As countries search for new energy sources beyond Earth, a surprising option has appeared: wind power on Mars. While many experts have focused on collecting solar energy from space, new NASA research shows that the Red Planet’s wind could be an even better choice.
A team led by Victoria Hartwick at NASA’s Ames Research Center studied how much energy wind on Mars could produce. They tested this by using four different types of wind turbines.
Despite Mars having just 1% of Earth’s atmospheric density, the team discovered that wind turbines could generate meaningful power, even in such extreme conditions.
Their findings show that wind power on Mars actually peaks during the night, and performs well in seasons and situations, like polar winters and global dust storms, when solar power typically underperforms.
Even more promising, the researchers found that wind energy could support long-term space missions. Out of 50 potential landing sites studied, 40 locations could supply useful levels of wind-generated power. At 13 of these sites, wind conditions were stable enough to provide consistent energy throughout the Martian year.
In three of those locations, turbines could produce up to 24 kilowatts of power for over 35% of the year, enough to sustain a crew of six.
The study also highlights that combining wind turbines with solar panels could be a great thing. Mars missions could get more energy during tough seasons.
This would increase the time they have enough power from 40% to between 60% and 90%. Instead of depending only on expensive solar systems in space, future missions might use a mix of solar and wind to work better.
Source
https://www.eldiario24.com/en/nasa-has-found-something-technological/5893
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