There are tons of other applications for this same process but we still must devise a way to mine and seperate out from the material the one that we quest for or for that fact how refined it must be to use. I am not sure about mining for the catalyst that still is needed to make it burn in some other applications. Noted before on the other blog on this page a few days ago.

Does anyone know what exhaust gas components are created from burning such a mixture?

Hubble team selected to study options for servicing Space telescope.
http://www.space.com/news/hubble_team_040416.html

I have a question on the cost of a robotic mission versus developing Shuttle C cargo container, to make and be used as a platform for the shuttle mission; to do what is needed to look and or repair any damage to the shuttle that may have happened during liftoff to orbit. I am sure other people could also think of other ways to do this as well.

Harold, I dont understand why is it more expensive to prepare a second shuttle to fly on emergency notice in the event that an orbital rescue is needed. Why can't we dleay our first flight till a second shuttle could be rolled out in 24 hours and launched. I was under the impression that KSC has serveral pads and storage facilities. Is this not true?

If we are going to launch the second mission anyway eventualy, then why are the costs 'prohibitive' when considering stalling the first mission till the second is almost ready?

What rocket would a robotic mission be launched on?
Would the cost be simular to that of developement of the cargo shuttle C/Z?
Some other derivative with say the X-38 side mounted on the external tank that would have a compliment of engines?
Other completed ship including a soyuz capsule if nothing else is or can be found to get the job done?
Also could a simple lab module equiped properly be used as a safe have if the unthinkable should happen?
I have not heard that any of these options are being looked into.
Who might I send these suggestions to?

The products of combustion of magnesium with carbon dioxide are actually two solids: magnesium oxide and elemental carbon.

Thanks tourdemars: The other article U-M student research may help astronauts burn fuel on Mars, talks of harvesting the Manesium from the Martian soil. How hard would this be to do? How pure would the Magnesium need to be to accomplish burning effiencently?
I am assuming that there would be a very large scale mining operation and process to refine the raw material from the soil. That solar energy would be used in the processing of the raw materials.
They also made note that using iodine as a catalyst helped make the magnesium burn better.
Question: is the Mars soil rich in this material also or is this something that would need to be brought to Mars?
I sure that the iodine changes what would be produced as an exhaust as well and that it would not be harmful to our early explorers.

Data for Hubble cost of operation and support missions for repair.

Each of its Hubble servicing missions costs between $700 million and $1 billion -- that, On the other hand, NASA has to weigh the cost of keeping Hubble in action - the last servicing mission cost $400 million, not counting the cost of launching the space shuttle to fly astronauts out to make the repairs.

Spacedaily site opinion:
For the cost of only two such missions (and perhaps less), a complete new duplicate Hubble could be constructed comparatively cheaply from the blueprints for the original (with whatever improved equipment and new experiments seemed appropriate) and launched on a Titan booster without any need to risk human lives.

The cost of a de-orbit stage once delivered is 60M installed by a shuttle trip.
Robotic install cost 230M. Neither accounted for rocket cost.

Meanwhile, the two new Hubble instruments are already built. The Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph cost a combined $167 million and would have provided unprecedented peeks into the formation of the cosmos, astronomers say.

Cost $1.5 billion at launch and costs $230-$250 million annually to operate.

Lockheed Atlas V rocket costs 77m to 170m depending on boosters and ect..
Boeing Delta 4 rocket costs 1.5B developement program. Around 90m and up..
Each company was given 500m for developement costs.

CEV Rocket detailed budget plans recently released by NASA show that only $6.6B is actually for Project Constellation, the new name for the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle that will eventually carry astronauts back to the Moon.

Shuttle return to flight costs 600m - 700 million. NASA's three remaining shuttles, which are about 20 years old and cost about $3.5 billion a year to run.

So if more problems were to be found, would it not also mean that the shuttle fleet should go though the recertification process to ensure that we can justify the expenses for a long term of use of the remaining shuttles. Rather than just 5 or 6 years as it stands right now with regards to the SEI vision before retiring them all together.

it is possible to live in mars the same way we are living in earth.