ISRU based on radicals?

From time to time I am thinking about ISRU on Venus but didn't find ressources to think about. Oxygen might be got from CO2 but that oxygen to a significant degree is heavier than the oxygen we are used here on Earth. Hydrogen is a bit more tricky because it is bound in acids, And to do ISRU of this all might do harm to venusian life forms although they may be very exotic compared to earthian life forms.

But today there is an article under www.wissenschaft.de reporting that Hydroxyl - HO - has been found in the venusian atmosphere at an altitude of 100 km.

The article refers to Giuseppe Piccioni (Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, Rom) et al.: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 483, Nr. 3, p. L29 ( www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200809761/pdf )

So what about using that Hydroxyl? If possible only a reduced amount of oxygen needs to be carried from Earth or elsewhere. Then first the HO might be turned into H2O if chemically, physically and technically possible and next th water can be split into pure oxygen and pure hydrogen.

According to the article Hydroxyl is supposed to exist in the martian atmosphere also. The article sounds as if they exist on other planets also.



What about it?



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

Under www.marssociety.de there is an article saying that there is a martian ozone hole caused by hydroxyl in the martian atmosphere.

So what about collecting hydroxyl from planetary atmospheres? Thos would protect the ozone shield a bit and could contribue to orbital depots of water or fuel und oxidizer.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)

What do you mena 'the O2 is heavier on Venus'? If anything it's lighter, due to the lower gravity.

What exactly is wrong with extracting Hydrogen from acids?

Hello, Terraformer,

I was referring to a difference between two isotopes of oxygen that have different mass and thus have a different weight on each planet regardless of what planet it is.

The less massive of the two isotopes is th oxygen we are used to while the more massive is extremely seldom on Earth but available in very large amounts on Venus where Venus Express found it this year. On Mars the heavier isotope is present also in amounts detected by at least one of the probes active there.



Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist)