Mars Probably Has Liquid Water (Too Bad Its Very Salty)

(Image: Salty water droplets on Phoenix Mars Lander. Credit: NASA) 

With temperatures plunging below -100 degrees (in both Fahrenheit and Celsius), Mars is not exactly known as warm and friendly place to live upon.

While the red planet does boast an abundance of ice, it looks as if scientists have discovered that liquid water can exist upon its surface--in an extremely salty form.

(SpaceRef) Temperature fluctuation in the arctic region of Mars where Phoenix landed and salts in the soil could create pockets of water too salty to freeze in the climate of the landing site, Renno says.

Photos of one of the lander's legs show droplets that grew during the polar summer. Based on the temperature of the leg and the presence of large amounts of "perchlorate" salts detected in the soil, scientists believe the droplets were most likely salty liquid water and mud that splashed on the spacecraft when it touched down. The lander was guided down by rockets whose exhaust melted the top layer of ice below a thin sheet of soil. [...]

The wet chemistry lab on Phoenix found evidence of perchlorate salts, which likely include magnesium and calcium perchlorate hydrates. These compounds have freezing temperatures of about -90 and -105 Fahrenheit respectively. The temperature at the landing site ranged from approximately -5 to -140 Fahrenheit, with a median temperature around -75 Fahrenheit. Temperatures at the landing site were mostly warmer than this during the first months of the mission.

Perchlorate salts are not exactly healthy for humans, and their presence on Mars comes with a double blessing.

While this means that future colonists may have an easier time storing water (at least in liquid form), it also means that it will have to be heavily filtered if humans (not to mention our animal friends) are to ever drink it.

Video: Martian Methane To Power Red Planet Colonies?

(Hat Tip: Universe Today)

Although its asteroid moons may play a key role in conquering the solar system, Mars itself was previously lacking in the "resource department."

Even though the red planet contains an abundance of water, the crimson world has yet another reason to boast with the discovery of methane emitting from its surface.

(NASA) Methane -- four atoms of hydrogen bound to a carbon atom -- is the main component of natural gas on Earth. It's of interest to astrobiologists because organisms release much of Earth's methane as they digest nutrients. However, other purely geological processes, like oxidation of iron, also release methane. [...]

"We observed and mapped multiple plumes of methane on Mars, one of which released about 19,000 metric tons of methane," said Dr. Geronimo Villanueva of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. Villanueva is stationed at NASA Goddard and is co-author of the paper. "The plumes were emitted during the warmer seasons -- spring and summer -- perhaps because the permafrost blocking cracks and fissures vaporized, allowing methane to seep into the Martian air. Curiously, some plumes had water vapor while others did not," said Villanueva.

According to the team, the plumes were seen over areas that show evidence of ancient ground ice or flowing water. For example, plumes appeared over northern hemisphere regions such as east of Arabia Terra, the Nili Fossae region, and the south-east quadrant of Syrtis Major, an ancient volcano 1,200 kilometers (about 745 miles) across.

While NASA scientists debate on whether this methane is biological or geological (note: or would that be areological?), the fact that methane is escaping from the surface is exciting as it could enable future settlers to power their outposts without having to rely upon solar power (which is incredibly weak on Mars) or solar steam (which would be useless at night).

Hopefully NASA is able to send another rover to investigate this, as securing that region could help humanity establish a permanent outpost upon the red deserts of Mars.

Martian North Pole: Water So Pure You Could (Almost) Drink It?

While it has been known that Mars's north pole contains an abundance of water, it looks as if some French scientists have discovered that water ice located up north may be much purer than we have originally thought.

(Physorg.com) Radar data sent back by the US Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) point to 95 percent purity in this deposit, France's National Institute of Sciences of the Universe (Insu) said in a press release.

The Martian polar regions are believed to hold the equivalent of two to three million cubic kilometres" (0.47-0.72 million cu. miles) of ice, it said.

Although its fairly obvious that the Martian water would still have to be heavily filtered, this high concentration of water ice does give the red planet some much needed real estate value.

If humanity is ever going to harvest the asteroid belt in the future, they are going to need an abundance of water for not only food and drink, but for fuel as well.

Video: Hope Or Hype? Travel To Mars In Just 3 Days?

(Hat Tip: Spaceports)

Although our species has mastered the art of landing rovers upon the Martian surface, we have yet to develop a fast way to transport astronauts from Earth to Mars (assuming we can figure out how to safely land humans upon the crimson soil).

While some "feasible" technology may be able to shorten the overall trip to under 40 days, Moacir L. Ferreira Jr. is proposing that a rocket could potentially do it within 72 hours with the help of his CrossFire Fusor reactor.

