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I think that with a lot of work Mars maybe able to support human life, but it will not be an easy task. First of all, Mars has no magnetosphere to speak of, this means that Mars is always being bombarded by high energy particles from the Sun. Lets say they terraform Mars, the problem is how do you keep an atmosphere in tact when the solar winds are trying to strip it away. So in essence, life on Mars would have to be moved underground, a Sunday afternoon walk on the surface would be suicide unless you had your 5 million dollar suit on.
As a kid I thought going to Mars would be cool, now days, well, I can go to the high deserts here in Oregon and get almost the same experience and it's a lot safer.
Thank you for that....
this has never been an interest, I don't know much about planets, and such, so, thank you for the interesting read.....
There's the Mars mission paradox -- the logistical hurdles and cost of a "round trip" mission to Mars are so enormous that you would never plan your first manned mission there as a round trip. Round trip is 10 times as complicated. No way. But the social hurdles of a "one way" mission to Mars are such that the public would never support such a "suicide" trip. Therefore you'll never go to Mars.
There are various ways around it. One of them is to just lie about it.
I heard this topic on Diane Riehm last week. It was something like first person walking on the planet by 2027, with a colony of 20,000 people within 50 years.
Mars is a dreadfully boring planet, and incredibly hostile to Earth life (though it pales in comparison to Venus in that regard). Terraforming Mars and its atmosphere would take centuries, and it may not ever really be possible for Mars to maintain a thick atmosphere.
Titan is a much more interesting prospect, but getting a person to Titan alive is about 100 times more complicated than getting one to Mars. Space is big, really big, even interplanetary space, and we're cursed with a collection of planets (other than Earth) that really aren't very interesting and certainly not from a colonization standpoint.
I've been to Mars in the Oculus Rift DK2 (on a brand new state of the art $3000 gaming computer with a nine cubic foot case and liquid cooled dual video cards). I walked around on its surface for a while. I knelt to look at its rocks. I peered at its mountains. I watched its sunset. That's about all I need, personally.
yes, but and I apologize, but would Mars be able to sustain human life?
I don't think so. The "colonists" would need to bring everything with them, enough to last a LONG time, and without steady resupply...sayanora. The ship would need to be massive. Probably my have to build it in orbit. No wah we have the propulsion tech to get it off the ground. It would have to carry all the things needed to establish a base, that's a lot, then four people are going to put it all together?
I think its a wild dream. Establishing a Mars colony, will take the effort of the whole world, I don't see it happening anytime soon.
The painful fact that millions of Americans cannot discern "pop" science from "hard" science is a root cause of so many of the discontents, disappointments and unrealistic expectations encountered at this forum every day.
In a society which truly fosters and respects serious learning, the myths would be dispelled in the nation's classrooms; but the NEA's alliance with the "global warming" crowd,, and similar peddlers of myth, make this impossible.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 08-04-2015 at 10:56 AM..
yes, but and I apologize, but would Mars be able to sustain human life?
Not without artificial life support systems. The atmospheric pressure of Mars is about 100 times less than that of Earth's and is about 95 percent carbon monoxide with only 0.13 percent oxygen. You would need a pressure suit to walk around on the surface.
Also, the gravity on Mars is only about 38 percent that of Earth's which may or may not be enough in terms of maintaining bone and muscle strength over the long term.
We will eventually have a manned mission to Mars, but I doubt if the Mar's One organization will be the one to do it. NASA is working toward the goal of sending a man to Mars (round trip).
Mars is essentially uninhabitable. You could build a colony there but it would need to be heavily supported by technology. Mars is freezing at its hottest time of day and dips to arctic temperatures at night. Fun fact for those who believe that CO2 causes global warming - the martian atmosphere is 95 percent CO2.
Fun fact for those who believe that CO2 causes global warming - the martian atmosphere is 95 percent CO2.
Well yah, but 95 percent of not much is not much. The "greenhouse effect" is essential for life on Earth. Venus is 96.5% CO2 but its atmospheric pressure is 80 to 100 times that of Earth's. It's all relative. Venus exhibits a "runaway greenhouse effect." Earth will eventually look a lot like Venus, as all of our water becomes clouds.
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Speaking of pop science, get set for "The Martian" this October, starring Matt "I'll have to science the **** out of it" Damon.
Mars is essentially uninhabitable. You could build a colony there but it would need to be heavily supported by technology. Mars is freezing at its hottest time of day and dips to arctic temperatures at night. Fun fact for those who believe that CO2 causes global warming - the martian atmosphere is 95 percent CO2.
Fun facts for those who didn't stop taking science classes after the 8th grade and haven't fail to comprehend everything they've ever read about global warming:
*The sun causes planets to warm - atmospheres merely retain that warmth
*The Martian atmosphere is less than 1% as dense as that of Earth
*Due to the inverse-square law, a square meter on Mars receives only 45% as much solar energy as a square meter on Earth
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