Terraforming Infancy 2021
dk
MemberTrilobiteMay-30-2021 8:39 PMThe Perseverance on Mars has created enough oxygen for about ten minutes of breathing from the planet's CO2. Not a bad start.
From CNN:
It's about 150-ish years off from Aliens- not bad.
hox
MemberFacehuggerMay-30-2021 8:50 PMThat’s a big deal, because oxygen is by far the heaviest part of the kind of rocket fuel you’d need to lift humans off the surface of Mars. Not to say it’s the essential stuff we breathe. Now, if only they could manage to land something similar on the Martian polar ice caps, there would be everything needed to make rocket fuel.
It would be a sight to see a hydrogen harvester trundling down from the polar regions to the more balmy equator, towing a few hundred tons of liquid hydrogen.
EDIT: thinking about this, it would make more sense to harvest water ice from the polar regions and transport it (easy to carry, and no cryogenics involved). With a load of water ice at your disposal, it would be a doddle to convert to rocket fuel - only electricity required.
BigDave
MemberDeaconMay-31-2021 9:03 AMI think that in the FUTURE that ONCE we START to Settle on Mars then YES having a way to Convert CO2 into Oxygen would be Great, but as Hox had said if they can TAP INTO any ICE then you can also gain Water, Oxygen, but also Energy/Fuel.
Once we BUILD say LARGE Bio-Spheres then within these you could PLANT a LOT of Flora and these will turn to CO2 we Exhale into Oxygen but for years before this STARTS to take HOLD you Generate Oxygen inside the Bio-Sphere from other Resources and PIPE any CO2 towards the Flora and ONCE you have the Vegetation Etc growing to a LARGE degree then the Photosynthesis etc would give us Continued Circle of Oxygen like we have on Earth.
To take this to the WHOLE PLANET i think would be FAR AWAY due to the % of CO2 and thus the Amount of Water thats Needed for MASSIVE amounts of Flora to Convert that 96% C02 to levels that are NOT Harmful to Breath.
But this Project Certainly is Exciting News
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017