Oct. 10, 2001 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650/604-5026 or 650/604-9000 ANTARCTIC/ALASKA-LIKE WIND
TURBINES COULD BE USED ON MARS Wind turbines designed to make
electricity at the South Pole and in remote regions of Alaska
may someday lead to similar wind machines for Mars bases,
according to NASA scientists. During missions to Antarctica,
where there are about six months of darkness each year, NASA
scientists first seriously considered modifying cold-weather
wind machines so they could make vital electric power for bases
on Mars. One reason scientists proposed use of wind power on
Mars is that wind turbines still could generate electricity
during month-long martian global dust storms that can make days
on the red planet as dark as night. "Wind power and solar power
may complement each other on Mars. When you have a large dust
storm blocking the sunlight on Mars, a wind turbine can still
generate electricity," said scientist David Bubenheim of NASAs
Ames Research Center in Californi