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SpanishHydrothermal Utilizations
Water is the essence of life, a fact that is evidently clear. However, knowing that water is abundant in the cosmos is a new understanding that we are slowly absorbing. Water’s state changes happen in a far tighter range than most other elements, and hence we find water in liquid, gas, and solid forms throughout the nooks and crannies of our solar system.
We need to build a new relationship with water which goes beyond just harvesting it. We need to build ways to use water beyond the obvious. There are countless applications of water in its various states in space. Solid state water (ice) can be valuable in certain applications, while liquid water in others. Steam can be used in the most creative ways. Think of the energy source that powered the industrial revolution. There are three energy sources that played an essential role during the last few centuries.
There was oil from animal blubber such as whales. There was the development of fossil fuels to power the engines of industrial growth. But in between these two sources of energy was steam. Throughout the world, steam powered ships and paddleboats were the facilitators of transport and commerce. Factories and all manners of productions were driven by the use of steam as the energy source. Even to this day, we use steam as a way to heat our homes and buildings in many cities around the world.
In space, we will need to look back into the past for inspiration to build the future of steam as a source of energy and beyond. Here on Earth, steam was the pivot from using living life forms to fossilized life forms as the energy source to power our way of life. Perhaps steam coupled with sunlight will break the detrimental cycle we are currently trapped in and help us chart new courses in space. Sometimes to build the future, one must examine the past.
