Mars: Terraforming?

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:24 pm

Nan,

NASA, the American people, the ESA, any multinational space agencies or anyone else who's willing to put forth the monetary (not to speak of time) investments to take on a project of this scale isn't going to do so just to trash anything. Would you? Humans aren't perfect it's true, but something on this magnatude is going to be EXTREMELY well monitored.

Even so, we can all rest assured it won't be completed (in fact we'll be lucky to see even the very first steps begun) until well after we're all long since dust in our graves...

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:25 pm

Here are three terraforming methods that have been proposed:

* Large orbital mirrors that will reflect sunlight and heat the Mars surface.
* Greenhouse gas-producing factories to trap solar radiation.
* Smashing ammonia-heavy asteroids into the planet to raise the greenhouse gas level.

Well, I'm not into investing in Red Planet Real Estate
quite yet....

Also using Mars as a toxic waste dump doesn't
sound cost effective. Transportation costs run
kinda high.
We'll just have to polute
the moon. Best

Post by **Nanohedron** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:30 pm

Brian, I do hope for the best. I do every day, despite what I see around me. As I mentioned, I'm just in a pretty pessimistic mode today. Besides, somebody has to play devil's advocate, right?

fiddling_tenor · Post by **fiddling_tenor** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 1:22 pm

emmline wrote: (How's that for a Melvillian too-long sentence?)

Lawrence Sterne beats 'em all hands down for longest sentence in literature. (Tristram Shandy)

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 1:54 pm

Sorry there Nan...I misread your intent. We can all use a little

from time to time right?

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 2:48 pm

I really doubt we are able to do much at this point that is going to impact conditions on Mars on a planetary scale in any positive way, so I'm not going to lose much sleep over the moral implications yet one way or the other.

I think we are just barely able to get a small manned mission to Mars and back, though I wouldn't expect the astronauts to be in very good shape physically (or mentally) by the time of their return.

--James

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 3:30 pm

In The Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury) the manned
mission to Mars touches down in a small town,
with white framed houses and old automobiles.
Out of the houses come all the dead people in the
crew's families, looking hale and happy.

'Mars is heaven!' they explain.

The Captain's brother, killed in the war,
takes him home to his mother and father.
Along with him is one of the crew, Peters, say,
an orphan who has no family.

That night, at dinner, as they all talk about old times,
a phone call comes for Peters, from a
Miss Wrigley. He goes off and
talks for awhile, then goes up to the Captain; they're
sleeping in the brother's room. The brother is already
asleep.

'Captain,' Peters whispers. 'These aren't our families.
Miss Wrigely, I just talked to her for half an hour.
She was an imaginary playmate. These are the
Martians. They can read our minds, they've
lured us away from the ship...'

'Where are our guns?' the Captain asks.

'Downstairs.'

They start out of the room and the brother wakes up.

'Where are you getting?'

'To get a glass of water.'

'You're not going to get a glass of water.....'
They're all killed.

The next ship arrives and all the Martians have
died of chicken pox. Best

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 3:46 pm

glauber wrote:Hmmm, i guess the telephone sanitizers would have to go too, then!

Oh no... Not again.

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 3:58 pm

Have you breen following the latest pictures from Mars? I read one editorial from NASA where they referred to these little gems as "cranberries." They're reddish colored, and about the size of the little berries. I though Cranberry would enjoy that.

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ ... 0120a.html

kevin m. · Post by **kevin m.** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 4:12 pm

I think that it is only a matter of time (probably a long,long time)before we terraform Mars,but it will happen one day.Hopefully we can evolve as a global society in the meantime,so as to see that our current wasteful way of life is just plain wrong.I'd hate to think that we could be so selfish as an interplanetary race,as to simply 'use up' the Earth,before moving onto Mars,and then the next planet or satelite,ad infinitum.
Of course,Mars' Terraforming would be the biggest and most expensive engineering project in human history.
Considering the financial cost of this reminded me of an article that British Sci-fi writer and commentator wrote in the late 60's/early 70's,in which he costed out the expense of the Apollo moon missions,and thought of an alternative history where that money had been put to providing the middle east with vast supplies of fresh water,changing the whole middle east geo-political situation,and in the process bringing a lasting peace to the area.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 4:22 pm

Terraforming Mars might just at some future date be possible.

Peace on earth, unfortunately, has proven again and again to be impossible.

But lest you think me a pessimist, the addition of a viable climate and ecology to Mars will provide us with an entirely new arena in which to hunt, torture, maim, kill, and generally terrorize each other.

--James

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 4:30 pm

I can hardly wait!

Maybe we can lighten up? This is idle speculation
for Thurs afternoon, after all. Think of Mars
Candy Bars.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 5:01 pm

claudine · Post by **claudine** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 5:47 pm

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 5:47 pm

Oh boy, oh boy! McDonalds!