ARE THERE SUFFICIENT NATURAL RESOURCES ON MARS TO SUSTAIN HUMAN HABITATION? METHANE AND CARBON DIOXIDE HYDRATES AS RAW MATERIALS TO SUPPORT COLONIZATION

• Main Authors: Robert E. Pellenbarg, Michael D. Max, Stephen M. Clifford
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Methane hydrate
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.666.8855; http://marspapers.org/papers/Pellenbarg_2000.pdf

There is a good possibility that long-term production of deep biosphere methane (CH4) has occurred on Mars. Resultant methane would tend to rise buoyantly toward the Martian surface. This methane would have been captured over a long period of time and will now be stored in methane hydrate, which has the potential to concentrate methane and water. Both CH4 and carbon dioxide (CO2, a predominant gas in the Martian atmosphere) are stable as gases on the Martian surface but probably lie within the hydrate stability field as vast resource deposits in surface-parallel zones that reach close to the Martian surface. In order for humankind to establish itself on Mars, colonies should become self-sustaining there as soon as possible. With hydrates of both CO2, (oxidized carbon, C, at +4 oxidation state) and CH4, (reduced C at-4 oxidation state), Mars would contain the basic elements for human habitation: fuel, potable water, and industrial feedstock in a near-surface situation suitable for controlled extraction. With the addition of nuclear- or solar-electric energy, the synthetic organic chemistry necessary to support human habitation on Mars is an exercise in miniaturized, innovative chemical engineering. Instead of transporting fuel for the return journey and all the items needed for