This contrasts strongly with the Moon, which is so dry that if concrete were found there, Lunar colonists would mine it to get the water out. Current knowledge indicates that if Mars were smooth and all its ice and permafrost melted into liquid water, the entire planet would be covered with an ocean over 100 meters deep. Oxygen is abundant on the Moon, but only in tightly bound oxides such as silicon dioxide (SiO 2), ferrous oxide (Fe 2O 3), magnesium oxide (MgO), and aluminum oxide (Al 2O 3), which require very high energy processes to reduce. Carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen are only present on the Moon in parts per million quantities, much like gold in seawater. In contrast to the Moon, Mars is rich in carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, all in biologically readily accessible forms such as carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen gas, and water ice and permafrost. This uniqueness is illustrated most clearly if we contrast Mars with the Earth’s Moon, the most frequently cited alternative location for extraterrestrial human colonization. From Ad Astra July/August 1996 Mars Is The New WorldĪmong extraterrestrial bodies in our solar system, Mars is singular in that it possesses all the raw materials required to support not only life, but a new branch of human civilization.
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