Mars Steel
This is the first sample of a round of Mars Steel ever made. This could be turned into a threaded bolt on Mars.
The first steel that can be made on Mars has now been now been made on Earth!
Mars Steel™ is a new kind of steel designed specifically for production on Mars. The steel-making process for Mars Steel leverages Two Planet Steel’s technology, robotics, and the excellent iron ore & multi-ore available on-planet.
Our process differs from traditional methods in crucial ways, making it the only process easily adapted to use on Mars. In particular, Two Planet Steel’s process requires few consumables and those it needs are readily available on Mars. For example, the standard “hot rolling” and newer Castrip® methods for making sheet steel in mills are extremely water-intensive. These methods are not practical; liquid Martian surface water is a high-cost resource. Another example, normal electric arc furnace steel-making relies on large graphite rods that cannot be produced on-planet immediately. Two Planet Steel’s iron- and steel-making processes work without any water consumption or any need for graphite rods. These are big deals; they are required to implement steelmaking on Mars within weeks of a single large-spacecraft landing. In addition, Two Planet Steel equipment can be made in the small sizes needed for practical transport by rocket to Mars. In contrast, the “hot rolling” and Castrip® methods require equipment so very massive that it cannot be transported by rocket.
Iron Ore: ironberries of IRoM
Mars Steel can be made on Earth and Mars. The steps involved in making Mars Steel are nearly identical on both planets. The main difference between the Mars Steel process on Earth and Mars will be the iron ore. One notable example is the Pilbara ore, the best unprocessed iron ore available on Earth. Almost all industrial iron ores require extra processing steps before steel-making. The Pilbara ore from Australia is of such exceptional quality that almost all the pre-processing steps aren’t needed. However, after extensive processing, some ores such as taconite pellets from Minnesota can reach a slightly higher quality than even the Pilbara ore.
The average surface density of ironberries at IRoM, as found by NASA: >> 10,000 ironberries per m2.
On Mars, iron ore can be found in the Iron Region of the Meridiani Planum (IRoM) in the form of small iron spherules called ironberries or Martian blueberries. These ironberries are as high-quality as the processed taconite pellets and easier to work with than the Pilbara ore. The false-color NASA image at left shows the average surface density of loose ironberries on top of surface soils found by the rover Opportunity at IRoM. This average density is very high and will make collecting loose ironberries very efficient. The open, firm, soil-top position of ironberries will make them exceedingly easy to collect; they can be swept up off the top of smooth sheet soil bedforms – no real mining is required. In terms of accessibility and quality, ironberries are the finest raw iron ore discovered to date on any planet.
credit: PanCam of Opportunity Rover NASA/ASU. Endurance Crater at IRoM. The PanCam also took the images of the average surface density of ironberries and the “under” picture of Victoria Crater, IRoM
Notice concerning the use of the term “Mars Steel”