Not long ago, I spoke with an interesting person who claimed to be a business manager developing a business plan for a tubular wind generator system that could be tethered and flown like a kite. Although the current research and development of it, and the prototype was for use here on Earth, I immediately looked at it and said it might work for a Mars colony sometime in the next decade or so.
Interestingly, the business manager claimed to have an MBA and just graduated from Harvard. The lead engineers on the project were said to be graduate students who had earned their degrees from MIT. Obviously understanding who was working on this startup, I ask you the following question;
“Do you have a possible sketch or adapted drawing of the Mars Colony, sounds like you would have considered it earlier as an MIT grad student?”
The team’s business manager admitted that yes, they had considered this and they had two people working on their team who had been thinking here as well. So is this possible? After all, the atmosphere of Mars isn’t very robust, but it would support a tethered balloon system that’s lighter than air, and there’s some wind moving across the planet’s surface. And from what I understand, some of that wind is moving at 400 miles per hour, albeit with low air pressure.
It can be difficult to generate a lot of power this way, but you could generate some, and if there wasn’t too much friction in the bearings, or if you used some kind of magnetic wheel hub system for the blades, it might be possible to generate enough power to run a robotic system, or power up some of the computer systems and life support systems for a Mars colony full of humans.
As we seek to explore space and build colonies on other planets, we must also deal with the localized environment, creating our much-needed power systems. These systems must work flawlessly, and they must be simple and Murphy-proof. Maybe you’ll think about this a bit and tell me what you think. Please consider all this.