Posted on 11/22/2004 11:23:47 AM PST by RockinRight
I've given that question plenty of thought, too. Mars' distance from the sun reduces the amount of hard UV. But as it is now, the amount of UV reaching the surface is pretty nasty. Thickening the Martian atmosphere may result in an ozone layer, but that's a long term prospect that may or may not be feasible.
There is also the question of shielding the surface from cosmic rays without the presence of a strong planetary magnetic field. And on that, I'm drawing a complete blank.
By comparison, terraforming Venus makes the idea of terraforming Mars look as simple as doing some landscaping work around the yard.
One brute-force method I came up with to thin-out the Venusian atmosphere is to simultaneously air-burst tens of thousands of high-megaton fusion bombs and just blast all that CO2 out into space. What a spectacular view that would be from Earth! Venus flaring up like a nova, then turning into the biggest damned comet ever seen as its atmosphere is blown outward by the solar wind.
Yes, I think terraforming Mars, and planets in general, will be an activity that may eventually happen if a sustainable rationale can be found for it.
There are some very competitive concepts, such as Gerard K. O'Neill-type colonies, that could prove far more practical,economically and politically to build.
ping
These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, on a mission to seek out new life, new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before. Prime directive be damned.
God also gave us the carbon-carbon bond which holds promise for building a space elevator to hoist material into orbit as routinely as visiting the observation deck of the Empire State Building, and the uranium and thorium atoms which hold enough energy to supply American-style consumption until the Sun burns out and propel craft to Pluto in back in less time than it used to take to travel to North America.
How do you come to have a house? Did you fight off every drunken bum that wants to camp in your yard? What, no drunken bums in the yard? Why not? Of course the state had nothing to do with that most felicitous condition.
> What, no drunken bums in the yard? Why not?
Because the heads of the last three who tried are impaled on stakes out front, slowly rotting, the crows pecking their dead eyes out.
How'd you work out?
Where did you get the stakes?
> Where did you get the stakes?
They were bums. They had sticks with all their stuff in bags hanging from the ends of them, carrying said sticks over their shoulders. A few whacks with a machete, and the sticks made decent stakes.
> thin-out the Venusian atmosphere is to simultaneously air-burst tens of thousands of high-megaton fusion bombs and just blast all that CO2 out into space.
Sadly, that's not liekly to be effective... the atmosphere will just ride along in orbit with Venus, and largely "rain" back down.
You took their property? Is that different in principle from them taking your property?
>You took their property?
They didn't seem to need it.
> Is that different in principle from them taking your property?
Well, cops didn't do anything to stop it...
I'm sure there's a point here, somewhere, but I don't see it. Property rights in space, treaty or no, will be up to those who can defend their claim. Trash the OS Treaty, and some yutz could lay claim to the entire Moon. Who will defend that claim? Won't be the US gubmint.
If the Feds do as instructed, withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and establish private property rights in outer space, yes, they will. It won't be difficult.
Well, what are we waiting for let's go!
* The Craters at the poles are permanently shaded so you don't have the temperature extremes
* Mercury is about ½ the mass of Mars and 1/6 that of Venus with less of an atmosphere than both so to blast off the surface would require less fuel.
* It's on average closer to Earth than Mars so you wouldn't have the total distance to and from as you would with Mars.
* Venus can give a boost both going and coming to Mercury(remember Venus boosted Cassini onto Saturn)
* There is Hydrogen and Oxygen in the atmosphere and surface of Mercury so you can make fuel, breathable air or water unlike Mars where you can't make any of those out of Rust.
* There is water ice in the craters near the poles so we wouldn't have to carry as much on the journey
* Being close to the sun and being a very dense planet there are probably lots of heavy metals so the Mining opportunities are limitless
* There is Helium in Mercury's atmosphere and in it's rocks (where there is most likely a lot) and unlike Earth's Helium the much of the Helium on Mercury is probably in the form of He³ which is potential fuel for (cold?)fusion.
> If the Feds do as instructed...
BUAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!
> yes, they will. It won't be difficult.
What, you mean like how they protect private property rights now, through the miracle of Emminant Domain, "wetlands" protections, and all the rest? No thanks. A private army would be a better, safer bet.
The problem is then you have to get out of the Sun's gravity well, and that's no mean feat. The probe they're sending to Mercury is going to take years to get there, since it has to match Mercury's much higher orbital velocity.
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