Extraction of Water from the Martian Regolith

Computer Science

Scientific paper

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Mars Surface, Regolith, Water Resources, Extraterrestrial Resources, Planetary Geology

Scientific paper

Access to usable water on Mars is important for human missions. Water would be used for life support and as a source of rocket propellant. Among the potential sources of water that have been discussed are extraction from the atmosphere, permafrost, and subsurface liquid water. The most ubiquitous and widespread source of water is likely to be bound water in the regolith, which would have to be obtained by heating the regolith to 500 C. Whereas this may seem complicated and energy-intensive, we are studying small (-20kg each) robotic systems for regolith excavation and thermal extraction capable of producing an amount of water per year approximately 30 times the combined mass of equipment required, including the power supply for the extraction system. At this production capacity an integrated system could produce in one year an amount of water equivalent to about 3 times the mass of hydrogen that would have to be transported to produce the same amount of water. In practice, this would be approximately 6 times better than bringing hydrogen from Earth, when the mass of the tanks needed to transport the hydrogen is also considered.

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