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valkery
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valkery
1,255 posts
Nomad

We now will apparently only have to wait ten to twenty years to go to Mars. Thanks SpaceX!

Now, in ten years or so, we will be going to Mars. SpaceX claims it's rocket will be a transporter, not a colonizer, but hopefully we can work our way up to colonizing sometime before I die.

  • 47 Replies
Sheppard007
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Sheppard007
237 posts
Nomad

Or maybe mars can be a like a prison planet, you know, like Australia was to the Brits.

Kalb789
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Kalb789
639 posts
Baron

How, we would have a whole planets worth of land. I call that a resource


nothing would be usable on mars. everything of use there would have to be brought from earth. the only thing that is of value there is extra living space if we needed it, but we have the oceans to colonize, and if we won't ever run out of room on earth because resources here can't support that # of people.
Kalb789
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Kalb789
639 posts
Baron

extra-terrestrial colonization is the key to the survival of the human species, a species with our caliber of potential can't be dependent on just one planet, we must eventually look out to the stars for progression.

Not only that, but over population would be a thing of the past!


the concern with overpopulation is exhaustion of natural resources. colonization of other planets wouldn't give us anything except for a few useless minerals.

sorry for the DP
valkery
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valkery
1,255 posts
Nomad

the concern with overpopulation is exhaustion of natural resources


True.

colonization of other planets wouldn't give us anything except for a few useless minerals.



False. The colonization of other planets would allow for us to make other planets as fertile as Earth, and to get minerals and ores from the other planet. We add one, and we could easily add another, gathering the resources from each, to bolster our supplies. It is basic math. The more you have, the more you can use without running out.
MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
9,462 posts
Farmer

False. The colonization of other planets would allow for us to make other planets as fertile as Earth


I think the terraforming of Mars isn't very likely, given the solar winds would just rip any atmosphere we would try to create away. We would have to first establish some sort of artificial magnetosphere. If we could do that then it could be quite possible. What we could do instead is create self contained habitats across the planet. This would allow for us to produce fertile environments.
HahiHa
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HahiHa
8,256 posts
Regent

I agree with Mage, terraforming a planet seems very unlikely; best would be to build autonomous ecosystems a la Biosphere or similar. That will be already enough work to do I guess.

MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
9,462 posts
Farmer

We would have to first establish some sort of artificial magnetosphere.


Hmmm, it would seem we are working on doing just that.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6567709.stm
HahiHa
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HahiHa
8,256 posts
Regent

I'd prefer to see the moon colonized before Mars, jus' sayin'.

You really want to look up in the night sky and see a populated moon? I think it should keep it's charme.. I mean surely the moon is closer and all, but yeah...
MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
9,462 posts
Farmer

You really want to look up in the night sky and see a populated moon? I think it should keep it's charme.. I mean surely the moon is closer and all, but yeah...


We may not even notice. For example here's what the Earth looks like from the moon, can you tell it's heavily populated?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fleur-design/698695850/
loganada
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loganada
186 posts
Nomad

This is a 12 year round-trip isnt it? With todays dissapointing Space program, I don't think USA will even launch until the mid 2030's

MageGrayWolf
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MageGrayWolf
9,462 posts
Farmer

Another thing with colonizing Mars is we won't have the sun to really rely on for power.

That's the sun seen from Mars.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pingnews/436670436/

qwerty1011
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qwerty1011
554 posts
Peasant

You really want to look up in the night sky and see a populated moon? I think it should keep it's charme.. I mean surely the moon is closer and all, but yeah...


Aesthetics shouldn't stop progress and like mage said I doubt we will notice that much. At least not in the early stages. It might be a bit harder going onto the dark side though since we lose the suns power and light.
PracticalManiac
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PracticalManiac
295 posts
Peasant

This is possibly the coolest thing I have read in a while. I think 20 years max is extremely over exagerated but I'm glad we are heading in the space direction some how

darnell13
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darnell13
195 posts
Nomad

Aesthetics shouldn't stop progress and like mage said I doubt we will notice that much. At least not in the early stages. It might be a bit harder going onto the dark side though since we lose the suns power and light.


The dark side of the moon is a figure of speech. It rotates as well so there aren't spots on the moon that always have no sun. It has a day and night cycle just like we do.
HahiHa
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HahiHa
8,256 posts
Regent

We may not even notice. For example here's what the Earth looks like from the moon, can you tell it's heavily populated?

Apart from your picture showing basicly water and almost no land, I know we wouldn't see much if we look at it just like that in the night. But wait for some centuries and a few metropoles, and those astrology freaks with their telescopes will see a moon with some organized lichen-like spots on it :P but that's all enormously hypothetical and futuristic for now anyway..

The dark side of the moon is a figure of speech. It rotates as well so there aren't spots on the moon that always have no sun. It has a day and night cycle just like we do.

The rotational period of the moon is the same than it's orbital period, resulting in it showing always more or less the same hemisphere to the earth. There's a nice .gif, I hope it works here...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Lunar_libration_with_phase2.gif
If not, look it up here:
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