Colonization of Mars

delft

Brigadier
I don't like to terraform Mars because of what you spoil when doing that.
The one thing you need for whatever you want to do is energy and solar thermal is a good way to get it. With the low air density it is easy even in day time to achieve a low temperature say around 150 degrees Kelvin by pointing a radiator North or South so that it is never sees the Sun. With a maximum temperature of a modest 900 K, about 630 Celsius, you get a theoretical Carnot efficiency of 80%. Store excess heat in a molten salt tank for use at night. An initial installation will have a more modest performance but even then you can get more electrical energy from a given collector area than such an area can give you on Earth that is so much nearer the Sun.
Use the cold achieved by the radiators to collect water from the atmosphere.
 
Top