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Life Sciences in Space Research 7 (2015) 57–60

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Life Sciences in Space Research

www.elsevier.com/locate/lssr

Water extraction on Mars for an expanding human colony

M. Ralphs

a,∗

, B. Franz

, T. Baker

, S. Howe

Utah State University, Logan, UT 84321, USA

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA

Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83201, USA

Howe Industries LLC, Idaho Falls, ID 83401, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history:

Received

25 August 2015

Received

in revised form 11 September

2015

Accepted

1 October 2015

Keywords:

Human

colony on Mars

Water

extraction

In-situ

resource utilization

Water

resources on Mars

In-situ water extraction is necessary for an extended human presence on Mars. This study looks at the

water requirements of an expanding human colony on Mars and the general systems needed to supply

that water from the martian atmosphere and regolith. The proposed combination of systems in order

to supply the necessary water includes a system similar to Honeybee Robotics’ Mobile In-Situ Water

Extractor (MISWE) that uses convection, a system similar to MISWE but that directs microwave energy

down a borehole, a greenhouse or hothouse type system, and a system similar to the Mars Atmospheric

Resource Recovery System (MARRS). It is demonstrated that a large water extraction system that can

take advantage of large deposits of water ice at site speciﬁc locations is necessary to keep up with the

demands of a growing colony.

1. Introduction

The ability to extract and process water through in-situ re-

source

utilization (ISRU) is necessary for a sustained human pres-

ence

on Mars. This study looks at the required hardware and the

related production rates that would be needed for water produc-

tion

for an expanding human colony on Mars. This colony would

receive new colonists from Earth every two years, when the plan-

ets

are positioned properly in their orbit and conditions are feasi-

ble

to send a mission to Mars (A propitious alignment of planets,

2015).

Although

not available in 2015, it is expected that future tech-

nology

will allow for missions to Mars to carry 6, 12, and eventu-

ally

24 humans in each mission, or that multiple transports will be

sent in each mission. With this assumption in mind, the planned

colony expansion is shown in Table 1.

The

amount of water needed for extended human survival is

around 0.6 kg/hr/person which includes water for consumption,

hygiene, and everyday living in space (Bobe et al., 2007; Horneck

et al., 2003, 2006). This estimate is based on space station living

and, assuming water consumption is less in a micro-gravity en-

vironment,

would increase up to 0.7 kg/hr/person to account for

living with gravity. The amount required if demands from a grow-

Corresponding author.

E-mail

addresses: miralphs@gmail.com (M. Ralphs), bfranz@usc.edu (B. Franz),

tedb314@gmail.com (T. Baker), steve@howeindustries.net (S. Howe).

Table 1

Planne

colony expansion, including crew size and colony population at any given

year in the ﬁrst 16 years of the colony.

Year Mission # New crew Colony population

01 6 6

22 6 12

43 6 18

6 4 12 30

8 5 12 42

10 6 12 54

12 7 24 78

14 8 24 102

16 9 24 126

ing colony (regolith processing, manufacturing, perchlorate remedi-

ation,

plant growth, habitat maintenance, etc.) are added to human

needs is estimated at 1.2 kg/hr/person. Assuming a water recla-

mation

rate of at least 90% (similar to that of the space stations

Salut, Mir, and the International Space Station, Bobe et al., 2007;

Wieland,

1998), the amount needed from ISRU is 0.12 kg/hr/per-

son.

Some sources predict water reclamation rates as high as 96%

(Horneck et al., 2006), but current technology reliably allows for

90%.

These

numbers also take into account the requirements for

hydrogen since hydrogen will most likely come from water elec-

trolysis.

This is because most of the accessible hydrogen on Mars

is found in the form of H

O (Krasnopolsky and Feldman, 2001;

Boynton

et al., 2002).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lssr.2015.10.001

2214-5524/

58 M. Ralphs et al. / Life Sciences in Space Research 7 (2015) 57–60

Some water can be extracted from the martian atmosphere, but,

in order to get enough to sustain a colony, extraction from the

martian regolith will be the primary source of water. Several meth-

ods

of water extraction from the regolith are considered viable and

the extraction method will depend heavily on the site selected for

the colony.

