Re:Design of a rapid transit to Mars mission using laser-the...
by nine_k on Thursday February 17, 2022 @01:58PM
(#30377110)
Another downside of Mars is its having relatively less sunlight. You'll need quite significantly more solar panels to harvest enough power.
Even if Mars has enough uranium and thorium, it'll be quite a long time before mining and enriching it would be locally possible so as to power a nuclear reactor. Local production of solar panels looks a bit more feasible.
I would say the opposite. Compared to the Moon, Mars has:
- A day-night cycle more suited to humans that’s nearly identical to that of Earth (Moon colonies will need to be in polar areas to avoid long stretches of no sunlight)
- A more temperate climate with less dramatic temperature swings
- Gravity likely high enough for most processes and machines developed on Earth to work correctly
- No sharp, statically charged regolith
- An abundant, readily available source of Co2 for use in production of fuel, oxygen, and other materials
The primary downside is longer transit time, but that can be overcome with smart planning and could be seen as a boon in the long run since it’s a forcing factor in developing self-sustainability — moon colonies will likely remain Earth-dependent for much longer than they need to simply due to how convenient it is to get things shipped from Earth.