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There are possibilities for removing and/or using the perchlorates as solid rocket propellant: "Students Alex Hoganson, Hetal Rathore, and Chase Wernex used da
by stevenjgarner 2y ago
There are possibilities for removing and/or using the perchlorates as solid rocket propellant:
"Students Alex Hoganson, Hetal Rathore, and Chase Wernex used data from NASA's 2008 Phoenix Mars Lander to determine that Martian soil contains a 60/40 mix of calcium perchlorate and magnesium perchlorate. They worked under professor Steve Son at Zucrow Labs to synthesize and test a solid rocket propellant using that 60/40 mix as an oxidizer." [1][2]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwD0a_VdS_4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwD0a_VdS_4
[2] https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/News/2022/can-we-turn-martian-soil-into-rocket-fuel https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/News/2022/can-we-turn-mart...
- ceejayoz 2y agoYeah, it's a built-in easy source of oxygen for a base, too. Not all bad, but something to deal with.
- PaulHoule 2y agoThere's a general principle for in-situ resource utilization that you want to eat the whole pig from the nose to the fingernails and twisty little tail.
- ceejayoz 2y agoAs long as the extra equipment to do so isn’t prohibitive, at least.
- PaulHoule 2y agoAlso depends what it is. In many situations (la Luna) volatiles are precious. I'm not so sure you want to harvest water from the Moon's north pole and use it to make fuel that will be consumed as opposed to maintaining an inventory for use in a circular economy. I'm not sure what attitude about volatiles Martians would have. It might be able to support an atmosphere if the planet could be protected from solar radiation.