2. Colony water requirements

Water is needed for many applications for an extended colony

on Mars beyond the 0.6 kg/hr/person to keep the humans alive

and healthy. These applications fall into 5 categories: regolith pro-

cessing,

manufacturing, perchlorate remediation, plant growth, and

habitat maintenance.

2.1. Regolith processing

Many useful compounds exist in the martian regolith in sig-

niﬁcant quantities

including silica, alumina, iron oxide, magnesia,

calcium oxide, and sulfates (Meyer, 1989; Stoker et al., 1993). The

metallic oxides can be extracted by dissolution in sulfuric acid. To

separate them, the solution is slowly neutralized using magnesia

to selectively precipitate relatively pure oxide powders. These pow-

ders

can be further processed to produce metallic ores (Berggren et

al., 2009). This processing can require a signiﬁcant volume of wa-

ter

on the order of hundreds of liters, but nearly all is reclaimed

during processing. The makeup volume of water is therefore con-

sidered

negligible.

2.2. Manufacturing

The regolith processing results in a number of useful materi-

als

including metallic iron powder, alumina, magnesia, silica, and

residual regolith. These can be used to manufacture spare parts,

structural members (Landis, 2009; Kirn et al., 2002), advanced ce-

ramics,

explosives (Dick et al., 1985), and cementitious products.

Cementitious products are extremely useful for creating radiation

shielding (Kirn et al., 2002), pathways, structures, and protective

barriers, but they require a substantial amount of water. Concrete

production requires approximately 0.4 kg

/kg

concrete

(Berggren

et al., 2009). Concrete production will most likely use the most

water out of all the manufactured materials because that water

isn’t easily reclaimed. And, although there may be more need for

manufactured products towards the early stages of the colony, the

amount required will be normalized to the amount of people in

the colony. The estimated water required for manufacturing pro-

cesses

is 0.04 kg/hr/person.

2.3. Perchlorate remediation

Several perchlorate compounds are found on Mars that can be

detrimental to human health. The perchlorate molecules are sim-

ilar

to iodine and block its receptors in the human body, caus-

ing

hormone deﬁciencies (Wolff, 1998; Mukhi and Patiño, 2007;

Davila

et al., 2013). Therefore, it is imperative that the perchlorates

are removed from all the materials that will be used by humans.

This process is estimated to require 0.1 kg/hr/person of water, how-

ever,

almost all of this water can be recycled and reused so the

amount that ISRU will need to make up is considered negligible.

2.4. Plant growth

Plants are the most likely long term solution for food in a

colony on Mars (Schulze-Makuch and Davies, 2010). And whether

they are grown in hydroponic or potted systems, the plants will

consume a certain amount of water. It is estimated that plants will

require approximately 0.003 kg/hr/person of water that cannot be

easily reclaimed by the environmental control and life support sys-

tems

(ECLSS). This must, therefore, be produced by ISRU.

2.5. Habitat maintenance

Water needed for habitat maintenance will vary depending on

the design of the habitat. A few uses of water that fall under

this category are increasing grounding pin eﬃciency, resupply of

fuel cells (Baird et al., 2003), and resupply of coolant in power

systems. The estimated requirement for habitat maintenance is ap-

proximately

0.01 kg/hr/person of water.

3. Water extraction from the atmosphere

The martian atmosphere is made up of 0.03% H

O (Muscatello

and Santiago-Maldonado, 2012). Using an atmospheric processing

system, similar to the Mars Atmospheric Resource Recovery System

(MARRS) (England, 2001), it is plausible to extract 0.02 kg/hr/per-

son

of water from the atmosphere. This amount relates to the wa-

ter

that would be extracted from the atmosphere during the pro-

cess

of extracting the required oxygen for breathable air (Wieland,

1998). This also neglects oxygen regeneration in the habitat which

would decrease the amount of water produced with this system.

This system will grow as needed to support the oxygen needs

of the growing colony. However, since this system will vary de-

pending

on the amount of oxygen regeneration in the habitat and

0.02 kg/hr/person is the maximum that would be produced, the

actual amount of water that would be produced is small and non-

constant.

Thus the atmosphere is not a good source for water to

sustain an expanding colony.