(CrossFire Fusor) The CrossFire Fusor relies on magnetic fields for confining radially charged particles and relies on electric fields for trapping longitudinally them. It also relies on electric fields for accelerating the charged particles for reaching great kinetic energy of about 600KeV (7 billion°C) at inexpressive energy consumption.

The CrossFire Fusor is the first nuclear fusion reactor designed for achieving a true three-dimensional confinement plus a three-dimensional charged particles injection, and for having an adequate escape mechanism for the charged products of nuclear fusion thrusting a spacecraft. It also is the first, among the non-neutral plasma reactors, that can confine a plasma in a quasi-neutral state solving the saturation problem.

The CrossFire Fusor also is the first designed for having great flexibility for confining and fusing charged particles comprising positive and negative ions from neutronic and aneutronic fuels. The nuclear fusion fuel can be composed of several light atomic nuclei like hydrogen, deuterium, tritium, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, in special boron hydrides and helium-3.

The CrossFire Fusor also is the first providing a method for converting energy of charged products from aneutronic nuclear fusion directly to electricity by neutralization process, that can reach an efficiency exceeding 95%, and it is the first to present a power supply system with a concept of multidirectional energy flow.

While the technology itself looks promising, we may not see this type of rocket available until 2020 (as nuclear fusion has yet to be perfected).

Either way, if Ferreira's reactor is not used for interplanetary travel to Mars, it may have a future in keeping the lights on for future settlers of Ganymede, Callisto and beyond.

Chinese-Russian Probe To Explore Red Planet, Radiation And Phobos

After establishing an alliance between each other, it looks as if the two major eastern space powers will be exploring "all things Mars" by sending a probe to analyze not only the Martian weather, but its asteroid moon as well.

(Mars Daily) The first joint Chinese-Russian mission to Mars is set to take off in October and reach the red planet in August 2010, an exploration project designer said.

A Russian Zenit rocket will launch a Chinese Yinghuo-1 satellite and a Russian Phobos-Grunt unmanned lander, Chen Changya, chief designer of the China-Russia Mars exploration project, told Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po newspaper.

Phobos-Grunt is expected to study Mars from orbit, including its atmosphere and dust storms, plasma and radiation, before landing on Phobos, one of Mars' two small moons.

Phobos is one of the prime locations in our solar system, and any nation (or group of nations) that is able to secure this tiny satellite will probably end up dominating the Martian planet as a future space power.

Political ambitions aside, the Phobos-Grunt should help provide more information regarding how much radiation impacts the red planet, as that could determine just how safe living on Mars may be.

One Solar Space Power To Rule Them All?

Note: Article inspired by NASA Watch, The Planetary Society and 21^st Century Waves


Warning: This is an extremely long article, so you may want to grab a quick snack as you read through this post.

Anyone who has ever played board games such as Risk and Monopoly knows that the overall purpose of the game is for one player to dominant the board by either taking territory or securing financial resources ahead of their rivals.

The same rule also applies to the final frontier as evidenced by the space race emerging in Asia, as well as between the US and China.

While every nation probably has their own "road map" for conquering the final frontier, there are no less than five critical locations (ranging from asteroids to dwarf planets to even moons) that a space faring nation must secure if they desire to remain (or become) a solar space power in our star system.

First Stop: Luna

Orbiting a mere light second away from Earth, the Moon could easily be described as humanities second home due to its proximity towards our birth world.

Although the lunar surface may lack water (at least in abundance), its white regolith can be "easily" converted into breathable oxygen, allowing our species to survive beyond our earthen cradle without the need to constantly borrow air from our home world.

Often seen as free on planet Earth, oxygen in space will be literally worth its "weight" in gold, and any nation that can find a way to inexpensively produce lunar oxygen will have an advantage later on over its rivals (and may even be able to sell the precious gas for a profit).

While its oxygen rocks could enable humanity to live off world, its reduced gravity may make the tiny sphere appealing to asteroid miners seeking out near earth objects (aka NEO's).

Since micro-gravity has a way of eroding bones and muscles, destroying immune systems, weakening hearts and strengthening deadly bacteria, asteroid miners may prefer to live lunar side (with frequent trips to mine these NEO's), than to spend the majority of their time floating next to a space rock in micro-gravity.

Even though a space faring nation (both current and aspiring) could develop a sustainable presence around the Moon (and nearby space rocks) due to its resources and location, it may be wise to travel beyond Earth's orbit towards more promising worlds (in order maintain its status a future space power).

Next Stop: The dwarf planet Ceres

Although some would consider it "insane" to skip the red planet, heading to Ceres first will ensure that a future space power has the resources to fund its expansion (note: despite the fact that doing so means sacrificing the prestige of sending the first man or woman to Mars).

Ceres strategically orbits within the metal rich region of the asteroid belt, making this dwarf planet prime real estate (at least to asteroid mining corporations).

