars will bring down the fuel requirements to exploring and exploiting the belt and outer planets
by mannerheim 5y ago
They are certainly easier, but how useful are they? A base on Mars will bring down the fuel requirements to exploring and exploiting the belt and outer planets tremendously. Missions that are impossible or uneconomical to do from Earth could be made possible and cheap if launched from Mars.
- Tepix 5y agoAlso exploring Mars itself and establishing a base there (anywhere off Earth really).
- spaetzleesser 5y agoIf you are concerned about a launchpad for other missions the moon is much better. Lower gravity, easy to reach.
- mannerheim 5y agoHow would you produce fuel and propellant on the Moon? SpaceX plans on producing methane and lox from water and CO2 on Mars.
- Tepix 5y agoYou could produce oxygen and hydrogen from the water ice and the carbon dioxide cold traps on the Moon. There may also be more carbon below the surface, see https://phys.org/news/2020-05-carbon-emissions-moon-theory-birth.html https://phys.org/news/2020-05-carbon-emissions-moon-theory-b...
- ncmncm 5y agoAnything that seems easier from Mars is overwhelmingly easier without stopping at Mars first. Even Phobos would be a better choice. The only thing Mars has going for it is hype.
- Tepix 5y agoMars offers quite a few things that make it more inviting for a manned base: - 38% of Earth's gravity - 24.5 hour days - lots of resources such as iron, carbon, oxygen, water (ice) - aerobraking in the atmosphere saves fuel - it's big (same land mass as Earth's). There's enough room for growth. - temperatures are better than elsewhere in space (-63°C to +20°C at the equator) - Lava tubes that could offer protection against radiation and meteorites for habitats - good potential of life / former life
- mannerheim 5y agoYou need some way to make fuel and propellant, though. Phobos would be a great choice for a launchpad, but in such a scenario you would do ISRU on Mars and lift fuel and propellant there - which will be much more efficient than on Earth, since there's less gravity and less atmosphere.
- ncmncm 5y agoAny fuel you could generate on Mars would be overwhelmingly easier and cheaper to ship in from Earth; and you wouldn't need to land a million tons of freight on Mars first. A million tons of fuel delivered to LEO would take you quite a long way, and you could start immediately. If you want to go somewhere beyond Mars, stopping there and then starting again just sets you back. (Same goes for the moon, or lunar orbit.) "Stepping stones" have strongly negative value in space transport.
- mannerheim 5y agoA million tons of fuel doesn't cut the delta v requirements down. You'd have to ship the required fuel to Mars orbit (or wherever you plan on doing refuelling) still.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ncmncm 5y ago