I'd look at a house on earth and ask: what things have to be supplied from the outside; what things can be produced inside the house? Houses on earth have piping for water, and cabling for electricity.

Plants can be grown in a green-house using these two ingredients, and the people can sleep in a spaceship.

Comment whatever comes to your mind.

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[–] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Don't forget perchlorate mitigation!

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Chlorates and perchlorates are fairly unstable, and readily decompose into chlorides + oxygen gas when heated. Could we solve two problems at once by washing the perchlorates out of the soil, and then decomposing them to produce oxygen for breathing and propellant?

[–] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

Sure, just gotta dig 11.5 to 20 km down to get to some water. Or melt the ice caps, which probably already have the perchlorates frozen in them.

[–] nikaaa@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I don't see perchlorates as a big problem.

After all, plants grow quite well without soil, like hydroponics, I guess.

[–] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Where are you going to get all that water?

[–] nikaaa@lemmy.world 3 points 2 months ago

I was thinking three options:

mining from underground (hoping that there's enough ice underground/water in the mineralic crystals that can be thermically released)
water from the atmosphere (believe it or not but the atmosphere in the early morning is actually saturated with moisture - about 0.25 mbar iirc) so it could be extracted through something similar to a room de-moisturizer
polar caps (unrealistic in the early game)