The most critical resource on Mars is it's atmosphere. This is easier to exploit than any other space resource other than sunlight. No heavy duty mining equipment required. The second most important resource is water which appears to be very concentrated on a per volume basis on Mars unlike the water that may exist on the Moon. Extracting water from the surface on Mars will be far easier on the Moon due to both it's concentration and its temperature. All you need is these two resources and sunlight to produce food, fuel, and plastic. The "Case for Mars" goes into great depth about how to produce other linchpin resources for our society from materials available on Mars. I think most of the rest of this has some applicability on the Moon too but the two key resources are vastly more available and accessible on Mars compared to the Moon.
Regards,
Mark
Space/Science » in reply to However
Your Comment Is Very Misleading
The whole thread (50 posts)
- The Moon
- Strategic Choices
- re: The Moon or Mars
- re: The Moon or Mars their changing perceptions
- re: Flags and Footprints or finding the orgins of life itself?
- re: This is a red herring: It's not an either or question. We can both look for Martian life and Explore the surface with Humans.
- Amazing, isn't it!
- Romanticism Is A Poor Basis For Making Major Resource Commitments