Any nation establishing a colony on Ceres would be able to send teams of astronauts to secure nearby metallic space rocks as their own, potentially selling them to future allies or harvesting the mineral resources for themselves.

While the dwarf planet lacks any resources of its own, Ceres is suspected of hosting more "fresh water" than Earth itself, which would enable future asteroid minors to potentially grow their own food off world without depending on frequent supplies from Earth.

It would also allow Ceres to act as a interplanetary rest stop between Mars and Jupiter, not to mention a safe haven as well (just in case the asteroid belt becomes infested with space pirates).

Since most of humanities attention will probably be focused on Mars after the Moon, there will probably be very little competition establishing a dominant presence on Ceres (if not conquer it entirely for themselves).

Third Stop: The Martian moon called Phobos

Despite its popularity in science fiction, Mars will probably attract very few visitors due to the extreme difficulty in landing large payloads on the surface of the red planet.

Coupled with the fact that Mars lacks major resources of any kind (note: at least that we know of), the crimson world may only be inhabited by scientists, various cults and individuals disillusioned by Earthen (and Lunar) governments.

Even though the red planet may not be of much economic worth (at least initially), one of its asteroid moons Phobos could be converted into an enormous space station in order to make it easier to process metals harvested from the asteroid belt.

Since the sunlight on Mars is much stronger than in the asteroid belt, a future mining corporation could use the Sun's rays to melt asteroid metals en mass before exporting them towards Earth (and Luna).

Although working on an asteroid moon may be profitable, living upon one may not due to the side effects of micro-gravity.

Even though a future miner could always counter the effects of micro-gravity with various drugs and electronic shocks, it may be wiser to settle upon the red deserts below as Mars's gravity is approximately 38% Earth norm.

In order to reduce the cost of transporting personal (and equipment) to and from the Martian surface, a future space power may need to construct an "orbital space elevator" on the near side of Phobos.

While constructing this would ultimately open up Mars to the rest of humanity (which a future space power could charge a fee for rivals to use), it would also allow them to import water from the Martian surface (instead of depending upon either Earth or Ceres for supplies).

Fourth Stop: The Jovian moon Callisto

Often regarded as a dead world, the Jovian moon Callisto may be of high worth to any space faring nation, due to the fact that it is one of the few radiation safe worlds in our star system.

Even though Mars and the Moon may have "celebrity status" throughout our solar system, neither of the worlds has a global magnetic field to protect their spheres from the wrath of the Sun.

Callisto on the other hand is not only protected by Jupiter's magnetic field, but it orbits just beyond the gas giant's radiation belt, enabling future colonists to raise families (and pets) upon this world without fear of growing a third eye ball.

While Callisto may not have any immediate value outside of being a midway point between the inner solar system and Saturn, establishing an outpost here would enable a future space power to "easily explore" its brother Ganymede.

Although Ganymede's orbit takes it into the heart of Jupiter's radiation belts, a properly shielded colony could use Ganymede's global magnetic field to raise an abundance of crops with the help of bees (instead of relying upon ants who may not need a magnetic field to pollinate our green friends).

While it would probably be impossible for one space faring nation to conquer both of these worlds for themselves, conquering these moons early on (especially Callisto) could give a rising space power significant influence over the future of the Jupiteran system (not to mention the next gas giant as well).

Last Stop: The methane moon called Titan

Even if humanity finds a way to harvest the helium-3 locked away within Luna's crust (not to mention the atmosphere of Uranus), the cost of mining it may put it out of reach for most interplanetary commercial spacecraft.

Since supplies of Uranium and Plutonium could easily become unavailable for space travel (as many nations on Earth may need them for energy or defense), finding an inexpensive alternative could determine whether or not a space faring nation thrives or merely survives in the depths of our star system.

One way to guarantee that a future space power has the neccessary fuel to maintain its fleet (at least inexpensively) is to establish outposts near Titan's methane lakes (which may contain an abundance of methane/ethane within them).

While it would not be surprising to see Titan heavily colonized in the fairly distant future (by various countries), securing this world early on would enable a space faring country to establish tremendous influence throughout the solar system (or at least within the ringed system of Saturn).

What about the other worlds?

Although their are plenty of other interesting worlds ranging from the burning crust of Mercury to the frozen wasteland of Neptune's moon Triton, these worlds may not attract that much interest in the future (at least as far as we can tell right now).

Even though everyone probably hopes that humanity would put aside their differences and explore the final frontier in peace, six thousand years of recorded history seems to hold a dim view regarding this viewpoint (as one can glimpse the wars that have raged upon our planet).

Whether or not humanity decides to conquer every sphere and space rock within our solar system only time will tell.

