I'm wondering how contaminated are raw materials on planets without a solid magnetosphere. Could it be that most of the water out there is too radio-active for consumption?
Re:Let's Colonize Titan
by dreistdreist on Sunday November 27, 2016 @09:45AM
(#13049384)
Things get contaminated by radioactive material, not by radiation exposure [0]. And of course obligatory xkcd [1].
[0] https://www.mirion.com/introduction-to-radiation-safety/radi...
So, your biggest problem in a reactor cooling pool is "lead poisoning", eh? :-)
Anyway, worth pointing out that cosmic rays are little groups of neutrons (and adjoining protons). I don't know about the half life of the resulting products, though, or how often a heavy nucleus collides with another nucleus, vs simply bashing through electron bonds.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/mars-ice-deposit-holds-as-m...
If this really is just a metre down and 80% water it's got to be an attractive target - relatively easy to mine (once surface is cleared, just use heat) and a hollowed out underground structure with 1m of ice above would be an effective radiation shield:
http://space.stackexchange.com/a/1826
... and once you're there, water is water, plus water can be used to make fuel.