XPost: sci.space.policy, sci.physics   
      
   In sci.physics Vaughn Simon  wrote:   
   > On 10/17/2016 10:07 AM, Serigo wrote:   
   >> Mars does not have any O2.   
   >   
   > Wrong!  There is more oxygen on Mars than we are ever likely to need.   
   > It's just that there isn't much free oxygen floating around in the   
   > atmosphere.   
      
   Which means you have to have a huge pile of machinery and energy to   
   get it.   
      
   Excavators to dig the ice out of the ground, assuming it is there.   
      
   Trucks to haul the ice to the water plant.   
      
   Conveyor system to haul the ice from the trucks to the melting pot.   
      
   Melting pots to melt the ice.   
      
   Filtering system to purify the water.   
      
   If the ice is the remains of an ancient sea, then it is likely saline,   
   so a desalination system.   
      
   Tanks to hold the final product.   
      
   All of this needs lots of power to operate plus everything needs to   
   be heavily insulated and heated so the water does not freeze in the   
   -100 F Martian night and burst all the pipes and tanks.   
      
   Then you can think about building the electrolysis plant and the tanks   
   to store the hydrogen and oxygen you've generated, but these at least   
   don't need to be heated.   
      
   It is easy to arm wave that there is lots of oxygen on Mars and another   
   thing to actually produce it.   
      
   Where do the thousands of tons of steel come from to build all this   
   stuff?   
      
      
      
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