Perspectives on the utilization of martian iron and carbon dioxide

Abstract

The idea of colonizing Mars has long intrigued both scientists and laymen as reflected in fiction and in non-fiction writings, in books, in magazine articles, in scientific journal articles, in movies, and in popular websites. The author's purpose in this chapter is not to review in detail the extensive, extant literature, but rather, from the perspective of a multi-disciplinary scientist with commercial mining experience, to share some thoughts pertaining to the utilization of two of the major Martian natural resources, iron and carbon dioxide, each of which has been discussed in the literature (Hepp et al. 1991; Landis 2009). © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.