Posted on 03/12/2013 1:44:23 PM PDT by Steely Tom
Let's just go there to play and build stuff .. not try to prove God does not exist.
HE gave us this playground to match the curiosity of the mind HE gave us.
Helen Thomas lived on Mars?
Tundra tolerance isn’t necessarily the best route. Photosynthesis is required to produce breathable oxygen, and any oxygen produced by plants in Martian atmosphere would dissipate quickly due to a virtually non-existent atmosphere on Mars.
Methanogenes, microorganisms living in volcanic vents at the bottom of the ocean and in Antarctica, show the most promise for the beginnings of terraforming on Mars. They would have the greatest prospect at not only living but thriving in the harsh Martian atmosphere. They would also have a better chance at large-scale propagation since trees would require pollination that would be impossible due to a lack of pollen carriers like bees. Outside of that, it would take several generations to see any appreciable growth of an atmosphere, if ever.
And to your point, Sacajaweau, these conditions would likely exist elsewhere in our solar system and in the universe, but the fact that we have indisputable evidence from a man-made object on a planet in relatively close proximity to our own is both exciting and inspiring. While Jupiter’s volcanic moon of Io and ice moon of Enceladus are highly likely to not only contain these elements but possibly microbial life, the fact remains that we’ve not set probes down on either one of them nor conducted any physical inspections of the compositions thereof.
Mars is a cosmological “one tank trip” taking around 6 months one-way. The fact that no one’s even shooting for it in a real, substantial way does not bode well for civilization, I fear. Hell, we’ve not even gone back to the moon in my lifetime, and that’s a walk to the corner store by comparison.
We’ve explored less than 1% of the total surface of Mars. I’m not sure how you could statistically validate that there’s no life there. We’ve not explored the poles. We’ve not explored the deepest or the highest points on the planet. We’ve shot for relatively smooth landing zones.
Imagine if millenia from now an alien species came to Earth and landed probes in areas of Antarctica, Greenland, Siberia or the Sahara. Assuming they’re using advanced tools, they’d likely find little evidence of human existence, but they might fight microbial life. And we’re just talking millenia here.
The solar system’s been around for a few billion years. The likelihood of any of the inner planets harboring life at some point during that time is pretty good. We just haven’t stumbled upon it in any appreciable way.
Considering how little time, in the cosmological sense, we’ve invested in exploring Mars, I’d say we’re doing pretty well as far as exploration goes. The bigger tragedy is that we’re not spending more time on our nearest neighbor, the moon.
And if they landed in Washington DC, they certainly wouldn't find any traces of intelligent life.
The other thing that always bugs me about articles about "life on other planets" is that the same people who say our life started as a result of random arrangements of various elements/chemicals, seem stuck on the idea for there to be life elsewhere then it would have to be based on the same or similar sets of chemicals/elements. If our life was a result of random mixing of stuff, then why couldn't/wouldn't other completely different life forms be forming everywhere based on whatever components are present?
In fact, if life can start from random stuff, then we should expect to see various forms of life (some less advanced than ours, some more) all over the place... there should be literally billions and billions of planets/rocks/places teaming with life.
I’d have to imagine that if humanity wipes itself out, which is much more likely in the short term, the only traces of civilization will be irradiated heaps of charred carbon.
There are plenty of reasons for future exploration of the moon, most notably as a suitable test bed for future materials, life support systems, extended isolation, manufacturing and production with local materials, propellants, mining, and the list goes on.
The moon is also rich in Helium-3, which has proven uses in industry.
I agree, Con, the ISS has been squandered, but there are still reasons to visit and colonize the moon. It only takes a few brave settlers to start a colony. “If you build it, they will come.”
This is coming from the same government that is feeding us the global warming hoax...i don’t think so...
Freegards
LEX
Bacon, egg, sausage and cheese on a toasted..... wait a minute.... is that a glazed donut?
Ditto the ATF. They've found the ingredients of gunpowder there.
ATF must go to Mars immediately!
Whatever way you want to imagine, it's either inherent in the make up of the universe, or it's not possible at all.
At the moment we don't really understand how paint mixes ~ and are there nuclear processes involved that we cannot readily observe.
I suspect the guys studying how paint mixes will come up with THE WAY
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