5 ms·
Mars is about 1.5 times as far from the sun, so the intensity of sunlight is less than half Don't break out the nukes yet… No cloud cover is going to push up
by jws 14y ago
Mars is about 1.5 times as far from the sun, so the intensity of sunlight is less than half
Don't break out the nukes yet…
No cloud cover is going to push up the average insolation, plus a thinner atmosphere will absorb less. Dust will bring it back down some amount.
Temperature could be handled with insulation. Aerogel might be good here. A thin layer of glass sufficiently hard to survive the blowing dust and then a layer of aerogel to retain heat but still pass most of the light.
- takluyver 14y agoI think the light would be sufficient for plants, but I don't think insulation would be enough without a heat source. Now, you could lug loads of chemical fuel all the way from earth, or... Break out the nukes ;-)
- Dylan16807 14y agoSunlight is a pretty good heat source.
- rndmcnlly0 14y ago"insolation" (think of incoming solar radiation) is distinct from "insulation"