Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

December 20-NASA scientists have announced that human pioneers on future missions to Mars will be able to use wind energy to generate electricity. They have found a way to use wind turbines to generate electricity on Mars, which is another big step forward in the exploration of Mars.

Scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center say in the journal Nature that the use of wind turbines may help power exploration missions on Mars and help humans explore places that cannot be reached by other sources of energy such as solar or nuclear power.

"Wind energy is a valuable source of energy, but it is often overlooked when humans consider carrying out missions to Mars," the scientists wrote in the paper. "

Space agencies, scientists and entrepreneurs are all calling for humans to explore Mars. NASA's Artemis mission to the moon is seen as a stepping stone to Mars exploration over the next decade, and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has hinted that he will achieve that goal by 2029.

But scientists point out that a variety of power sources will be needed to power humans on Mars exploration missions. Solar energy has been used to support Mars missions in the past, but it is not convenient to generate electricity at night on Mars or during sandstorms with less sun light. Nuclear power is another possible source of power, but it may pose safety risks if placed close to a human base.

Wind energy has long been considered unavailable, mainly because the Martian atmosphere is so thin that the wind is weak. But postdoctoral Victoria Hartwick (Victoria Hartwick) of the Ames Research Center used the NASA climate model to overturn previous assumptions, proving that wind energy can be "independent or complementary energy" on Mars, the researchers wrote in the study.

Hartwick and her teammates used this model to estimate the wind speed across Mars. They used data collected by the Mars Global Surveyor and Viking missions and simulated wind speeds on Mars, broken down by day and night as well as different seasons and years.

Using this information, they calculated that assuming they had enough efficient wind turbines, they could use wind energy to generate large amounts of electricity in different parts of Mars. They compared the data with previous estimates of the energy needed to allow six people to carry out a 500-day mission on Mars.

Scientists have found that wind energy can successfully supplement solar power, especially at night on Mars and during sandstorms. Even in some places on Mars, wind power can completely replace solar power.

Research scientists point out that with the support of wind energy, there are 13 new sites on Mars for humans to explore. Of the 50 target sites previously identified by scientists, 10 can also use wind energy as a supplement.

It is not clear whether humans can master the technology to explore Mars and whether they need to build wind turbines, which must be about 50 meters tall. The height of turbines will be capped because of engineering and transportation challenges for large machines, scientists say.

Scientists also say they may be very accurate in capturing winds near the edges of Martian craters or volcanic slopes, but more work is needed to meet future challenges. "We encourage more technical research aimed at promoting the development of wind turbines to operate efficiently under Martian conditions and to get more energy from the Martian wind," they said. "

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