Mars: Terraforming?

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Lark
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Mars: Terraforming?

Post by Lark »

Well with a sudden renewed interest in space, and in Mars, I was thinking about this question today, and specifically the moral aspects. Is it right for us to take a plaint, that has no visible life on it, and radically change it’s atmosphere for our needs? Is this a case of playing God? Good management of a valuable resource? A environmental disaster waiting to happen? A important part of space settlement?

What are your thoughts and ideas? :)
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Post by glauber »

I think we should start by shipping all the politicians there. Give it a head start. They will need some tactical support, so we should follow up with all the marketing people and pollsters, then television executives. For good measure, send all cable TV installers and repairmen too.
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Post by antstastegood »

Don't forget: Lawyers, Baggage Handlers, UPS people, and HMO's.

And they'll need some entertainment. Recorder players can go too!

(sincere apologies to anyone in any of those industries. i am kidding, except in the case of recorder players)
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Post by Darwin »

I don't think it's right to dump our toxic waste on an innocent planet.
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Post by glauber »

Hmmm, i guess the telephone sanitizers would have to go too, then!
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Post by EricWingler »

glauber wrote:Hmmm, i guess the telephone sanitizers would have to go too, then!
Of course, we wouldn't want to send them all. A virus spread by handling infected telephones might wipe out Earth's entire population. :)
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Post by Brigitte »

Darwin wrote:I don't think it's right to dump our toxic waste on an innocent planet.
SICNR: I would like to suggest, you try to persuade the US Government to ratify the Kyoto-Agreements. :twisted:

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Post by Loren »

Brigitte wrote:
Darwin wrote:I don't think it's right to dump our toxic waste on an innocent planet.
SICNR: I would like to suggest, you try to persuade the US Government to ratify the Kyoto-Agreements. :twisted:

Brigitte
Brigitte, First we'd have to convince Bush that it was going to help with our "War on Terror" :lol:

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Post by markv »

Loren wrote:
Brigitte wrote:
Darwin wrote:I don't think it's right to dump our toxic waste on an innocent planet.
SICNR: I would like to suggest, you try to persuade the US Government to ratify the Kyoto-Agreements. :twisted:

Brigitte
Brigitte, First we'd have to convince Bush that it was going to help with our "War on Terror" :lol:

Loren
Just convince him it's* a weapon of mass destruction.

*Substitute your favorite eco-unfriendly group\industry; petroleum companies, coal fired power plants, SUV manufacturers, Wal-mart, Hello Kitty...
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Post by emmline »

If the question is: should we use Mars as a dump?...I think the real issue is being sidestepped--i.e. let's explore ways to not produce so much crap.

If the question is: Is commandeering a seemingly uninhabited planet "playing God," then I get cranky because it seems any time there are accusations that human innovations are moving us into God's turf, the implication is that humankind should set limits on its creativity and potential because of someone's religiously-derived notion of what their conceptualization of God would want. (How's that for a Melvillian too-long sentence?)
What living organism says "I may become this smart and capable but no smarter?"
The question should not be whether an innovation is "playing God;" it should be "is this more beneficial than detrimental, and can it be done without digging our crap-heap any deeper?"
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Post by Brian Lee »

Given enough time it will happen. For good or bad. All in all the human species is certainly capable and wise enough to do this correctly but will it do so in the end only time will tell - we don't exactly have a great track record here...

But rest asured it will happen. Remember that even if a terraforming project were to be undertaken tomorrow, (assuming all the needed technology was ready now and in place) we're still looking at centuries down the road before Mars or any other viable world would resemble anything even close to a habitable world...
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Post by chas »

glauber wrote:I think we should start by shipping all the politicians there. Give it a head start. They will need some tactical support, so we should follow up with all the marketing people and pollsters, then television executives. For good measure, send all cable TV installers and repairmen too.
Yes, the Martian atmosphere is cold and thin. The first step in Terraforming would be to give it a lot of hot air.
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Post by Nanohedron »

Terraforming? THERE'S a disaster waiting to happen. We've been working on that for some millennia already, now, and... well, check the results.

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Post by Bretton »

Where did all the "dumping toxic waste on Mars" comments come from? That's not what the original poster was talking about (at least not directly), unless someone misunderstood the term terraforming.

Here's a nice link:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/terraforming.htm

I'm all for it! ...and we need to get on it quick! Establish a Moon base right away (the only good idea Bush has had, and unfortunatley, probably for all the wrong reasons). We have to get a functioning Moon base up and working before we could expand to Mars.

If we don't do it soon things are going to get really nasty here on Earth before too long, unless we have some kind of huge natural disaster that reduces our population by a significant amount.

P.S. I probably read way too much Science Fiction. :party:


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Post by Nanohedron »

Bretton wrote:If we don't do it soon things are going to get really nasty here on Earth before too long, unless we have some kind of huge natural disaster that reduces our population by a significant amount.
Which fleshes out my previous post and the prediction that went with it. Sorry folks, I'm kinda pessimistic today. After so much time, have we learned enough not to trash Mars as well?

Actually, I hope so.
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