Wind Could Power Future Settlements on Mars

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https://eos.org/articles/wind-could-power-future-settlements-on-mars

By Alakananda Dasgupta, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: Using a sophisticated global climate model adapted to Mars, space scientists explore the hidden potential of wind energy on the Red Planet. ...there’s the question of where to find a viable and steady source of energy that would be required for any human mission to Mars. The answer to that question may be blowing in the Martian wind, according to a new study. ...with the atmospheric density of Mars being 1% that of Earth, much larger turbine blades would be needed to generate sufficient energy. ...Now, a study published in Nature Astronomy has suggested that wind energy could, indeed, be harnessed to power human settlements on Mars. “We were excited to find that there are many locations across the planet where winds are strong enough to provide a really stable power resource” and compensate for a shortfall in solar power using wind turbines, said Victoria Hartwick, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at NASA Ames Research Center. The team tailored a climate model designed for Earth to simulate Martian climatic conditions and assess winds on the Red Planet....

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