Argon

Ar	18
Argon

Abundance: 1.6% (atmosphere)

Argon is the third most abundant element in the martian atmosphere, 1.6%. It is an oderless, colorless noble gas. Like the other noble gasses, it is chemically inert. As such, it has many uses in industry. Argon is easily produced in-situ from the martian atmosphere by cooling to condense out carbon dioxide and distillation to separate out the nitrogen. For use as a buffer gas in a colony atmosphere, the nitrogen need not be separated. Mixed nitrogen and argon can be added to oxygen to dilute it to 20% mole fraction oxygen, the concentration of the standard Earth atmosphere. The substitution of nitrogen by argon for a breathable atmosphere seems straightforward.

Uses

• As an atmospheric filler produced at the same time as nitrogen
• As an inert gas in certain industrial processes
• As propellant for electrical space propulsion

Reference

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