A Breakthrough In Plasma Tech Will Help Us Thrive On Mars
Life on the deadly Red Planet just got a little easier.
Mars is a genuinely inhospitable planet. The air is noxious to breathe, leading to asphyxia in a matter of minutes. But don’t worry. You will be long gone before that gets you, as the atmospheric pressure is so low that your blood and bodily fluids boil away in seconds, effectively freeze-drying your now lifeless corpse. Even if you wear a heated spacesuit to compensate for this, the radiation levels are so high that astronauts spending any length of time out in the open have a high chance of developing lethal cancers. But a recent breakthrough in plasma technology could solve all of these mortal problems, and as a bonus, it can also make rocket fuel. So, has life on Mars just gotten that bit better?
Before we dive into this fantastic technology, we first need to understand what challenges astronauts will face on the red planet and what resources they have available there.
Firstly, the atmosphere. As I said before, the air on Mars is not suitable to breathe. With about 95% carbon dioxide, 2.6% nitrogen, and only 0.16% oxygen, it is worse to inhale than what comes from a car’s tailpipe. Then there is the soil, which is packed full of aluminium and sulphur oxide, along with an array of perchlorate…
