If we could, should we create an atmosphere on Mars...

[GKirk]

...so that we could inhabit that planet?

I've heard of theories that say it's possible to do that. And since Mars appears to be a dead planet at this time why would it be wrong?

[liberal N proud]

1. Sure - Why not fuck up another planet

we have gotten so good at fucking up this one.


:sarcasm:

[ChillbertKChesterton]

10. I don't think the planet cares

and besides, gazing up at two moons would be awesome

[NickB79]

25. I don't see how it's possible to fuck up a dead world

It already is bone-dry desert, freezing cold, and pummeled by hard radiation every day.

We could drop every ounce of hot nuclear waste we have on a big pile there and probably improve the situation by creating a warm spot for bacteria to huddle around.

Even a half-assed attempt at adding atmosphere would still make it suitable for bacterial and invertebrate life, which is better than nothing.

[zappaman]

27. not true

there is ample evidence of a civilization being on Mars at some point in the past.
In fact, there is a great deal of scientific research that hypothesizes there might still be life there, but now they live underground.
I, for one, see no reason to make them angry.

[NickB79]

29. That has got to be sarcasm, right?

What ample evidence of civilization on Mars? I'll definitely concede there could be bacterial life present underground, but that's a FAR cry from little green men.

[zappaman]

31. yes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0RY0Z9z-MM

it makes sense that they would now be below the surface

[NickB79]

33. The face of Mars is a crock, plain and simple

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast24may_1/

BTW, when was that video you posted made, the 1980's? I just love the "sophisticated computers" they were using :rofl:

[zappaman]

34. Does it matter what year it was produced?

Somebody made that face.
And unless you are crazy enough to think that mankind somehow snuck up there, the only explanation is an intelligent civilization on Mars.
Ever read War Of The Worlds?
Where were the aliens from again? Oh, right...

[hifiguy]

2. If it's a dead planet, why not?

This has been the stuff of serious speculative fiction for years. I propose that, if done, we ship fundies and the teatalitarians there en masse. Since none of them believe in science, they will never be able to build anything to harm us.

[FiveGoodMen]

7. If we're going to ship the fundies there, we should skip creating any atmosphere

Seriously, moving people from here to there could well be a bigger problem than making the air.

So it's not really going to do anything to help overcrowding on earth.

[Avalux]

3. I know how that movie ends. n/t

[Drale]

4. Yes because we need another planet to explore

Societies that stop exploring fall. I'm tired of people bitching because "space exploration is useless" but what better reason do we need to explore then just to see whats out there?

[WCGreen]

5. Oh why not.....

Arnold did it back in the 80's...

[tridim]

6. We'd need a stronger magnetic field too.

No use breathing oxygen while being pummeled with radiation.

[dawg]

8. I think it would be great.

If it ever became cost-effective, that is. It's important to the long-term survival of the human race that we become a spacefaring civilization. As it stands today, one comet or asteroid (or Xindi attack) and it's all over.

[Ohio Joe]

9. Yes

Migrating to other planets should be a priority.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Yes... In fact if the species is to survive

We need to work on extra-solar colonization if such an animal is possible.

[zappaman]

12. right....

as if the aliens who have the earth quarantined would ever let THAT happen.

:eyes:

[lunatica]

13. Why else would we go to outer space for?

Of Course. Once we start colonizing the planets within a generation those people will think of themselves as citizens of that planet, not Earth.

[GKirk]

14. It would be a little bit different

to go to Mars and build structures to live in and always have to wear pressurized suits when leaving them
compared to creating an atmoshere that we could breath.

[hunter]

23. Or build people who don't need an atmosphere to breathe...

Seems that would be quite a bit less destructive than terraforming an entire planet.

[3waygeek]

15. Let's just tell everyone we did it...

then encourage the Republicans to colonize Mars -- it is the Red planet, after all. It's not like Republican brains need oxygen.

[Tesha]

16. Just as long as we don't have Weyland-Yutani do it!

[GKirk]

17. No I'm sure the job would go out to

Haliburton.

[Tesha]

24. (It's funny you said that; I was considering making some sort of Cheney joke.) (NT)

[Terry in Austin]

35. Private colonizing of space

Not sure how secure I'd feel living in a place where my only source of oxygen was from the company store.

[Terry in Austin]

18. If we can put a man on the moon

...why can't we put a man on the moon?

I think the rude fact is that the Space Age is over. I'm having a hard time with that, having grown up with the promise of expansion beyond Earth for humanity and maybe a hotel stay on the Moon for my elderly self. And all the cool science in between, I couldn't get enough of it.

For all the wonder that science fiction and the space race inspired, however, it's not turning out that way. The last shuttle flight seemed to start solidifying a lot of doubts about what many of us have long assumed was our destiny expanding to other planets. But as the fella says, "the future ain't what it used to be."

It used to be that The Future -- constant technological progress that features "final frontier" space travel -- was a fitting narrative for our aspirations, a declaration of who we are, another Manifest Destiny. It was also a narrative of unlimited resources, and as we come closer to bumping up against real physical resource limits, perhaps it doesn't fit so well any more.

It's a tough one to process, but I think we have to seriously start finding ways to accept the fact that it will be a long, long time before we'll be doing any spacefaring worthy of the term -- if ever.

Even if all the "technically feasible" boxes could be ticked, it's still not about the "could," but rather the "will." I don't believe there is sufficient political or institutional will for space travel that can occur in the world-system as it is presently organized.

It'll take a whole new world, right here in this world. And then we'll need to find something to put in the fuel tanks...

[Confusious]

22. It's the America of today

Zero Vision
Zero thoughts of the future

Government and corporations both. And that bleeds to the public

[WheelWalker]

19. Red Mars / Green Mars / Blue Mars

An excellent read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kestrel91316]

21. Tell the Repigs we found gold there. They'll all head there en masse

and die in the new Gold Rush due to failure to understand the basic scientific folly of the endeavor.

No rotating iron core, no magnetic field: cosmic rays or whatever will make short work of them.

[NickB79]

26. You'd need to both terraform the surface and genetically engineer the human colonists

It would theoretically take centuries, if not millenia, to complete the process to a full Earth-like atmosphere (assuming it can be done at all). In the meantime, you need to genetically engineer humans to survive on less O2, more C02, in colder climates at lower air pressures and with more radiation exposure. Trying to terraform a planet without changing the humans living on it is an all-or-nothing approach that only makes things more difficult. It would also mean you don't have to terraform the planet all the way to full Earth-like, saving time and money.

[Owlet]

28. Terraforming

Terraforming_of_Mars.

Of course, it'll never happen under a GOP administration as it's obviously a librul terraist plot

[Bosonic]

30. Yes

as colonising another planet makes Humanity resistant to all but the harshest extinction level events (like nearby supernovae).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming#Mars

[The2ndWheel]

32. So privatize it?

I like that we don't want to live by the regulations of the planet, we just need to keep growing. Then we bitch about Exxon, or Wal-Mart, or whatever, when they want to write the rules which govern them. Just part of the absurdity of life.

[Bake]

36. Why bother?

When the sun explodes, it's going to get both planets anyway.

Bake

[chillspike]

37. Yes we should inhabit as many planets as we can

The more planets humans have colonized, the more our species survivability increases. If earth were hit by a giant comet right now, all of humanity would be extinguished because right now we have all our eggs in one basket. I also support creating giant space traveling biospheres that can position themselves around the sun and adjust their position when necessary to avoid meteors and collect solar energy.