Xenon
| Xe | 54 |
| Xenon | |
Abundance: 0.0%
Xenon, periodic table Xe, is a noble gas, much like krypton and argon. It has a large number of isotopes, from 124Xe to 136Xe
It is the most efficient choice for the fuel of most types of ion engines as it is both massive and easy to ionize. It may be used as well as an ionizing agent in a nuclear MHD generator.
Xenon is quite expensive, at about $20 per liter (6g) or 3 300$ per kg. There are about 45 billions tons of Xenon in Earth's atmosphere. Due to cost and availability concerns, argon or krypton may be a more practical choice than Xenon.
Surprisingly Xe is an anesthetic. (It is almost the same size as the Nitrous Oxide molecule and binds the same pain receptors.) Given that Xenon can be pulled from Martian air by the same equipment used to capture Nitrogen, it is likely that Xenon will be used for anesthesics by Martian colonists. [1]
