ISRU timeline
ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization) is the idea of 'living off the land'. We use local materials rather than bringing everything from Earth. This page discusses the order in which Martian settlers are likely to start using local resources.
The timeline for In Situ Resources Utilization (ISRU) depends on the type of colonization and missions.
Discussion
The favored type of mission at this time, by SpaceX (Mars One), NASA(ISP ver.5) and the Mars Society(Mars Direct) all rely on ISRU to produce part of the products needed for their operation and success.
The resources and productions planned are listed in the following table by order of development:
| Source | Ressource | Product | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regolith | Water | Water, CH4, O2 and H2, food*. | ||
| Atmosphere | CO2 | Propellant, Carbon, Oxygen, food. | ||
| Atmosphere | Nitrogen | Settlement air, cold thruster gas, food. | ||
| Regolith | Regolith | Radiation shielding, roads. | ||
| Regolith | To be determined** | Cement, Marscrete, Compressed Regolith Blocks. | ||
| Regolith | Iron Oxyde Fe2O3 | Iron, steel | ||
| Regolith | Calcium Carbonate | Cement | ||
| Regolith | SiO2, Sodium Carbonate | Glass | ||
| Basalt | Rock | Construction stone, roads, glass fibres | ||
| Clay | Very fine separated ores | Ceramics | ||
| Salt deposits | Sodium chloride | Salt | ||
| Other Salts | (SO2 4−), (Mg2+), (Ca2+), & (K+) | Chemical precursors |
*Although food will be produced rapidly for experimental and morale purposes, large scale production will probably wait for the colony population to grow substantially before it becomes economical.
**The best construction material made from regolith will be the subject of some of the first materials research done on Mars and an important scientific objective of initial missions.