4. Water extraction from regolith

The water available for extraction from the martian regolith is

site dependent. At higher and lower latitudes, the majority of the

water is found in icy soils and permafrost. Around the equator,

most of the water content is found in hydrated minerals. There

is some speculation that more water exists deeper in the regolith

that may be available if a method is developed to drill down to

it (Clifford, 1993), but at present this solution is not proven. But

even near the equator where the water content is low, the re-

golith

is very hard and diﬃcult to remove in large quantities. It

is estimated that a 2 ton excavator would be required to scoop up

regolith containing more than 5% water content in a 4.5 cm wide

scoop (Zacny et al., 2012a). However, advanced scooping systems

are

being developed for martian and lunar surfaces that are capa-

ble

of excavating a signiﬁcant amount of regolith (Mueller et al.,

2013). The following excavation methods were chosen with the

hard martian regolith in mind and are considered some of the

most probable options for water extraction from the regolith.

4.1. Hydrated minerals

In the equatorial regions of Mars, the regolith is predicted to

contain between 2% and 13% water content, most likely in the form

of hydrated minerals (Muscatello and Santiago-Maldonado, 2012;

McKay

et al., 1993; Feldman et al., 2004). More energy is required

to release the water from hydrated minerals than to sublimate the

water from icy soils and permafrost. Although a few of the hy-

drated

minerals found in the martian regolith have dehydration

temperatures that are relatively low, as shown in Table 2, tem-

peratures

in excess of 600

◦

Care typically required to remove all

the water from the hydrated minerals (Sanders and Mueller, 2015).

However, the Sample Analysis on Mars (SAM) instrument on the

Curiosity rover showed that a heating above 450

◦

Ccauses the

M. Ralphs et al. / Life Sciences in Space Research 7 (2015) 57–60 59

Table 2

Hydrated

minerals that have a conﬁrmed presence at several locations on the mar-

tian

surface. Also included is their chemical formula and dehydration temperatures.

Mineral Chemical formula Dehydration temp (K)

Kieserite MgSO

·H

Epsomite MgSO

·7H

O301

Gypsum CaSO

·2H

O1073

Melanterite FeSO

·7H

O 363

Analcime NaAlSi

·H

O 773

Mirabilite Na

·10H

O306

Perchlorate M(ClO

)

·nH

O600

Opal-A SiO

·4H

O 973

carbonates and perchlorates in the regolith to break down and pro-

duce

HCl and H

S, which may not be desirable (Leshin et al., 2013).

Regardless, there are two methods of water extraction that look

most promising for removing water from hydrated minerals, both

use an auger based system, but one uses convective heat trans-

fer

and one uses microwave. An auger based system is considered

ideal because of its ability to penetrate the hard martian regolith

and actually move the soil (Zacny et al., 2008, 2012a, 2012b).

The

system that uses convective heat transfer would be a sys-

tem

similar in design to Honeybee Robotics’ Mobile In Situ Water

Extractor (MISWE) (Zacny et al., 2012a). This system uses an auger

to dig into the soil, lifts the soil caked on the auger back into the

rover, applies convective heat to evaporate the water into vapor,

and collects the water vapor in a cold trap to condense. This sys-

tem

is predicted to have a water extraction rate of 0.2 kg/hr and

would require around 350 Watts of thermal power for evaporating

the water and additional electrical power for operating the auger

and rover, for a total of around 1kW

The

system that uses microwave energy is similar to the con-

vective

system explained above, however, the auger would be used

to dig a bore hole into which microwave energy could be emit-

ted

with the intent of energizing a greater amount of water for

each hole drilled. The vaporized water could then be collected and

condensed in the rover. Microwave heating has the potential to

penetrate further into the regolith and heat the water molecules at

a faster rate than convection (Ethridge and Kaukler, 2012, 2011). It

is estimated that a borehole and microwave system would be able

to produce slightly more than a MISWE while using comparable

amounts of power: 0.3 kg/hr with 1kW

4.2. Icy soils

In icy soils, which are as low as 40

◦

N latitude in some locations

(Byrne et al., 2009), the two auger based systems proposed would

most likely still be viable, but other methods might also be used

that have the potential of a higher extraction rate. These options

are in the form a greenhouse (Mungas et al., 2006)or a hothouse.

The difference between the two is the heat source: one is the Sun,

the other is from an external source. The concept is to heat up

the inside of a tent or dome on the surface of Mars over an area

with icy soil or permafrost. The water would evaporate out and

condense on the walls of the structure to be collected.

