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Some
Ideas for Mars Projects
Doable on Small to Medium Budgets
With some Corporate $upport.
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11/14/2001
I. Projects
undertaken for Wisconsin Mars Society
II. Adopt
one of these Orphan Projects!
Mars
Missing
Colors
Project
(Peter
Kokh)
Project &
Description:
Mars is a world of a one-sided color
palette. Human crews are likely to find it beautiful
at first but then begin to suffer from sensory
deprivation of the missing half of the palette. This
Project would concentrate on the ideal complementary
and contrasting palette, using similar shade values.
The goal is to suggest ideal color options for habitat
and vehicle interiors and exteriors. A mobile display
that showcases the results should be produced.
Regolith
Impressionism: Experiment with metal oxide
paints to produce an in situ supported expansion of
the Mars palette. September 29, 1995, I pioneered this
medium, producing
the first painting (Moon Garden #1) made entirely
from materials that could be produced from garden
variety moondust, mixing metal oxides into small
amounts of liquid sodium silicate, then painting on
the reverse side of a glass pane, foreground first.
After about a year's time, the painting started to
degrade as the paints started to flake off the glass.
Now thanks to a suggestion by fellow WMS member
Ron Zdroik, who
is an artist, I am ready to try again. This time, per
Ron's suggestion, I will take 400 grit black metal
oxide paper, wet it, and rub on the glass until it is
"frosty". After the glass is cleaned and dried, I'll
try painting again. Hopefully, this will debug a
medium of artistic expression that will be usable by
pioneers on the Moon and Mars alike. If this trick
works, I will try making a water paste of lunar
simulant dust and see if that works as well. If so,
our Martian pioneers could probably mix marsdust and
water and sufficiently etch the glass in this manner.
Megan Storrar of Toronto has also shown interest in
seeing what she might be able to do with this medium,
and we sent her a starter kit of oxides and sodium
silicate.
Ceramic glazes & art
glass: the same metal oxides used in the
regolith impressionist paintings can be used to
produce ceramic vitreous glazes and stained glass.
Fortunately, many of these oxides will prove useful to
metallurgists on the Moon and Mars who need to make
alloys with good properties. This will help guarantee
their early availability to artists.
Plants
everywhere: Another goal would be to
produce a garden or set of planters which would help
expand the Mars palette. We will need plants both for
biological life support and for food and fiber
production. Plants can be grown in dedicated "farm"
areas, and in planters in residential, commercial,
office, school, and traffic areas. Where there are
options, we can include plants with variegated foliage
and colorful blossoms.
Natural Vegetable
dyes: for fabrics and homemade paper made
from waste biomass fibers, we can use natural
vegetable dye stuffs. A lot of plants produce stains.
Some set better than others, and hold up over a longer
period of washings. There is ample literature on these
topics to "mine" for starter suggestions.
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Typical "marsscape" colors:
"beautiful", but ...
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Computer Inverse or Opposite colors for
maximum visual relief, which need to be
emphasized in space suits, vehicle bodies,
and interior decor.
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Expertise
Available: Full color wheel, paint
chips, and decorating sense. Access to
inorganic pigments.
Potential
$ponsors:
Paint Stores and Paint
Manufacturers. Decorating Companies
Assistance
appreciated: anyone knowledgeable about
organic dyes
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"Four Season
Splityear" Calendar
(Peter
Kokh)
- The
wildly varying month
lengths (46-66 days) of Zubrin's calendar apparently
pose a "big problem" for many people.
- I
have
been looking for a way
to compromise: a system of months of comparable
length but which reflect the seasons.
- I
have
found a modifiable
model in Richard Weidner's proposal of 22 months, 6
each for the two longer seasons, 5 each for the two
shorter seasons.
- I
seek
a calendar that
divides the long Martian year into two equal
parts for the more convenient celebration of
birthdays, anniversaries, and religious observances
over a period slightly shorter than an Earth year
instead of significantly longer. I have found a way to
do this modifying Weidner's system.
- You
can follow my development of this all new
calendar option.
The calendar design and workup is already advanced.
But it remains provisional, open for further
improvement.