But either way, these four worlds (plus one asteroid moon) may be the key that determines which space faring nation not only dominates our solar system, but perhaps guides us unto the next one as well.

Mars: Locating Ice Water In All The Right Places (Technology)

(Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Russian Federal Space Agency)

When it comes to water, Mars probably holds more than any other terrestrial body (at least as far as safely retrieving goes).

While the red planet does hold an abundance of water beneath its surface (not to mention the north and south poles), locating the ice rich regions may determine how successful a future outpost will be on the crimson world.

Fortunately it looks as if scientists may have found a way to locate areas wealthy in ice water simply by "bouncing" neutrons off of the Martian soil.

(Astrobiology Magazine) Detecting water underground does not require a magical stick. Neutrons reflecting out of the soil can indicate the presence of water or ice. A novel instrument that can detect those neutrons is planned for NASA's next rover mission to Mars. [...]

"It is like striking a billiard ball with the cue ball," Boynton said. "If you hit it directly on center, all of the energy of the cue ball (the neutron in this case) will be transferred to the billiard ball (the hydrogen atom)."

The net result is that a neutron is stopped or slowed when colliding with hydrogen. Presumably, most of the hydrogen atoms on a planet surface will be part of a water molecule.

"Water will both thermalize (slow down) and absorb neutrons, so the reflected neutron signal will be higher in thermal (low-energy) neutrons and lower in epithermal (high-energy) neutrons," Boynton explained.

Dry soil, by contrast, will reflect more high-energy neutrons. This is because it will contain predominantly heavier atoms, which act like bowling balls that barely budge when a cue ball hits them. Neutrons striking iron or silicon atoms, rather than hydrogen atoms, will ricochet with practically the same energy that they started with.

Even though we can use satellites to locate ice water from space, their results are not as accurate (as according to the article their signal can only penetrate one meter below the surface).

If promising regions can be located, NASA (and others) could then send robotic landers to drill through the surface, which will make it easier for future colonists to simply collect and filter the Martian water once they arrive.

Melting Asteroid Metals With Martian Sunlight

(Hat Tip: Gizmodo and Dark Roasted Blend)

Whether or not we head to the asteroid belt before Mars, one thing is clear--while we may have the means to land upon and (hopefully) sift the metal from "the rubble" (or useless rocky material), we probably will be unable to inexpensively melt the metals on site.

Even though lasers are always an option, future colonists may not be too thrilled with using extra power to melt down the space metals, as that would only add to the overall cost of shipping the material elsewhere.

While some may be content to pass the cost onto the customer, it may be cheaper (and wiser) to ship the metals to the red planet in order to have the metals melted down via Martian sunlight.








Since Martian sunlight operates at half the strength of Earth's, the solar furnace would probably have to be slightly altered to achieve the same strength as its bluer big brother.

Although some may suggest that the future asteroid mining industry could simply ship the metals to Earth, it may be wiser to divert the route towards Mars, as the red planet orbits about 100 million kilometers closer (at Aphelion) than Earth.

Martian colonists would also have the advantage of utilizing the crimson worlds two orbiting moons, allowing mining fleets to melt their metals upon either Phobos or Deimos without having to land on the Martian surface (which has a fairly steep gravity well).

Either way, Mars may play a critical role in our quest to colonize the solar system (which may make it a prime spot for future real estate).

Video: Next Decade Could See SpaceX On The Moon

(Hat Tip: Space Transport News)

After successfully launching their Falcon 1 rocket, SpaceX is aiming at not only sending cargo and crew to the International Space Station, but also potentially landing people on the Moon by the next decade.

Click on the image below to watch.

Note: Did any of you catch the reference to Mars? :-)

Planning For Martian Success: Its The Crew Structure Stupid!

The biggest factor determining the success of a future Mars mission may not reside in how well we deal with radiation, gravity or even energy.

Since the first Martian crews will probably be unable to bring either their families, pets or farm animals along, the key to success may reside in the crew structure itself.

(Astrobiology Magazine) Despite the legacy of the Russian experiment, the Mars Society, a non-profit educational and scientific organization headed by Robert Zubrin, conducted its own test to see how people behave during a simulated space mission. From April to August 2007, a science crew of seven camped out at the "Flashline" Mars Arctic Research Station (F-MARS) on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic.

The total time spent in Mars simulation was 101 days. All went extremely well, according to Kim Binsted, Melissa Battler, and Kathryn Bywaters, three of the participants. In addition to living in close confinement, they conducted research in the field, donning space suits for each expedition outdoors, just as a real Mars crew would.

Battler, now a PhD student at the University of Western Ontario, was the group commander. She says the team – which was composed of four men and three women -- consulted with each other in a cooperative style, rather than following a strict military-style hierarchy of command.

