Mars speaks to the imagination of many people as a target for Human exploration. One of the many questions to solve is how we should power a potential mission on the surface of our beloved red planet.
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley published a paper arguing that solar energy is a viable option over nuclear, which many assumed to be the best energy source up until now.
This article will explain why the California team came to this conclusion.
Image Credit: u3d via Shutterstock / HDR tune by Universal-Sci
Electricity on Mars
In their study, the team analyzed several methods to produce energy on Mars. They based their calculations on the electricity needs of a crew of six people, including the weight of the equipment that would need to be transported from Earth to Mars.
Although the power production of a small nuclear fission reactor is 'location-agnostic,' meaning that it will produce the same amount of energy wherever it is placed, the power output of solar alternatives is highly dependent on a slew of variables such as sunlight and surface temperature.
Underlying calculations were pretty complex as the team had to factor in particles and gasses that interfere with the scattering and absorption of light, for example.
The best solution
In the end, after weighing in the relevant factors, a photovoltaic array that utilizes compressed hydrogen for energy storage came out as the winner.
If located at the equator of Mars, such a solar-powered system would require transport of about 8.3 tons of mass to the red planet to generate the same amount of power that a mini nuclear power station would produce at 9.3 tons.
Although the relative benefit of a solar power solution becomes less the more it is removed from the equator, it still defeats nuclear fission across approximately half the surface of Mars.
In other words, if a future mission were to locate near the equator, solar power would be the best solution. On the other hand, nuclear becomes a more viable option if a mission were to locate near the poles.
Energy storage on Mars
Interestingly when it comes to the storage of surplus energy, the scientists lean towards hydrogen as hydrogen can also be used to create ammonia for fertilizers when combined with nitrogen.
The idea is that surplus electricity can be used to generate hydrogen from water, which will then be stored in pressurized vessels from which energy can be drawn at a later moment using fuel cells.
Anthony Abel and Aaron Berliner, lead authors of the study, are both members of the Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space which is working on bioengineering microbes to produce things like plastics and pharmaceuticals from CO2.
With their paper, the team was able to indicate a baseline for the amount of electricity and hydrogen that will be available during a defined Mars mission.
"Now that we have an idea of how much power is available, we can start connecting that availability to the biotechnologies," Berliner said. "The hope is ultimately to build out a full model of the system, with all of the components included, which we envision as helping to plan a mission to Mars, evaluate tradeoffs, identify risks, and come up with mitigation strategies either beforehand or during the mission."
All in all, these findings could prove to be very useful as we start to look towards an increasingly tangible Mars mission. The team published their findings in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences which is listed below. Be sure to check it out for further details on their findings.
Sources and further reading:
How will we create oxygen on Mars? - (Universal-Sci)
Producing rocket fuel on Mars using algae and E.coli - (Universal-Sci)
Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space - (CUBE)
Photovoltaics-driven power production can support human exploration on Mars" in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences - (Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences)
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