4 ms·
Is the thought that Mars has no useful ores of any kind or that mining it would be too difficult/expensive/dangerous? It mentions the regolith but I'm asking a
by sparrish 4y ago
Is the thought that Mars has no useful ores of any kind or that mining it would be too difficult/expensive/dangerous? It mentions the regolith but I'm asking about raw materials under the surface.
- OkayPhysicist 4y agoI think they're talking about the "small research outpost" stage, rather than the "economic colony" stage of space exploration.
- killjoywashere 4y agoYeah, the installed base of manufacturing capabilities on earth is quite staggering. It would take an enormous number of launches to get enough materials to mars for it to become self-sustaining at any scale. Just look at someplace like Guam or Antarctica. The difficulties are staggering despite the far more accessible transport medium of ships at an air-water interface. Guam takes millions of tons a year to sustain. Antarctic camps need less because smaller, but also far less capable of self-sustainment.
- dsfyu404ed 4y agoI wouldn't call the difficulties on Guam or Antartica staggering. It's expensive but damn near everything there is a known-known or close to it. Mars isn't that easy but a lot of the problems evaporate if you can assume that we will spend lavishly to supply whoever goes there. We could support a Mars research colony at current levels of technology if there was political will to spend the money. But there isn't so the long slow march of technological progress will have to bring the price down to something we can justify.