Re:Colonizing Mars: A Critique of the SpaceX Interplanetary ...
by DennisP on Saturday October 22, 2016 @09:09AM
(#12768537)
It's interesting to see that water on Mars has 6x the deuterium concentration of water on Earth.
It's unlikely to be a worthwhile export though. One in 2500 hydrogen atoms in Earth's oceans is deuterium. There's enough in your morning shower to provide all your energy needs for a year, and enough overall to run civilization until the sun goes out.
Isolating the deuterium takes some effort, but it's not terrible, and certainly easier than transporting it from Mars, even if isolating it on Mars were free.
It's unlikely to be a worthwhile export though. One in 2500 hydrogen atoms in Earth's oceans is deuterium. There's enough in your morning shower to provide all your energy needs for a year, and enough overall to run civilization until the sun goes out.
Isolating the deuterium takes some effort, but it's not terrible, and certainly easier than transporting it from Mars, even if isolating it on Mars were free.