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If fact, Andy Weir, the author of the "Martian", called the beginning of the book where the hero gets stabbed by a metal rod during the massive storm a complete fabrication for the purposes of the story and impossible in real life.
I'm intrigued by what research and plans have been made for how Martian colonists will deal with this sort of problem. I'm guessing solar won't be enough to keep a colony going. Wind power, even in a dust storm, wouldn't be possible because the air is so thin. Nuclear of some kind seems the only other option.
I am a bit confused by the "Massive" statement. I understand that Mars has barely any atmospheric pressure, therefore, any "Massive" storm would be a gentle wind. If fact, Andy Weir, the author of the "Martian", called the beginning of the book where the hero gets stabbed by a metal rod during the massive storm a complete fabrication for the purposes of the story and impossible in real life.
I am a bit confused by the "Massive" statement. I understand that Mars has barely any atmospheric pressure, therefore, any "Massive" storm would be a gentle wind. If fact, Andy Weir, the author of the "Martian", called the beginning of the book where the hero gets stabbed by a metal rod during the massive storm a complete fabrication for the purposes of the story and impossible in real life.
I'm intrigued by what research and plans have been made for how Martian colonists will deal with this sort of problem. I'm guessing solar won't be enough to keep a colony going. Wind power, even in a dust storm, wouldn't be possible because the air is so thin. Nuclear of some kind seems the only other option.
> Within days, Opportunity saw sunlight dimming as atmospheric opacity — a measure of how much dust is in the air — soared. The rover’s energy production dropped by half over the course of 2 days, and then half again in a single day, Callas said during a media briefing on 13 June.
Aside from nuclear, some reasonable mitigations for this kind of thing might include substantial over-provisioning of panels, some kind of battery, or some kind of temporary measures to consume very little energy in an emergency.
I think over-provisioning might actually be the most practical solution, particularly if any Martian settlement needs a massive solar farm anyways in order to produce electricity to convert water and carbon dioxide into methane and liquid oxygen. Making rocket fuel is important, but not so important that it can't be curtailed for a few weeks if that energy is needed elsewhere.
> An optimized system of this design massing 50 kg "is projected to produce 1 kg/day of O2:CH4 propellant ... with a methane purity of 98+% while consuming 700 Watts of electrical power." Overall unit conversion rate expected from the optimized system is one tonne of propellant per 17 MWh energy input.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabatier_reaction#Manufacturin...
Burning rocket fuel to generate electricity might also be an option if there's a temporary shortage.
I am a bit confused by the "Massive" statement. I understand that Mars has barely any atmospheric pressure, therefore, any "Massive" storm would be a gentle wind. If fact, Andy Weir, the author of the "Martian", called the beginning of the book where the hero gets stabbed by a metal rod during the massive storm a complete fabrication for the purposes of the story and impossible in real life.
The threat to Opportunity isn't that the storm could rip it apart. It's that even a low-pressure wind can lift a lot of fine dust which blocks out the sun and leaves the rover without power from its solar panel. If it lasts too long the rover could literally freeze to death.
NASA has an image from another major storm in 2007 [1], it blocked 99% of the sunlight. This one is worse.[2]
[1] https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/7948/a-darkened-mars-sky/ [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/8qvnrw/mars_rover_op...
I am a bit confused by the "Massive" statement. I understand that Mars has barely any atmospheric pressure, therefore, any "Massive" storm would be a gentle wind. If fact, Andy Weir, the author of the "Martian", called the beginning of the book where the hero gets stabbed by a metal rod during the massive storm a complete fabrication for the purposes of the story and impossible in real life.
I'm intrigued by what research and plans have been made for how Martian colonists will deal with this sort of problem. I'm guessing solar won't be enough to keep a colony going. Wind power, even in a dust storm, wouldn't be possible because the air is so thin. Nuclear of some kind seems the only other option.
Maybe the Kilopower reactor [1] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilopower
A test reactor has been constructed, called KRUSTY or Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology. It is designed to produce up to 1 kilowatt of electric power and is about 6.5 feet tall (1.9 meters).[12] The goal of the KRUSTY experiment is to closely match the operational parameters that would be required in NASA deep space missions[13]. The prototype Kilopower uses a solid, cast uranium-235 reactor core, about the size of a paper towel roll. Reactor heat is transferred via passive sodium heat pipes, with the heat being converted to electricity by Stirling engines.
Sounds neat, I'd like one at home. Electricity is always handy, and the waste heat can be used to keep my house and cars warm.
Do dust storms only occur on planets with an atmosphere? And does their severity depend on how dense the atmosphere is?
IANAAstronomer but I would imagine the atmosphere is necessary for both the suspension of dust particles and the propulsion of dust particles.
I'm intrigued by what research and plans have been made for how Martian colonists will deal with this sort of problem. I'm guessing solar won't be enough to keep a colony going. Wind power, even in a dust storm, wouldn't be possible because the air is so thin. Nuclear of some kind seems the only other option.
Maybe the Kilopower reactor [1] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilopower