"How will future astronauts get back home to Earth from Mars? According to a new study, they could make rocket fuel from the methane that's already on the Red Planet.
Researchers have devised a new way to create methane-based rocket fuel that they hope could make return trips from Mars far more feasible. This method was previously theorized by Elon Musk and engineers at SpaceX who considered ways to use carbon dioxide and water from ice on Mars to have the necessary carbon and hydrogen necessary to create methane.
So, in theory, future astronauts could use this technique to turn local Martian materials like ice and carbon dioxide to make rocket fuel for a return trip home. This new method is only a "proof of concept" right now, meaning it has only been tested in labs but not in real-world conditions.
Still, while "lots of engineering and research is needed before this can be fully implemented," Huolin Xin, a physicist at the University of California, Irvine who led this research, said in a statement. "But the results are very promising."" Space.com
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Or as they say in New Zealand – "meethane." Who knew that the stuff of cow flatus would be so useful? There supposedly is a lot of this material lying around on the bottom of the ocean and when the ocean burps methane in large amounts ships above the burp sink because of the decrease in what- floatability?
The idea of making oxygen and methane on THE RED PLANET is quite inspiring. It is further evidence of the world beating quality of Musk's leadership. Take care of yourself man! C'mon man! We need you. pl
https://www.space.com/future-astronauts-methane-rocket-fuel-mars
Robert Zubrin has been experimenting with working model scale hardware for decades. He’s written several books on the subject.
This is so incredibly cool! The “Mars Generation” is on the runway!
That methane bubble, Colonel. I didn’t know it might sink ships. Looked it up –
https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2003/10/24/973492.htm#:~:text=Methane%20bubbles%20from%20the%20sea,Sea%2C%20new%20Australian%20research%20confirms.&text=Under%20the%20sea%2C%20however%2C%20the,creating%20bubbles%20at%20the%20surface.
I call that mean. “No one has seen such an eruption in real life”, they say. Don’t suppose they have, not anyone who can come back to tell the tale.
when most educated people are purged by the biDEN(of thieves) and every company is forced to hire people based on their pronouns and/or skin color or other woke criteria HOW do you think these martian fantasises will come true?
Hi Pat..
Yes we do say ‘meethane’ in NZ, the long ‘e’, rolled ‘r’ as well as other phonetic mysteries are part of the accent here. A product of English, Irish and Scottish dialects I suppose. We also have lots of farting cows that make lots of money for us all.
I’m not sure if any methane hydrate eruptions have actually been witnessed but one is part of the legend of the missing ‘Flight 19’squadron in the infamous ‘Bermuda Triangle’ in 1945.
Of course ‘floatability; is a word. Nauticians generally prefer ‘buoyancy’ though.
Back to the red Planet. Just imaging if the USA seriously decides to go to Mars, not a drip feed but a ” to “the moon and back.. within 10 years” style undertaking. This may galvanize the country, provide some sort of common purpose and hopefully alleviate some woes you are experiencing these days.
Looking back to the space program from the early 60’s and seeing what sort of technology that was available then (compared to today) it is easy to see that the Apollo program success, including the ill fated Apollo 13, comes down to basic human resourcefulness and courage.
I second Pats cheer to Elon Musk. born SA 1971, and hope he can inspire us all.
Rob
I wonder if hydrogen fuel cells will be in play here, Musk needs to team up with PLUG Power.
I’m sure few here have heard of Plug Power but it will be a household name soon enough, “Tesla on Steroids”.
Conditions on Mars are roughly comparable to being at the top of a 100,000 foot mountain in Antarctica, minus the protective magnetosphere. Neat place to plant a lot of scientific instruments, but I wouldn’t want to live there.
The link below would have been more appropriate under BabelFish’s post
https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2019/06/737-max-boeing-update-by-babelfish.html
on the Boeing 737 Max crashes,
but as comments there are now closed, this seems the best fit.
A fairly comprehensive yet readable account of what went wrong at Boeing is:
https://theaircurrent.com/aircraft-development/mcas-may-not-have-been-needed-on-the-737-max-at-all/