Using

the energy from the Sun would be very beneﬁcial, how-

ever,

there are some complications with that method, which in-

clude,

but are not limited to: the transparent material to be used

on the structure, keeping the dust off the surface of the structure,

and solar interference from frequent dust storms. Using an exter-

nal

heat source, such as from a surface reactor or a battery, would

provide its own limitations. A few of the limitations may include

mobility and distance from the main base, which may limit the

accessible soils that can be tapped for water extraction. But if the

challenges for either system can be overcome, then a system such

as this would be able to provide a much greater quantity of water

Table 3

Proposed

conﬁguration for water extraction on Mars for an expanding human

colony. “Col.” = total number of humans in the colony, “Goal” = water produc-

tion

goal in kg/hr, “MISWE” = number of MISWE’s, “B.M.” = number of bore-

hole/microwave

systems, “H.H.” = number of hothouse or greenhouse systems,

“Prod.” = water produced by the proposed conﬁguration in kg/hr. “Prod.” includes

0.02 kg/hr/person from a system similar to the MARRS system. It is assumed that

MISWE and B.M. are extracting water from hydrated minerals with between 5 and

7% water content and the H.H. is extracting water from icy soils and permafrost.

Col. Goal MISWE B.M. H.H. Prod.

60.74 2 2 0 1.21

12 1

.48 2 2 0 1.33

18 2

.21 2 2 1 3.44

30 3

.69 2 2 1 3.68

42 5

.17 4 4 1 5

54 6

.64 4 4 2 7.24

78 9

.59 4 4 3 9.7

102 12

.55 6 6 4 13.26

126 15

.56 6 5 15.71

150 15

.56 6 5 15.71

Fig. 1. Water required for the expanding colony as well as the amount produced by

the proposed conﬁguration.

for the colony. A larger, high production water extraction system is

crucial for an expanding human colony on Mars.

5. Growth with the colony

In order for the water extraction to grow with the colony, the

proposed conﬁguration of water extraction methods is shown in

Table 3. This conﬁguration assumes that methods are available to

store the excess water produced for several years as a reserve.

These numbers correspond to the total colony needs, including

human consumption and hygiene, habitat requirements, manufac-

turing

processes, and plant growth. The ability of this system to

keep up with an expanding colony on Mars over time can be visu-

alized

by Fig. 1. If a large scale water production system, like the

hothouse, is not available, it would require 65 MISWE’s to accom-

modate

a colony of 126 humans.

6. Conclusions

With an expanding human colony on Mars, the primary source

of water is going to come from the regolith. Therefore, a system

will need to be developed that can take advantage of larger water

sources (such as water ice) near the site selected for the colony.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Universities Space Research Association and the

Center

for Space Nuclear Research for funding this research.

