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Im not sure if this has been discussed hear already but where should the first colony be. I think that it should be near the polar ice cap so there would be a water supply. I don't see how else to get water because we haven't identified any underground aquifiers yet.
Where does everyone else think would be a good place?
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I don't see how else to get water because we haven't identified any underground aquifiers yet.
Bake it out of the soil or condense it out of the air. Granted the less energy we need to extract it the better. If you build close to the polar ice caps hopefully the hab door won't get frozen shut with a layer of dry ice.
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Polar location for base drives up energy comsumption in the form of needed heating is the only draw back as a singular base but add to that equation sending more of them, placing them on a line towards the equator, connecting one to another for sharing of resources like power, oxygen, water and more possibly include tunnels as part of the interconnection to each other.
Another thread also mention water and methane over lap in these areas in three broad equatorial regions: Arabia Terra, Elysium Planum and Arcadia-Memnonia, which might be just as favorable for bases to be placed at.
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I think launches from the polar areas have greatly decreased launch windows or they have to perform plane changes.
There's plenty of water at the equator or at least in low-latitude areas. Arabia, Arcadia, and Elysium have hydrogen signatures. And anywhere you go on Mars, if you drill down 500 to 1000 meters (probably less in some places), you'll hit ice in the bedrock. Pump down heated Martian air (heat it with a reactor or a solar power unit) and it will heat the rock, causing water to evaporate into the shaft, which the Martian air will carry up with it. At the surface, cool the air and condense out the water. Set off an explosive charge at the bottom of the shaft to crack the rock and increase penetration of the heated air.
Mars was once soaking wet. All that water hasn't gone away; it's underground.
-- RobS
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There is more to finding an Aquifer than its being a source of water. It will also be a source of power. Mars subsurface water will likely be under pressure and by tapping this it will give us the ability to power a Mars base without the Dubious pleasures of inefectual solar and not so nice Nuclear.
Chan eil mi aig a bheil ùidh ann an gleidheadh an status quo; Tha mi airson cur às e.
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I think for more people to be involved with the idea of space exploration and of its cost. There is a need to also include settlement for one without the other yields only a small return on investment.
Should the United States continue to send people into space?
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I would think an equatorial location, or at least tropical latitude, is necessary for the heat. Mars Pathfinder recorded -8°C day time high, and -77°C night time low. Viking 2 landed at a higher latitude and altitude, but it recorded temperature for more than a Martian year. The low recorded by Viking 2 was -111°C. The thermal map produced by Mars Global Surveyor was calibrated to a low of -140°C. Although Teflon FEP can handle temperature as low as -240°C, Tefzel film gets brittle at -100°C. Warmth is necessary.
Low altitude means more atmosphere for radiation protection. Mars orbit has twice the radiation of ISS, but low altitudes on Mars have half the radiation of ISS. Low altitude also means more heat and easier to collect air for propellant production.
Water isn't as important as heat and radiation protection, but is needed if you want to build anything with local resources. There are many locations with water. Arabia Terra is at 0° longitude, 0° latitude; there is a hydrogen deposit in the soil as large as a great lake. However, Arabia Terra is a high-altitude plateau.
I would suggest the bottom of an equatorial valles. There's good chance of water accumulation in a dried (frozen?) river bed. I'm hoping Mars Express will deploy its antenna soon for ground penetrating radar. I really want to see hydrogen data from valles.
One possibility is http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars … tml]Louros Valles. It's at 8° latitude and has a dark deposit at the bottom of the valles.
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I read today that only a 10 degree band on either side of the equator would be the only chance for finding liquid water. Beyound that it would be frozen and either mixed with the soil or below ground level.
So the real toss up is which would be best for insitu resources or which ones are the most important for survival and or return of these available materials.
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Here is a http://www.lanl.gov/worldview/news/phot … .shtml]map of Hydrogen concentrations in the soil of Mars. Most of the Hydrogen on Mars is probably contained in water molecules, so areas with a high Hydrogen concentration should have a high water concentration.
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Would it be good to build a colony at the bottom of Valles Marineris?
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