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Originally posted by zzetta13:
Well…….since you’re askin, I do have some thoughts on this subject.

First, I don’t think we’ll see visitation or colonization of the Red Planet in our lifetime. Why? Because humankind has become too cautions. Not to say that, that is a bad thing, it’s just to say that the inhabitants of earth have place the bar of not losing a human life out in the blackness of space down to 0 (zero). Which as we all know is impossible!

The old seafarers of yesteryear knew there was always a chance their bodies would never be recovered had they become lost in the vastness of the earth‘s oceans, yet their essence would remain a part of this world. Not so with a victim of space travel. If you’re lost in the void you’re just out there in the nothingness. Sorry about being so morbid but it’s just how I see it and it’s a primal fear that resides in everyone’s soul. Theory of Relativity, you are born of the earth- you are a living soul of the earth- and when you die you will become a part of the earth……unless you exhaust out in the blankness of the universe, where does you essence end up then?

Now, a good way to visit and explore the Red Planet is by robot, and I DO mean Terminator style machines. This is the way I see us exploring the landscape of Mars in the near future, by robot. Robots will become the true Martians until that time when the first human baby is born on that world.

I do think it will happen, but it is a hell of a long way off.

Z

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A lonely island in the middle of the South Atlantic conceals Charles Darwin's best-kept secret.

Two hundred years ago, Ascension Island was a barren volcanic edifice.

Today, its peaks are covered by lush tropical "cloud forest".

What happened in the interim is the amazing story of how the architect of evolution, Kew Gardens and the Royal Navy conspired to build a fully functioning, but totally artificial ecosystem.

By a bizarre twist, this great imperial experiment may hold the key to the future colonisation of Mars.

[. . .]

"What it tells us is that we can build a fully functioning ecosystem through a series of chance accidents or trial and error."

In effect, what Darwin, Hooker and the Royal Navy achieved was the world's first experiment in "terra-forming". They created a self-sustaining and self-reproducing ecosystem in order to make Ascension Island more habitable.

Wilkinson thinks that the principles that emerge from that experiment could be used to transform future colonies on Mars. In other words, rather than trying to improve an environment by force, the best approach might be to work with life to help it "find its own way".

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Originally posted by pizmobeach:
You should check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

"Green Mars—Terraforming
Green Mars takes its title from the stage of terraforming that has allowed plants to grow. It picks up the story from Red Mars, following the lives of the remaining First Hundred and their children and grandchildren. Hiroko Ai's base under the south pole is attacked by UN forces, and the survivors are forced to escape into a (less literal) underground organization known as the Demimonde. Among the expanded group are the First Hundred's children, the Nisei, a number of whom live in Ai's second secret base, Zygote.
As unrest in the multinational control over Mars' affairs grow, various groups start to form with different aims and methods. Watching these groups evolve from Earth, the CEO of the Praxis Corporation sends a representative, Arthur Randolph, to organize the resistance movements. This culminates into the Dorsa Brevia agreement, in which nearly all the underground factions take part. Preparations are made for a second revolution beginning in the 2120s.
The book follows the characters across the martian landscape, which is explained in detail. As Sax Russell's character infiltrates the transnat terraforming project, the newly evolving martian biosphere is described at great length. A mainstay of the novel is a detailed analysis of philosophical, political, personal, economical, and geological experiences of the characters. The story weaves back and forth from character to character, providing a picture of Mars as seen by them.
One major event is a sudden, catastrophic rise in Earth's global sea levels, which is caused not primarily by any greenhouse effect but by the eruption of a chain of volcanoes underneath the ice of west Antarctica, disintegrating the ice sheet and displacing the fragments into the ocean."