60 M. Ralphs et al. / Life Sciences in Space Research 7 (2015) 57–60

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Discussion

Through the dissolution of martian regolith in sulfuric acid, metal oxides can be selectively extracted, then precipitated and finally reduced into metallic ores. These metal ores can then be used in applications related to manufacturing, repair, construction, and other chemical processes. Water electrolysis occurs when a water molecule is split into separate hydrogen and oxygen molecules in a decomposition reaction. \[ H_2 O_{(l)} → 2H_{2 (g)} + O_{2 (g)} \] This reaction is important for a potential colony on Mars because it will create sources of hydrogen and oxygen; hydrogen is a key component of hydrocarbons (simplest organic compounds) that can be used in the process of chemical synthesis and smelting when developing the colony, and oxygen can be used for breathing. The International Space Station is equipped with a Water Recovery System, a liquid recycling system that cleans almost all the “water” (more that 93% of greywater, urine, sweat) produced by crew members so that it can be reused. Here is an interesting video where [Commander Chris Hadfield “lifts the lid” on the Water Recovery System.](http://www.universetoday.com/101775/an-inside-look-at-the-waterurine-recycling-system-on-the-space-station/) Launching a rocket from Earth to Mars on a successful trajectory is not as simple as launching something from point A to point B. Rather, in addition to distance, it is important to consider the rate of both planets' orbits around the sun, rates of rotation, spacecraft velocity (and its' changes as is travels) gravitational fields of each planet, and of course time in relation to all of these factors. Correct alignment implies that the rocket will leave Earth at transfer orbit perihelion (point of orbit that is closest to the sun) and arrive into Mars’ orbit at transfer orbit aphelion (point of orbit farthest from the sun). This phenomenon is known as a Hohmann Transfer Orbit. ![alt text](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/bsf16-20.gif) Regolith refers to the surface layer of martian soil that is composed of different materials such as dust, broken rock, and minerals. ![alt text](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/PIA08440-Mars_Rover_Spirit-Volcanic_Rock_Fragment.jpg) The chart below depicts the chemical composition of Martian regolith: ![alt text](http://resources.yesican-science.ca/trek/mars2/final2/mars_info/images_info/mars_soil.jpg) Using the Mars In-Situ Water Extractor (MISWE), liquid water is produced by first collecting the icy soil from the drill, then releasing the water vapor by heating the soil. Finally the water vapor would undergo condensation inside a canister for collection. The following is an image of what a MISWE rover would look like: ![alt text](http://i.imgur.com/xrmoGfw.png) You can learn more about the MISWE here: [MARS In-Situ Water Extractor (MISWE)](http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/marsconcepts2012/pdf/4268.pdf) The Sample Analysis on Mars instrument (SAM) has tools that enable it to identify and analyze chemical compounds and isotopes on Mars. These tools include a gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer and a tunable laser spectrometer. ![SAM](http://msl-scicorner.jpl.nasa.gov/images/SAM_drawing.jpg "SAM") In-Situ resource utilization (ISRU) is a term used predominantly in reference to extraterrestrial exploration. It describes the process by which resources can be harnessed on-site. ISRU significantly reduces the costs of launches and is practical in the sense that elements and materials can be reused. The thyroid gland requires iodide in order to synthesize the hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) which play an important role in cellular respiration and growth and maturation of body tissue (especially neural tissue). Perchlorate inhibits iodide which consequently prevents the secretion of necessary hormones for growth and development. Below is a visualization of this: ![alt text](http://vis.berkeley.edu/courses/cs294-10-sp06/wiki/images/5/59/Thyroid.gif) The first unmanned mission is scheduled to depart in the year 2020 with a rover that will be designed to address key questions concerning the prospective plans for life on Mars. The 2020 Mars rover will be engineered by NASA to conduct research that will determine habitability, reveal more information about the red planet’s environmental conditions, and search for any remnants of Martian life. The rover will be equipped with seven sophisticated instruments that will facilitate these plans. The design of the rover is as follows: ![mars rover](http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/imgs/2015/06/Mars_Mars2020Rover_ScienceInstruments_PIA19672-br.jpg "mars rover") In 2026, crews will depart for their one-way journey to Mars. After that, there will be regular intervals of crews departing every 24-26 months. You can read more about the plans for the 2020 mission to mars here: [2020 Mars mission](http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/overview /) A system like the Mars Atmospheric Resource Recovery System (MARRS) works by using a compression process that utilizes heat to liquefy and subsequently separate atmospheric components in order to produce water, nitrogen, argon, fuel component carbon monoxide, electrical power, and most importantly, oxygen. There are four major steps involved in this process: 1. Compression of the atmosphere 2. Condensation of carbon dioxide 3. Separation of carbon dioxide from the other gases 4. Concentration of product gases The products made by MARRS would serve to sustain the Mars colonists and create a foundation for further development. Here is a link for more information about MARRS from NASA’s technical reports server: [NASA's MARRS technical reports](http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20040196381) [A simple and interesting explanation about how we will extract water from Mars' soil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysim8GbDOE4) by Stephen Petranek, award-winning journalist and author book is "How We'll Live on Mars". An auger based extraction system would consist of a drill with a helical shape encircling the drill rod. This structure would be efficient when excavating martian regolith because it allows for an easier process of loosening and digging into the soil. As humans endeavor to expand exploration of the final frontier in the coming years, landing humans on Mars is a major goal. Enabling human life on Mars is a formidable task, and one of the largest obstacles to be faced will be water supply. Water is essential to life; without it the prospective humans colonizing Mars would not be able to survive, much less be able to develop the Mars colony with intricate systems concerning sustainable plant growth, processing systems, and other research projects. Methods of water extraction on Mars provide a tentative solution to the water problem. A dearth of water on Mars limits human exploration of outer space, and if scientists are able figure out the most efficient ways of creating water supply on a different planet, a whole new realm of possibilities will arise.

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