How Energy-AI on Earth Will Enable Us to Colonise Mars

By: Sanand Sule and Niladri Roy for Climate Connect Technologies

?“They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially colonised it. So, technically, I colonised Mars”

– Mark Watney, The Martian

It seems we are hurtling ever faster towards humankind colonising Mars. Perhaps even in two decades, with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and the Mars One Foundation leading the charge. This is an endeavour as complex as it is magnificent. However, simply reaching the Red Planet is the easy part. There are several technological aspects that must be sufficiently developed on Earth before we can consider settling there, not least of which is energy provision. Just as developments on Earth are showing, central to these will be Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML). There is such a myriad to consider, so let’s take a whistle-stop tour with just a few broad-brush strokes, focusing on Energy-AI and ML.

Specific aspects touched upon here will be explored more deeply in a forthcoming article series. Including automated deployment, artificial environment regulation, and the importance of digital assistants on Mars.

Figure 1: Greenhouse on Mars (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Regardless of how sophisticated our modelling and calculations are prior, there will be no tangible reference until we are there on the surface gathering real data. But rather than considering Earth and Mars separately, AI and ML can crunch the massive amounts of accumulating terrestrial data to better prepare for our first visit.

Any permanent colony will need power plants to provide full-time generation. We have these technologies – mostly solar, which is already sufficiently mature, and perhaps wind. In the longer-term once suitably established, we can consider geothermal, which is very abundant on Mars. However, given the excavation and construction required, it will be massively more complex and intensive.

Figure 2: Solar power generator (Image credit: B. Mauro)

Of equal importance to generation in the near-term, is sufficiently developed energy storage, and there is still some way to go before reaching the requisite level. This will need diversified development, beyond common chemistry-based batteries such as lithium-ion, to more energy dense alternatives such as fuel cells, and supercapacitors.

On Earth, we try to achieve an equilibrium between supply and demand, driven by simple economics. Achieving an ‘energy surplus’ though technically feasible, is deemed somewhat idealistic. However, for colonisation of Mars, it is almost the very first milestone required. With no breathable atmosphere, we will have to create artificial environments, with a mechanism for oxygen-generation (just like in the movie The Martian). Then water extraction and purification, followed by food growth. These are simply the basic foundational blocks before we can consider a permanent settlement. Each will require an energy surplus all the time, as we can’t risk demand exceeding supply, and causing an oxygen engine outage, or an entire crop spoiling.

AI and ML can help us create and control these, from finely tuned buildings, to precision small-scale chemical processes. The heightened sensitivity of being in an artificial environment on a hostile planet will make AI and ML imperative - particularly as digital assistants, continuously gathering real data to keep us safe. The entire base can be monitored, with weather and energy needs forecasted, and the consumption rate of internal resources continuously tracked.

Figure 3: Mars ground habitat (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

As silly as they seem now, all the misinterpreted words by Alexa and Siri are adding to the data pool which will ensure such mistakes – which could be life threatening on Mars – are analysed and learned from. Every word spoken to home voice recognition systems, is improving the accuracy, fidelity, and intelligence behind the digital assistants of future Mars missions.

In general, we’ll want intelligent technology and software heavily tested on Earth, then transferred there, and installed by just a few engineers. In principle, with sufficient AI and ML, we won’t even need to send a human first. The whole colony can be setup and verified as safe before the first person even sets foot on the planet. 

So, by honing energy management on Earth, we can replicate it on Mars. There is a direct interrelationship, whereby developments will feed-up to there, and in time developments there feed back down. It is fair to predict that Mars-tech will lead to massive advancements in Earth-tech, as all previous space missions have proven.

Next part coming soon..............

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)