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populating mars
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by Mesousa_san
on 2007-03-31 22:48:24
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I read in a magazine that a scientist has come up with a way to make Mars habitable. His plan is to build a factory on mars to create a green house affect on mars. Which will allow it to grow trees and other plants, which will create oxygen. Supposedly this will make it habitable. My question is could this plan actually work if the government funded it? I've thought about this and it sounds like it could work, but I don't know.  |
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Re: populating mars
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by
on 2007-04-01 00:28:46 (edited 2007-04-01 00:42:45)
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The process of creating an atmosphere that will support human life on a planet that currently has none is called Terraforming. Simply put, mankind does have the resources to perform this task of terraforming Mars. Mankind also has the resources to end world hunger. It seems to me like terraforming Mars is much more challenging than ending world hunger. But, the powers that be seem unable or, as the case may be, unwilling to get the job done. In the case of terraforming Mars, there might be more of an interest by superpowers like the US government. Recent findings suggest that there is indeed a lot of water ice that make up the subterranean (or at least not clearly visible) ice caps of Mars. Experts say this water should be sufficient to produce large water oceans. The main differences between Mars and the Earth are: distance from the sun (earth is closer and thus receives more radiation per square meter), size (mars is a little bit smaller), magnetic field (of which mars has little or none), and geological activity (again, mars lacks, likely to be the reason it has no magnetic field, either), and atmosphere (mars has little to none). While we can produce an atmosphere through many different methods, i do not expect mankind would be able to produce any geological activity, nor magnetic field, on mars. Of course, we can't change it's size or distance from the sun, either. Given a temperate climate and breathable air thanks to photosynthesis (or another method, perhaps!), solar radiation would still be a huge problem for animals such as ourselves. Without a magnetosphere, the plasma coming from the sun would bombard the atmosphere, possibly creating problems that do not exist on Earth. Ultraviolet light might also be a problem, if the atmosphere lacks ozone (O3). 
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Re: populating mars
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by
on 2007-04-01 03:59:32 |
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Well, we can just bring some of the Earth's polluted air (mixture of ozone and other weird gases) to mars. Its seems really highly unlikely anyone will invest on such risky projects. However, since some countries actually bought 'plots' of land on mars (for reasons i do not know), it could be possible they would want to expand mars habitable. But, then again. Every nanometer counts. If Earth moves out of orbit even by a single negligible distance, it could cause great problems. and Mars is like... So... building domes (like in science fiction movies) is more feasible to me.  A friend of today is an enemy of tomorrow. I am an empty shell. I don't feel loved at all |
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Re: populating mars
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@ Reinforce: Taking any significant amount of air to Mars would cost hundreds of billions of dollars (if not more). If it was, in any way, affordable to transport such large amounts of matter into space, we would have launched all our garbage and nuclear waste into the sun long ago. Also, Earth orbits the sun in a wobbly pattern. Meaning it goes from a fairly circular orbit (as current) to a more elliptical one, such as that of Pluto. It will be quite a while before it starts sliding back into an elliptical orbit, but when that does happen, there will be extreme winters and summers which will be felt even in areas near the equator.
Wise Man says: "Take a dog off its leash and it will wander."
