Wind as a back-up energy source for mars missions

Abstract

This paper examines if wind might be an additional energy source for solar powered, crewed Mars missions during dusty days. Wind data from Viking Lander 2 is analyzed from a wind engineering point of view, as it is done on Earth, to evaluate wind turbine sites. It is assumed that wind energy will not be the primary energy source used on a crewed Mars mission but an additional option during times of global dust storms, when solar power is suffering from an increase of atmospheric optical depth, which is seen as one of the largest drawbacks of solar arrays. In order to evaluate if wind energy might be a reliable energy source during dust storms, when the energy yield of solar cells is reduced, it will be investigated whether wind strength has a positive correlation with increased atmospheric optical depth. This is, in case wind speed is generally capable of providing a significant amount of power, a further requirement if wind turbines should compensate the power loss of solar arrays during increased atmospheric optical depth. For a first estimate of the amount of wind turbines needed to maintain energy output during a storm a case study is done which regards power production during the 1977b global dust storm.