Pretty good read, especially for what you are interested in.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Originally posted by pizmobeach:
You should check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

"Green Mars—Terraforming
Green Mars takes its title from the stage of terraforming that has allowed plants to grow. It picks up the story from Red Mars, following the lives of the remaining First Hundred and their children and grandchildren. Hiroko Ai's base under the south pole is attacked by UN forces, and the survivors are forced to escape into a (less literal) underground organization known as the Demimonde. Among the expanded group are the First Hundred's children, the Nisei, a number of whom live in Ai's second secret base, Zygote.
As unrest in the multinational control over Mars' affairs grow, various groups start to form with different aims and methods. Watching these groups evolve from Earth, the CEO of the Praxis Corporation sends a representative, Arthur Randolph, to organize the resistance movements. This culminates into the Dorsa Brevia agreement, in which nearly all the underground factions take part. Preparations are made for a second revolution beginning in the 2120s.
The book follows the characters across the martian landscape, which is explained in detail. As Sax Russell's character infiltrates the transnat terraforming project, the newly evolving martian biosphere is described at great length. A mainstay of the novel is a detailed analysis of philosophical, political, personal, economical, and geological experiences of the characters. The story weaves back and forth from character to character, providing a picture of Mars as seen by them.
One major event is a sudden, catastrophic rise in Earth's global sea levels, which is caused not primarily by any greenhouse effect but by the eruption of a chain of volcanoes underneath the ice of west Antarctica, disintegrating the ice sheet and displacing the fragments into the ocean."

Pretty good read, especially for what you are interested in.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Quote:

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Originally posted by pizmobeach:
You should check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

"Green Mars—Terraforming
Green Mars takes its title from the stage of terraforming that has allowed plants to grow. It picks up the story from Red Mars, following the lives of the remaining First Hundred and their children and grandchildren. Hiroko Ai's base under the south pole is attacked by UN forces, and the survivors are forced to escape into a (less literal) underground organization known as the Demimonde. Among the expanded group are the First Hundred's children, the Nisei, a number of whom live in Ai's second secret base, Zygote.
As unrest in the multinational control over Mars' affairs grow, various groups start to form with different aims and methods. Watching these groups evolve from Earth, the CEO of the Praxis Corporation sends a representative, Arthur Randolph, to organize the resistance movements. This culminates into the Dorsa Brevia agreement, in which nearly all the underground factions take part. Preparations are made for a second revolution beginning in the 2120s.
The book follows the characters across the martian landscape, which is explained in detail. As Sax Russell's character infiltrates the transnat terraforming project, the newly evolving martian biosphere is described at great length. A mainstay of the novel is a detailed analysis of philosophical, political, personal, economical, and geological experiences of the characters. The story weaves back and forth from character to character, providing a picture of Mars as seen by them.
One major event is a sudden, catastrophic rise in Earth's global sea levels, which is caused not primarily by any greenhouse effect but by the eruption of a chain of volcanoes underneath the ice of west Antarctica, disintegrating the ice sheet and displacing the fragments into the ocean."

Pretty good read, especially for what you are interested in.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Originally posted by Cybersnark:
Just came across this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11137903

Quote:

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A lonely island in the middle of the South Atlantic conceals Charles Darwin's best-kept secret.

Two hundred years ago, Ascension Island was a barren volcanic edifice.

Today, its peaks are covered by lush tropical "cloud forest".

What happened in the interim is the amazing story of how the architect of evolution, Kew Gardens and the Royal Navy conspired to build a fully functioning, but totally artificial ecosystem.

By a bizarre twist, this great imperial experiment may hold the key to the future colonisation of Mars.

[. . .]

"What it tells us is that we can build a fully functioning ecosystem through a series of chance accidents or trial and error."

In effect, what Darwin, Hooker and the Royal Navy achieved was the world's first experiment in "terra-forming". They created a self-sustaining and self-reproducing ecosystem in order to make Ascension Island more habitable.

Wilkinson thinks that the principles that emerge from that experiment could be used to transform future colonies on Mars. In other words, rather than trying to improve an environment by force, the best approach might be to work with life to help it "find its own way".

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Originally posted by Cybersnark:
CO2 is only a problem for animals; plants would like it (and plants seem to have a greater tolerance for radiation as well, so they could get started oxigenating while we figure out how to spin up the magnetosphere).

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Quote:

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Originally posted by Cybersnark:
CO2 is only a problem for animals; plants would like it (and plants seem to have a greater tolerance for radiation as well, so they could get started oxigenating while we figure out how to spin up the magnetosphere).

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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