This cooperative approach may be a wiser alternative than the command style, as team members may feel that they each have equal input into the success of the mission, instead of feeling like an worker drone, whose only purpose is to carry out the commands of the leadership.

Note: Either way, it may be wise to consider bringing Fido along, in order to help keep the future Martians from getting home sick.

Belated: Solar Rods For Mars?

(Hat Tip: Engadget and Make)

(Image Credit: Solyndra)

Whether or not you believe the future of humanity lies upon the red planet one thing is clear--traditional solar panels are not a practical option for energy.

Since Mars receives approximately half of the solar energy that Earth does, future outposts will probably require a lot more panels than a regular outpost on the Moon. Worse, Martian winds could easily rip solar panels off of future outposts, a common problem on Earth.

Instead of relying upon expensive, silicon solar panels that may become easily damaged, future colonists may opt for something a little bit rounder (and less expensive).

(Solyndra) Solyndra's panels employ cylindrical modules which capture sunlight across a 360-degree photovoltaic surface capable of converting direct, diffuse and reflected sunlight into electricity. Solyndra's panels perform optimally when mounted horizontally and packed closely together, thereby covering significantly more of the typically available roof area and producing more electricity per rooftop on an annual basis than a conventional panel installation. The result is significantly more solar electricity per rooftop per year.

The Solyndra system is lightweight and the panels allow wind to blow through them. These factors enable the installation of PV on a broader range of rooftops without anchoring or ballast, which are inherently problematic. The horizontal mounting and unique "air-flow" properties of Solyndra's solar panel design substantially simplify the installation process for Solyndra's PV systems. The ease of installation and simpler mounting hardware of the Solyndra system enables its customers to realize significant savings on installation costs.

While larger colonies will probably eventually rely upon solar thermal plants for energy (as the output is probably greater), smaller outposts may choose to rely upon these less expensive solar rods instead (as it will help drop the price tag of sending the first man and woman to the red planet).

(Belated) NASA: Moon Base Before Mars (Plus A Beta Test)

To the sorrow of Martian fans everywhere (especially Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society) it looks as if NASA is focused on dirtying their boots again with white dust rather than red.

(Space.com) NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin defended his agency's determination to establish a lunar colony before embarking on a manned Mars mission Sept. 30, arguing that those who prefer to focus only on Mars are overestimating what is known about the Moon and underestimating the difficulties of going to Mars. [...]

Griffin said that before any attempt to send a crew to Mars is made, the sponsoring agency or agencies must at least be able to conduct the following mission: Send astronauts to the international space station for a six- or nine-month visit, after which they would be sent to the Moon for a similar amount of time, equipped with no additional supplies beyond those sent with them to the station.

Once they completed their Moon visit, this same group of astronauts would return directly to the space station for another six- to nine-month visit, again with no resupply.

A Mars before Moon plan would probably be considered insane at best, especially since we have yet to figure out a way to survive longterm without multiple "refreshments" from Earth.

Establishing a Moon base first will at least secure our presence off world, just in case the political winds of Congress turn against space in general (as a human mission towards Mars has less favor than the Moon).

It would also allow us to do a mini simulation to see whether we can survive independently from Earth (at least for a season).

While NASA's new focus may throw "a monkey wrench" in a direct Mars mission, it ironically lines up with Buzz Aldrin's road map, which specifically mentions revisiting the Moon before conquer the red deserts of Mars.

Iron On Mars?

Often seen as a red barren wasteland harboring little value (outside its orbit near the asteroid belt), Mars may have at least one resource underneath its soil that may be of some use to future colonists.

(New Scientist Space) FUTURE colonisers [sic] of Mars needn't worry about lugging materials from Earth to build their bases - the most widely used building material on Earth, steel, could be manufactured on the Red Planet.

The rover Opportunity has found elemental iron - a key ingredient of steel - peppered across the Martian surface as a result of collisions with iron-rich meteorites. The dry conditions and lack of atmospheric oxygen mean that the stuff has not rusted, says Geoffrey Landis of NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hopefully scientists will be able to confirm how much iron is within the soil, as that would enable colonists to construct large cities on that crimson world.

Instant Roads (On Luna And Mars)

(Hat Tip: IsraGood)

As any government official can tell you, creating and maintaining roads in a community can be quite expensive.

The problem only becomes much worse when one considers creating them off world, especially if humanity decides to build thriving colonies. These future space settlements will need a dependable transportation system in order to move goods around their respective globes.

While some have suggested that the easiest way to get around this is by constructing an off world railroad system, it may be easier to simply create instant roads instead (thanks in part to Professional Reinforcement Solutions).

