this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2025
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1kg of oxygen is a good estimate, humand need 0.5-1kg per day.
Astronaut calorie budges is a bit higher than average, as would be for labouring humans. About 3000kcal, or 12 MJ.
I think more important than the raw energy and oxygen is sourcing the water, cleaning the water, producing the energy to electrolyse and heat, and maintaining the equipment necessary to do so. And that's assuming all food is shipped in.
yeah i actually believe that too. i calculated somewhere that it takes around 10 kWh per kg of water extracted from the soil, assuming you follow this process and assuming a 30% water content in the regolith.
So yes, total energy consumption is a bit higher, but it's only a rough estimate to give you an idea of the order of magnitude that we're talking about.
Also i wrote about food production here.