Saturday, February 16, 2013

Titanium on mars

I just noticed that titanium dioxide is about 1% of martian soil. That's not the ore that pure titanium is usually processed from but here's the thing on mars...
[On earth] at temperatures high enough to melt it, titanium exposed to air catches fire.
So, is there enough oxygen in the martian air to cause it to catch fire? If not, titanium might be very common, low cost, and of course, useful on mars.

I don't know the answer. But white paint should be easy.

Titanium nitride should also be cheap to make and useful.

While martian banks may only take pure metal for deposit; A martian chemical warehouse may contain all sorts of oxides and other chemicals and will barter for many.

I'm thinking chemistry will be a high priority in the education of children raised on mars.

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