(Israel 21^st Century) Invented by the US military in the 70s, the continued innovation behind PRS's soil stabilization honeycombs is very much Israeli. Now used as a soil stabilizer in Siberia to help truckers get to isolated tracts of land, or in landscaping to prevent soil erosion, the high-tech honeycombed sheets, called the Neoweb Cellular Confinement System is "beyond clean technology," says Yitzchak Schary, documentation manager for Tel Aviv-based PRS.

Schary, who's consulted for Israel's Environmental Protection Ministry on Sustainable Development, speaks with ISRAEL21c about the innovation. Represented in 40 countries, the company's product is "actually low-tech, high tech and cleantech all in one," he says. "Although the product is fairly dry, it's a soil stabilization solution for civil engineering projects, and inherently sustainable."

Developed as an advanced polymer, Neoweb can be laid out on land, and then filled with local soil, or recycled materials to form a road, or as infrastructure for landscape architects.

Although adaptations will obviously have to be made to adapt this technology towards the vacuum of space and Martian weather, the technique behind it could be duplicated on both Luna (aka the Moon) and the red planet.

Colonists can use these "honey combs" to create and maintain roads inexpensively, which will help reduce the overall cost of building large settlements off world.

As far as the Moon goes, they could then melt down the top layer via microwaves in order to insure that rovers do not kick up too much lunar dust into the vacuum of space (which could become a hassle for travelers behind them).

While acquiring soil on Mars should be relatively easy (thanks in part to its thin atmosphere), Moon settlers will probably have to use lunar vacuum cleaners or soil acquired from innovative "air" drilling in order to help create various highways for rovers to travel upon.

This will enable outposts located at various locations around both the Moon and Mars to remain interconnected with each other, allowing them to thrive thousands (or millions) of kilometers away from Earth (without the sense of feeling isolated from the rest of the global community).

Will Geothermal Energy Power Our Solar System?

Regardless whether one intends to dwell upon a dusty world, or an icy one, living on another planet, moon, or dwarf planet is going to require energy. Without a dependable power source, off world settlements will become nothing but fantasy, regulated to the imaginations of Star Wars, Star Trek and Serenity.

While a few worlds such as Mercury, Luna (aka the Moon) and Saturn's Titan are blessed with an abundance of energy in the form of solar energy, helium-3 and methane-ethane lakes, respectively, most of the other spheres that dance around the sun (or their respective planets) seem to lack an ample supply of energy.

Without an lush supply of energy nearby, colonists living on other worlds will be forced to import energy from abroad, making these outposts not only expensive, but also small (as increased energy demand may make large cities unreasonable).

In order for our species to truly create independent colonies elsewhere, we may have to drill down beneath the soil in order to acquire the neccessary energy to power our future interplanetary cities.

Despite the fact that this technology is a little over a century old, geothermal energy has the potential to not only power our own home world, but the other globes that "roam" the vacuum of space as well.

For those unfamiliar with the technology, a geothermal power plant basically uses heat from the Earth's core to turn water (or a "watery mix") pumped from above into steam. This steam in turn spins the turbine engines, creating electricity for nearby communities to use.

A geothermal power plant can also pump up hot water trapped below, as in the case of the Calpine Corporation's geyser power plant.

While the technology may not be as glamorous as solar power satellites, it does have the potential of fueling our energy dependent world.

(Video: Scientists explaining how geothermal energy works, as well as its potential. Credit: Google.org)

While this technology is promising, one may wonder whether or not this technology would be feasible off world. After all, in order for geothermal power to have any relevance, it would have to reside on a world that is not only somewhat geologically active, but also contains water (or another liquid substitute) to turn the turbine engines.

Fortunately for our species, it seems that most of the worlds in our solar system seem to be blessed with both.

Mars

Upon first glance, the surface of the red planet appears to be (for lack of a better word) dead. While boasting the largest volcanoes in our solar system, the crimson globe apparently changes little, aside from a "global-cane" that covers the surface every six (earthen) years.

Despite its passive appearance, the Martian depths may be more active than we think beneath the surface, as evidenced by its semi-active core that seems to be generating a "lumpy magnetic field" that barely pops up above the surface (in some spots).

(Image: Artistic drawing of Martian geysers, Credit: Arizona State University / Ron Miller)

Mars also is known to host geysers in its southern pole, which may indicate that the red planet may a lot warmer underneath than we can imagine. Combined with the abundance of water, Mars may become fertile ground for future geothermal power plants.

Ganymede

With its parent world orbiting almost 780 million kilometers away from the Sun, solar power is not an option for any future colony settling on Jupiter's largest moon.

Boasting a global magnetic field which is ironically three times larger than the planet Mercury, a future outpost on Ganymede may be a prime candidate for a geothermal plant.

