Tag

Perchlorates

All articles tagged with #perchlorates

space23 days ago•6 min saved

NASA Sets Breathable Mars Dust Limit Ahead of Human Missions

NASA has formed the Martian Dust Limit Working Group to determine how much Martian dust astronauts can safely breathe before any crewed missions land. Mars dust is rich in perchlorates, silica, and heavy metals, raising cancer and health concerns—especially if Martian soil is used to grow crops in habitats. Experts emphasize prevention: keep dust out of habitats, remove it quickly when it enters, monitor airborne particles, and design life-support systems accordingly. Because no Mars dust has yet been returned for testing, the limit is based on lunar toxicology, simulated soils, and rover measurements.

via Boing Boing|

#astronaut-health #dust-toxicity #mars

science1 month ago•13 min saved

Mars as the Hidden Cradle of Life: Reassessing Viking and Earth’s Origins

An opinion piece argues that life on Mars is almost certain, revisiting Viking’s life‑detection results and explaining how the GCMS could have missed organics due to perchlorates; later findings of organics by Curiosity and evidence of interplanetary rock transfer bolster the case that Mars could have hosted life earlier and may have seeded Earth, urging exploration for Martian prebacteria to illuminate life’s origins.

via Kyiv Post|

#life-on-mars #mars #origins-of-life

space6 months ago•59 min saved

Mars Living Isn’t Front-Page Frontier: Sci-Fi’s Survival Myths Debunked

Space.com debunks five common sci-fi myths about living on Mars: that colonies can easily thrive on the surface, that humanity could just terraform the planet, that low gravity is harmless, that Martian soil can support easy farming, and that the main challenge is simply getting there. In reality, viable settlements would likely be buried underground or in lava tubes with hermetically sealed habitats, requiring thick radiation shielding, closed-loop life support, and abundant energy. The Martian atmosphere is extremely thin and lethal without a suit, oxygen must be generated, and surface conditions are brutal (cold, radiation, low pressure). Growing food faces toxic perchlorates in soil, so hydroponics or bioengineered solutions are needed. Psychological stresses from isolation and long travel times add equal weight to physical survival. Overall, any real Mars settlement would demand centuries of Earth-provided resources and massively engineered habitats, making true “colonization” far more complex than sci-fi suggests.

via Space|

#habitats #mars #perchlorates

science1 year ago•3 min saved

Stratospheric Processes Link to Groundwater Pollutants

A study using NASA aircraft revealed that toxic perchlorates, which can contaminate groundwater, form high in Earth's atmosphere on particles associated with smoke and organic material, raising concerns about increased pollution due to human activities like wildfires and geoengineering.

via Live Science|

#atmospheric-chemistry #groundwater-pollution #nasa-aircraft