- After
looking at it, please
feel free to offer
your constructive
comments.
- I
am calling it
"The Mars Pulse
Calendar"
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Building a Lavatube
diorama exhibit
(Peter
Kokh)
There are almost certainly intact lavatubes on both
the Moon and Mars. The sinuous rilles on the Moon are
universally interpreted as collapsed lavatubes.
Lavatubes form as a natural feature of the process of
lava sheet spreading (on the Moon) and of the
formation of great Shield Volcanos (on Mars, akin to
our own Mauna Kea / Mauna Loa). These offer ready made
shelter from cosmic rays, solar flares and
ultraviolet: from micrometeorites and temperature
extremes, and from troublesome dust. Mars thin
atmosphere is not a sufficiently protective blanket,
and these ready made "safe harbors" and "hidden
valleys" are promising locations for outposts,
settlements, industrial parks, warehousing, etc.
See "What
do Lavatubes Look Like?"
Gus Fredericks of the Oregon l5 Society and very
interested in Mars, has pioneered a
way of making a tabletop model of a lavatube, to
help explain this possibility to the public. I plan to
try my hand at it soon.
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Shielding Made from
Mars' Air?
(Peter
Kokh)
Assistance wanted from
Chemistry Major
The
Challenge:
Why not? Mars powdery soil can be bulldozed
up and over habitats, of course. But the large number
of boulders, and possible near-surface permafrost, may
pose problems. Nor do we know if the Martian regolith
is as thick (2-5 meters on average) as on the Moon. We
might have to scrounge suitable regolith from a wide
area, thus disturbing a large amount of terrain. Mars'
atmosphere is largely carbon dioxide.
Conceivably, a "sabatier
reactor" could isolate pure carbon as
graphite powder.
Not exposed to pure oxygen, the risk of fire would be
extremely small. The harvested graphite powder or
briquettes could be piled around and above habitat
modules.
Bob Zubrin, and others since him, have demonstrated
that the carbon dioxide (CO2)
which comprises 97% of the Martian atmosphere can be
reacted with hydrogen in a sabatier reactor to produce
methane (CH4) and oxygen
(O2) - fuel and oxidizer rocket
propellant for the trip home to Earth. Carbon monoxide
(CO) and oxygen is another possible combination.
Another product which is a solid powder throughout
all temperature ranges on Mars is
dinitrogen pentoxide.
N2O5
is an explosive substance, according to Geoff Landis
of the Ohio Space institute, affiliated with
NASA-Lewis (now "NASA-Glenn at Lewis Field"). If a
stabilizing and buffering ingredient could be produced
from the atmosphere, ideally as a byproduct, this
might still be an attractive possibility.
A lot of pure water
(H2O)would be produced as a
byproduct of either process.
What other
products can be produced from Mars air? We
are going to need plenty of oxygen for life support
and industrial purposes. We don't need to produce a
lot of unneeded carbon monoxide by product to vent off
back into the atmosphere. Could we produce the needed
oxygen supply and in the same process isolate the
carbon (C) in the form of graphite powder? Graphite
powder is a stable solid over a very wide range of
temperatures including the entire ambient surface
temperature range throughout the Martian year.
Project Goal:
We would like to explore the potential use
of graphite powder as shielding for habitats on the
surface. If the habitats were provided with fabric
saddlebags, or if the graphite powder was put into
"sandbags", it could easily cover the habitat
structure without providing a graphite dust nuisance.
While graphite powder can be ignited and burn fiercely
at very high temperatures, that presumes the presence
of oxygen gas. But the only free oxygen would be
within the habitat's pressurized hull, not outside. So
it should be perfectly safe. Any accidental ignition
would be immediately suffocated by the Martian
atmosphere.
If this is possible, the
benefits would be these:
- A habitat could be
robotically
shielded,
once landed on the
surface of Mars, using an abundant constituent of the
atmosphere. It would be fully ready for occupation
when the first crew arrived.
- This
eliminates an
EVA-intensive chore from the to do list of
the freshly arrived crew and provide them with a safe
haven from the outset. That in turn will boost
morale.