While future "Jupiterans" would have to live within "aquarium houses" in order to survive the intense radiation surrounding the moon, their ability to "tap" into the Jovian moons center, providing enough energy to turn this frozen globe into a second Earth.

Saturn's Icy Moons


Despite its size, the tiny ice world of Enceladus contains geysers that are spewing icy crystals above its surface.

While scientists remain baffled on how such a tiny world can contain a core warm enough to produce geysers on top, this tiny world could become a prime candidate for a geothermal power plant (by tapping into the "warm crevices" beneath).

(Video: NASA highlighting geysers discovered on Enceladus, Credit: NASA, via Windows to the Universe)

But Enceladus is not the only ice world orbiting Saturn with geysers. Last year scientists discovered that both Tethys and Dione are also spewing ice particles into space, which may hint toward a warmer than anticipated core underneath.

Triton

Often known for its retrograde orbit around Neptune, Triton may become a major settlement in the future by harvesting helium-3 from the atmosphere of its paternal planet.

But before colonists can exploit the blue gas giant for profit, they will need to find a way to acquire energy upon that frozen world. Fortunately, Neptune's "favorite son" does boast nitrogen geysers, whose erupting pressure may help keep an advance turbine engine spinning (thus keeping "the lights on" for a future colony.

Charon

While the debate rages on whether or not its "bigger brother" can join the planet club, scientists suspect that Pluto's moon Charon may also have geysers on its surface, which could point towards a warmer core underneath.

___________________

Even though off world colonies will probably have to adjust their technology in order to make geothermal power plants feasible (perhaps by using the geyser pressure from the worlds to turn the turbine engines instead of simply using steam heat), future settlements may consider it more reasonable to power their cities from energy below, rather than importing it from afar.

Living Off World May Stink

I packed my bags to head off world,

To live beyond the sky that twirls,

Around the planet of my birth,

The one I call home--aka Earth.

But when I arrived on that new planet,

I left in a hurry as I could not stand it.

It was not the gravity, or the radiation,

It was the stench of that wretched habitation.

~Darnell Clayton, 2008

We are a unique species. We spend billions of dollars in order to launch satellites to orbit distant worlds (or rovers to explore across their surface) in order to bring back images of what the horizon may look like on another planet (or Moon).

Often, we imagine what it must be like to live on the red planet, or dance through the smog world of Titan, or even (if we are lucky) what it would be like to have a picnic on the Moon.

Unfortunately, our dreams of humanity expanding throughout our native star system may ultimately come to naught, due to the simple fact that living off world may irritate one of our key bodily members, also known as the nose.

Despite the romantic images off the dozens of worlds that dance around their paternal planets and stars, the reality is that many of these rocky spheres have unique odors to them, which may be encountered after a future settler returns to the outpost (after exploring the surface of their new home).

One prime example of this is the Moon, in which astronauts reported as smelling like gun powder after tracking in lunar dust from the outside.

Even though this scent may please those associated with the NRA, it may irritate would be lunar residents, convincing many that the view of the stars is not worth dealing with the smell of the lunar dust.

If one thought the smell of gun powder is bad, then they may have second thoughts about living on Mars after discovering that the red planet may actually smell like sulfur.

While many space scientists would probably be willing to deal with the stench in order to live upon a world hundreds of millions of kilometers away from our terrestrial home, most Earthen citizens may choose to simply skip even visiting the crimson planet, opting for a post card instead.

While these unique smells may not keep some people from abandoning Earth for a new orb to explore, it will (unfortunately) be more than enough to convince the vast majority to stay put on the home world.

Worse, it could also translate to more women avoiding living off world, since their sense of smell is usually greater than their masculine friends. After all, if women (en masse) decide that off world planets are not worth the "tribulation of the nose," then the only large space settlements humanity may see will be penial colonies (as prisoners usually have very few rights--at least in most countries).

Since changing the aroma of extraterrestrial soils smells would be difficult (even if one were able to terraform it), it may be easier (and less expensive) to simply import air fresheners (or even scented candles where permitted) in order to mask the offending odors entering the space habitats.

While not every world humanity lands on will contain an unpleasant odor (that may make its way into the future outpost), we should do everything in our power to ensure that living off world long term is not only safe, but a pleasent experience for all five of our senses as well.

Is Martian Soil Fertile For Earthen Gardens?

After various reports surfaced online that the Phoenix lander had discovered the potentail for life on Mars, it looks as if the red planet may be somewhat more hostile than what scientists were previously hoping for.

(MSNBC) The views expressed at Tuesday's teleconference were much more nuanced. "How this perchlorate in the soil affects habitability is a complex question that we certainly don't have the final answer on," Smith said.

On Earth, perchlorates are considered toxic contaminants requiring environmental cleanup. They're the main ingredient in solid rocket fuel and can be found in fireworks and other explosives. In fact, scientists still have to rule out the possibility that the perchlorates actually came from the Delta 2 rocket that sent the Phoenix spacecraft out of Earth orbit. (The lander itself used a hydrazine fuel that didn't contain perchlorates.) [...]

However, some organisms actually thrive on perchlorates and have been enlisted for cleaning up chemical spills. Perchlorate-loving microbes have been found in Chile's Atacama Desert and Antarctica — two of the places that have been compared to the Red Planet's cold, dry environment.

While more research has to be conducted to determine whether or not the perchlorate came from Phoenix, humanity may discover Mars to be an infertile world, which means that humans may have to import fertilizer from their homeworld (or create their own naturally).

(Image Credit: NASA)

Martian Desalination Factories: Providing Clean Water And Iron?

Whether or not Mars held oceans on its surface in the past, one thing is clear--there is a lot of water on the red planet. Despite most of it being frozen, future astronauts will probably have to filter the Martian water in order to be able to drink it safely.



Even though Mars has an abundance of water (not to mention soil that may be able to grow Asparagus), the planet lacks major known resources of any kind--especially in the "metal department."



While some may suggest future colonists scour the crimson world in search of resources (or import them from the asteroid belt), it may be better for future settlers to simply collect from the water they filtrate via desalination factories.

(Globes Online) A study by "Globes" found that that the Ashkelon desalination plant, produces 6,500 cubic meters of fresh water a day, and discharges iron into the Mediterranean as a byproduct. The 100-million cubit meter a year plant is owned by the VID consortium, VID is consortium of IDE Technologies Ltd. and Veolia Water SA. [...]



During the reverse osmosis desalination process, the facility removes iron from the seawater before it its pushed through the desalination membranes that produce fresh water. Ministry of Environmental Protection officials from the Coastal and Marine Division told "Globes" that they were unaware that the Ashkelon facility discharges this iron into the sea, in the form of "red water", and that they were taken by surprise when they learned about it.

Although Israel's desalination plants (or factories) will have to be improved in order to reduce (or hopefully eliminate) the iron being fed back into the oceans, these factories may have stumbled upon a unique way for future colonists to extract metals from Martian water.



Since Mars has plenty of rust within its soil, there is a good chance that a large percentage of that has mixed in with its water. While this is no guarantee that humanity would be able to turn "rust into iron," these desalination factories might be able to extract some iron from the crimson planet's "water supply."



(Image Credit: House Renovation Tips)

Solar Steam To Power Martian Cities? (Video)

(Hat tip: IsraGood)

With average tempreatures hovering around -63 degrees Celcius, future Martian colonists are going to have to find innovative ways of staying warm--not to mention power their (hopefully) growing communities.

Since it may be awhile before Earth may allow future Martians to have a nuclear power plant (due to political reasons), residents may have to rely on using "solar steam power" technology to keep the lights on--not to mention biospheres toasty.

Since Mars has plenty of ice water upon (or underneath) its surface, colonists should have no problem building massive solar power steam plants, which could enable cities to be powered inexpensively (decreasing dependence from Earth for fuel).

Even though this technology is promising, future settlers of Mars may want to consider a variety of alternative energy sources, ranging from hydrogen energy to "green" algae, to even turning future trash into power.

If successful, future Martian metropolises may end up being powered by green technology, providing an example to not only Earth, but future colony worlds as well.

Martian Soil: Fertile For Asparagus?

After gloriously landing on the red planet, the Phoenix lander has been able to not only analyze the small scoop of Martian soil within "its lab," but also determine its fertility towards life.

(Space.com) After performing the first wet chemistry experiment ever done on another planet, Phoenix discovered that a sample it dug of Martian dirt contained several soluble minerals, including potassium, magnesium and chloride. Though the data is preliminary, the results are very exciting, scientists said.

"We basically have found what appears to be the requirements for nutrients to support life," said Phoenix's wet chemistry lab lead, Sam Kounaves of Tufts University. "This is the type of soil you'd probably have in your backyard. You might be able to grow asparagus pretty well, but probably not strawberries."

Asparagus, which thrives in alkaline soil, would like the Martian dirt, which Phoenix measured to have a very alkaline pH of between eight to nine. Strawberries, meanwhile, like acidic soil, he said.

This analysis lays to rest one of the greatest fears about Martian soil, which many scientists had assumed to be fairly toxic towards Earthen life (or rather a few life forms at least).

While it is doubtful that Phoenix will be able to find anything alive on that crimson world (due to the radiation bombarding the surface), scientists may be able to figure out which plants would be able to survive upon Mars.

Although future colonists would probably still have to import fertilizer from Earth, they may be able to grow small gardens full of asparagus (note: and hopefully tomatoes, a favorite food of this author).