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Re: populating mars
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by
on 2007-04-02 19:54:31 |
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I have never heard of any significant changes in the earth's orbit. I know that it does change based on the relative locations of Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, but the physical distance of the earth form the sun is not a large factor. Consider that the the earth is closest to the sun during winter in the northern hemisphere and it has little effect on the climate. Granted, over thousands of years, the distance does impact the relative levels of carbon dioxide and methane in predictable cycles, but the change is far less than that caused by human activities such as industrial manufacturing and the growing of rice. But in regard to Mars: it is simply not practical. To build-up an atmosphere to a reasonable pressure and imbue it with a high enough oxygen content would be a massive and very long term endeavor. Even if that were completed, and that is a big if, the issue of Mars' eccentric orbit and "wobbly" tilt would prevent a stable environment from forming and sustaining itself. Isolated communities with hydroponic gardens would be a much more practical, though still by no means simple or cheap, alternative.  The greatest joy is the shameful joy |
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Re: populating mars
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by
on 2007-04-03 04:34:02 (edited 2007-04-03 04:47:56)
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A simplistic explanation for the terraforming of Mars Other good reads are at Wikipedia but do take the readings with a pinch of salt. They are not peer-reviewed. Terraforming in general Martian Terraforming Venus also provides a very interesting terraforming problem. Further out, Titan is viable option for human partial colonization followed by Ceres (but this cannot be terraformed).  |
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Re: populating mars
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by MiCHiYo μ
on 2007-04-03 05:19:15 (edited 2007-04-03 05:19:50)
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Ah. Yes. How stuff works. XD I have never heard of any significant changes in the earth's orbit. Hmmmm. Haven't, but hey, it's possible. The reason why we're even in an orbit is because of the gravitational pull from the sun. Think pluto, which just fell away. If something goes wrong with the sun, it's goodbye days for us. but the physical distance of the earth form the sun is not a large factor. I disagree. It does. I think I have somewhat answered this above. The further the distance, the lesser gravitational pull. it is simply not practical. True. Starting off with the mere fact that it is uninhabitable without terraforming is already a cold start. What more ice caps melting? -michiyo- (darn it. i was supposed to be able to post before evan editted, but i dozed off. grr.) 
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Re: populating mars
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by squishy11114
on 2007-04-07 22:25:36
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not only is it not practical but it is not possable due to the fact that Mars has almost no magnetic field, there for nothing to sheild it from solar winds. the solar wind strips a planet of its atmosphere this would negate any terraforming efforts.  |
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Re: populating mars
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by
on 2007-04-07 22:50:44 |
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Venus has no internally generated magnetic field but is a prime example (or counter-example) that an atmosphere is still able to exist on that planet. The possibility is there. The limitations are related to the scale, cost and feasibility of the mammoth project. It would be interesting if it were possible to manufacture magnetosphere generators or projectors that cover a limited area. Leading from that, it would not be too radical to imagine building them across the surface (albeit with considerable tuning with each installation since each magnetosphere would affect the other), just like the candy sprinkles on the top of an ice cream scoop (Do you like the analogy? *laughs*). |
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Re: populating mars
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A noble idea, but impractical at best. Think of the workers building the magnetospheres. Should we sacrifice few for the sake of many? They'd likely not live long enough to finish one. Also, the terrain would be quite inhospitable and the unpredictability, or rather the sheer force of the planet's climate wouldn't make it feasible. Of course, anything is possible. How likely it is, though, is another story. OOC: It's been a while, I think. |
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Re: populating mars
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Since I was currently researching the possibilities of terra-forming Mars for a story I've been writing, I came upon certain facts that may make such an endeavor very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Although a lack of a magnetosphere has little effect on a planet's atmospheric possibilities, without one a planet cannot support life at all. Facts say that solar radiation has the capacity to break down DNA and without a protective barrier against the solar wind, it will be hopeless to put life on Mars. Life forms that are exposed in solar flare activity (where radiation is at its peak) will start to have health problems and such and eventually die. All manned spacecraft are protected from such radiation by sheilding to prevent or minimize risks of cancer or other health risks for the astronauts. If humans can build a machine that can generate a planet-wide magnetosphere then all will be fine. Perhaps humans can invent something to reanimate the metallic core of Mars so that the planet can generate its own magnetic field. Maybe. It's a gargantuan project that people have never done before, we can't say for sure what will happen. I believe life, even on the microscopic scale, may have existed on Mars in the past during the time when it had its own magnetosphere. Life may have been wiped out when the core started to cool eventually loosing the dynamo effect that creates the magnetic field. It's just my opinion. I'm not really sure. I'm not a scientist anyway. |