Five Ecological Principles for ISRU - John Parks - 2021 Mars Society Virtual Convention

Описание: Title:
Five Ecological Principles for In Situ Resource Utilization on Mars to support Colonization and Terraforming

Track Code: TA-5

As humanity prepares to depart Earth during the next two decades in order to visit and eventually permanently colonize the wider solar system, governments and private industry currently are looking to Mars as an initial interplanetary settlement target. A critical component of settling and permanently inhabiting Mars by 2050 will be sustainable in situ resource utilization (ISRU). This will include a strategic and targeted transformation of Martian ecology in order to bioengineer the biophysical and geochemical environment to make planetary conditions more suitable for human adaptation. Fortunately, a wealth of past experience and investment in managing Earth’s natural resources provides humanity with the opportunity to learn from, apply, and adapt internationally-accepted sustainable development principles in the context of interplanetary colonization, starting with Mars. Specifically through the lens of sustainability relating to natural resource extraction, management, and transformation on Mars, there are five key principles to be applied relating to colonization and ISRU: taking an ecosystem-based approach to management; the role of r/K selection for succession; the application of intermediate disturbance regimes to maximize introduced species diversity and fitness; consequences of genetic drift and inbreeding due to insufficient and fragmented terraformed habitat; and interplanetary adaptation of landscape ecology theory. Each of these key principles will be discussed with recommendations for their adaptation and application within the context of ISRU on Mars. Successful adaptation and application of these natural resource management principles from Earth will not only increase the likelihood of successful and sustainable colonization, but also help to expedite the necessary ecological transformation and bioengineering that will be an inherent and unavoidable aspect of terraforming Mars with maximum consideration given to ecological integrity and conservation while minimizing human conflict relating to natural resource scarcity, competing ISRU objectives, and incompatible extractive agendas.

From the 24th Annual International Mars Society Convention, held as a Virtual Convention worldwide on the Internet from October 14-17, 2021. The four-day International Mars Society Convention, held every year since 1998, brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars.

Conference Papers and some presentations will be available on www.MarsPapers.org

For more information on the Mars Society, visit our website at www.MarsSociety.org

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