- Graphite has a
lower average atomic
weight than the Martian soil (12 vs. c.30)
and would provide much more effective shielding from
cosmic rays without producing secondary
radiation.
- the surrounding
terrain would remain
undisturbed and natural. It seems risky, in
contrast, to count on providing shielding from the
Martian regolith sands and powder. The surface may be
hard, or even frozen a short distance down. Prior to a
probe equipped with a drill, we can only guess at
that.
Exhibit
Goals:
- Acquire a supply of
graphite powder to display as shielding
around a model habitat
- Show the
Sabatier Reactor Process
formula equation chain that might work as a
pathway to produce graphite powder robotically from
carbon dioxide atmosphere
- Show what
other products
needed or useful to the settlement which might be
derived from Martian atmosphere: organic &
synthetic chemical feed stocks & polymers; other
gases and compounds that might jump start Martian
frontier industry
Expertise
Needed: Organic and Inorganic
chemistry. Chemical engineering.
Chemical manufacturing. Familiarity with
sabatier reactors.
Potential
$ponsor:
Compressed air products companies.
Refiners Distillers. Architecture
firms. Carbon and Graphite producers.
Chemical Companies.
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Earth-Mars
Time-Delay Simulation
(proposal for WMS or other chapter)
Project &
Description:
The goal is to see what happens when people
attempt to communicate as the time delay varies
between 6 and 40 minutes, depending upon the varying
distance between Earth and Mars as they each orbit the
Sun separately at different paces. At some point,
possibly less than 6 minutes, most people will give up
trying to carry on a conversation. It is possible we
will get a different higher result if we start with a
forty minute delay and work down. We already know that
it is no problem over a period of 3 seconds
(Apollo-Houston), but these are much longer periods.
It is quite possible that some procedure
suggestions will arise out of this simulation
exercise.
Expertise
Needed: Radio, Telephone, and computer
electronics expertise. Automated recorder-players.
Potential
$ponsors:
Electronics supply stores, Radio Stations,
etc.
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II. Adopt
one of these Orphan Projects!
A Globe of "Young
Mars"
Project &
Description:
Produce a globe of Mars showing the Boreal
Ocean in the basin now known as Vastitas Borealis.
It might be helpful if the globe was to the same
scale as common 12" Earth globes so that they could be
shown together for best effect. Ideally, such a globe
would be 6 3/8ths inches in
diameter. A six inch globe would be close enough. As
six inch globes are available, all it would take is to
acquire one, and repaint it accordingly. That would
take a skilled artist.
Alternately, if one could find the capital or a
investor, it would be better to mass produce such
globes from scratch. Then the scale could be perfect,
and a computer could lay out the surface more
accurately, based on present knowledge.
The idea would be to get across not just what Mars
was once like, but how it might look again, not if we
"terraformed" it, but if we "areoformed" it back to
its original condition: "rejuvenescence."
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Meteorburst
Communications
Project &
Description:
On Earth, meteorites striking the
atmosphere burn up swiftly, leaving a plasma trail.
Equipment exists to search for a properly situated
meteorburst plasma trail and bounce a message off it
to a specific target range over the horizon up to
thousands of miles away.
The same thing must be possible on Mars, where at
the atmosphere is about the same density at a
comparable height. This would allow communications
with remote exploration crews and outposts without, or
instead of satellite relays, or when such relays are
down. Such a system would make any outpost or frontier
more self-reliant. It would take years for Earth to
send and position a backup satellite. It should be
possible to build and test analogous equipment under
simulated Mars conditions and thereby put one more
frontier tool "on the shelf."
Expertise Needed:
Some Ham Radio operators and others
expert in less usual wavelength radio communications
may have the talent to put something together. We
would have to try to find some people familiar with
meteor-burst communications equipment and its
operation here on Earth. Also general computer
expertise.
Potential
$ponsors
ponsors: Manufacturers of
communications and electronics equipment whether
specialized or not, may want to benefit from the
publicity of supporting this effort.Some large
discount retailers of electronics and
communications equipment might donate. Also
organizational approvals: the Mars Society and
the Planetary Society, and others may want to go on
record in support.
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The
"Marsmobile"
Project &
Description:
A vehicle that burns
methane in bottled oxygen. There are already
any number of trucks, busses, and other (mostly fleet)
vehicles that burn methane as fuel. Now if instead of
using air as oxidizer, bottled oxygen was used, you
would have a power plant that could drive vehicles on
Mars, fueled by derivatives of the Martian atmosphere
with Marsair as the byproduct.
The demonstration vehicle, if driven around the
country, would help people understand the
"practicality" of the Martian Frontier in a concrete
way.
Expertise
Needed: We would need a strong
automotive engineering team. One of the
potential problems is that an engine burning
methane in pure oxygen might run "too hot" and this
would have to be addressed, possibly with buffers also
derived from Mars' atmosphere.
Potential
$ponsors:
Companies that already own
methane-fuelled fleets. Major automobile
and truck manufacturing companies. Companies
involved in methane recovery from waste
biomass. Electric power utilities.
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The Mars
"Skimmer"
Project &
Description:
A hovercraft
go-anywhere vehicle for whom the boulder strewn fields
of Mars are no problem. If possible, such a
craft could open vast expanses of the Martian globe
without a huge investment in road infrastructure.
The atmosphere on Mars is very thin, and
compressing it enough to get say a meter of lift (with
apron, of course) is a real challenge. The craft would
half to be as light as possible, leaving as much
margin for cargo as practical. Could hydrogen bags
provide some neutralizing buoyancy? One friend versed
in both aviation science and physics says this would
not be prac-tical.
The craft would have to navigate with the
assistance of global positioning satellites and
orbit-made maps. But the reward would be great. A
vehicle that could enable the expansion of human
presence around the Martian globe in a relatively
short time frame.
Expertise
Needed: Hovercraft propulsion
and design and controls here on Earth. Air
compression. Lighter than air bag and
balloon construction and design. Navigation
equipment to avoid occasional boulders too big to
glide over without risk of damage.
Potential
$ponsors
ponsors: Trucking companies. Truck
Manufacturers. Hovercraft manufacturers.
Compressed air companies. Airbag
manufacturers. Navigation equipment
manufacturers.
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Demonstrating Mars
Aviation
Project &
Description:
DESIGN, BUILD, and
FLY an unpiloted airplane to and from a high altitude
platform. The density of Martian air at average
surface levels is equivalent to
the atmospheric pressure on Earth at 125,000
ft., an altitude that can be reached by a
baloon-mounted platform.
Expertise
Needed: Knowlege of aircraft engines,
airframes, and aerodynamics. Experience with flying
and building experimental aircraft.
Potential
$ponsor:
EAA member Paul
Swift of the Canadian Space Society (Chair
ISDC '94 Toronto, now in Calgary) has expressed strong
interest in taking up this challenge -
manned!
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Mars Fiction
Nomenclature
Pool
Project &
Description:
Here is a nontechnical project that would
require a lot of effort on the part of an open pool of
volunteers. Pour thru all the classic science fiction
that has dealt with Mars from Edgar Rice Buroughs down
thru Kim Stanley Robinson and compile a pool of
fictitious place names, and names for other real or
imagined features, aspects, activities, sports,
creatures, or whatever of fictional Mars.
The Settlers are going to have a lot of things to
name (craterlets, ridges, valleys, mountains and hills
and passes, holidays and fashions and new sports, new
Mars-hardy plant varieties, and on and on.) Having
such a source to use or to ignore from occasion to
occasion depending on the whim of those on hand may be
a welcome help.
Some "Barsoomian" terms may gain currency.
"Barsoom" is the 'native' name for Mars in Burroughs
novels. Currently,
"Kaor!",
Barsoomian for "hello", is widely used on some Mars
Society discuss list.
"Padan", for day,
seems to the Mars Calendar people, a better word than
"sol" which should be reserved as a generic term for
day-night cycle.
Expertise
Needed: Lovers of science fiction
with a scholarly bent, and willingness to diligently
list source, instances, special nuances, and other
relevant details.
Potential
$ponsors:
Literary Societies, Science Fiction
Societies, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Other
booksellers
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See also Needed
Technologies
send
us your constructive
comments
and
your "neat project"
suggestions.
