If you want to generate electricity on Mars one day: the best use may not be nuclear energy.

With the development of a series of exploration activities, Mars seems to be the most accessible target in our Ad Astra. The ensuing question is, how do we get a steady stream of electricity on the surface of this red planet? In short, how to solve the energy problem of Martian immigrants?

At this point, perhaps the closest answer in people's minds is nuclear energy. Yes, so far, many people think that nuclear energy is the best energy for Ad Astra.

However, contrary to these views, scientists at the University of California (Berkeley) recently published a paper that solar energy is a more feasible energy solution for Mars, rather than the generally recognized nuclear energy. Why do you say that?

The research team compared and analyzed several possible power generation methods on Mars. In comparison, all energy calculations are based on the power demand of a six-person Mars migration team, including the weight of equipment that needs to be transported from Earth to Mars.

People trust nuclear energy to a great extent because its power generation is not affected by the regional environment, that is to say, a small nuclear fission reactor can basically produce the same energy anywhere. In contrast, solar power generation depends largely on the environment, such as sunlight and surface temperature.

However, even so, after considering the very detailed factors such as particles and gases that interfere with light scattering and absorption, after complicated calculations, finally, after weighing, the photovoltaic array power generation scheme using compressed hydrogen energy storage stands out.

The advantage of solar energy is most obvious at the equator of Mars, because there, building a photovoltaic array power generation system only needs to transport about 8.3 tons of equipment from the earth to Mars, while building a small nuclear power plant with the same power generation needs to transport 9.3 tons of equipment-everyone knows how important it is to reduce the weight of equipment for interstellar transportation.

Obviously, with the distance from the equator of Mars, the advantage of solar energy will become smaller and smaller. In other words, if the future Mars settlement is located near the equator of Mars, then solar energy will be the best solution. On the other hand, if the mission to mars needs to be implemented near the North and South Poles of Mars, then nuclear energy is once again the best solution.

In the photovoltaic array scheme, it is interesting that scientists use hydrogen to store energy for solar power generation-because when hydrogen is combined with nitrogen, it can also be used to make ammonia in fertilizers, and there is no shortage of nitrogen on Mars.

The principle of hydrogen production and energy storage is simple. Hydrogen is produced from water by using surplus electricity, and then stored in a pressure vessel to extract energy from it if necessary.

The research was conducted by members of the Space Bioengineering Utilization Center, which is dedicated to producing products such as plastics and medicines from carbon dioxide by using bioengineered microorganisms. The team published their findings in the journal Frontier of Astronomy and Space Science.

Through this study, the team was able to plan and specify the baseline limits of available electricity and hydrogen during a certain period in mission to mars. In other words, we can know how much electricity is available. Of course, in the end, we hope to build a complete system model, including all components, which will help to plan mission to mars, evaluate trade-offs, identify risks, and propose strategies before or during the task.