XPost: sci.space.policy, sci.physics   
   From: fjmccall@gmail.com   
      
   Serigo  wrote:   
      
   >On 10/14/2016 6:25 AM, Greg (Strider) Moore wrote:   
   >> "Jeff Findley"  wrote in message   
   >> news:MPG.326a76e45028f09b98983c@news.eternal-september.org...   
   >>>   
   >>> In article , jimp@specsol.spam.sux.com   
   >>> says...   
   >>>> > It's not like we're constrained on how much space we are going to >   
   >>>> spread out   
   >>>> > our solar panels over. No neighbors are going to complain.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Yeah, sure it would be possible to cover half of Mars with solar   
   >>>> panels and get lots of power but that is not practical nor economical.   
   >>   
   >> Nor necessary.   
   >>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> To get the energy of a little 50 MW reactor you need well over a million   
   >>>> square meters of solar panels that only work during daylight.   
   >>   
   >> That's nice, you're the one claiming that you want 50 MW of power 24/7.   
   >> No one else is claiming that.   
   >>   
   >>>>   
   >>>   
   >>> So bring a nuclear reactor, but you'll be constrained as to how bit it   
   >>> can be, so I seriously doubt you're going to see a 50 MW reactor on Mars   
   >>> anytime soon.   
   >>>   
   >>> Jeff   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> Nor will you need one! I mean ISS provides its complete power for the US   
   >> section at 120kw.   
   >> So small reactor, or a bunch of relatively cheap solar panels.   
   >>   
   >   
   >but ISS does not provide its own food, nor clean clothes, nor   
   >replacement water and N2 and only supports 3 people, 6 for short times   
   >   
      
   Uh, no.  Normal crew on ISS is 6-7 people.  You think we're shipping   
   up huge loads of WATER to ISS?  That's really quite funny. In reality,   
   ISS gets about 2,000 litres a year of 'replacement water'.  Most of   
   the water on ISS already comes from recycling.  Note that water is   
   used to generate O2 on ISS. 'Replacement' N2 is a vanishingly small   
   amount.   
      
   Mars has lots of in situ water and nitrogen.  On Mars you'd just wash   
   clothes.   
      
      
   --   
   "Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the   
    truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."   
                                  -- Thomas Jefferson   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)