Water found on Mars

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I mention both, seeding it with what would grow under present conditions, Arctic adapted, which if they survived would adapt and perhaps grow huge. This would likely be the ultimate fridge gone bad.

If humans want to live there upping the gravity to 1.2 Earth, by culling the Asteroid Belt, and adding mass. We are nowhere close to moving a small Moon, we could get a push boat to the Asteroid Belt, and nudge stuff into a Mars capture orbit.

1.2 Earth Gravity would hold more atmosphere, we can deal with pressure, 20psi surface would heat trap well. Ozone makes good shielding. Warm enough to stand on the surface, breathable air, 20% weight gain, useful Earth life like trees, grain, pasture could survive.

The remodel should have a Moon, both water and land tidal forces are important on Earth. Tidal forces do heat the planet. Nothing else reaches the core.

Science in this case seems a product of Science Fiction leading the way. Buck Rogers ruled the Solar System before humans had rockets.

This would be a several generation project, the payoff is huge, a whole other planet.

From the description, there seems to be a lot of water as ice on Mars.

Dropping enough asteroids to increase the mass could also adjust the orbit, bringing Mars closer the Sun.

We need to get the Second Graders on this as a project for their grandchildren. The first stage involves paper and crayons.

I think scientists came up with a name for foreign alien bugs invading earth called panspermia, the same applies to earth critters invading mars...

Yes with the way global economies are it will taken a few generations to fund such large scale interplanetary projects. According to Neil De Grasse Tyson NASA's annual budget is only a fraction of a cent in a budgetary dollar so there is grounds to potentially crowd fund NASA using social media. Alternatively the Dutch came up with reality TV show on Mars so potentially commercial sponsors could fund colonisation projects. Of course the first thing interstellar Aliens will see when they pass Mars is a giant red McDonalds logo...

Atmosphere's great, gravity is great, but you know what's necessary before any of that? A magnetosphere to hold all that crap in and prevent radiation from wiping out virtually any biological matter on the surface. To do that you'd need to reignite the dead core of the planet to get the iron mixing, good luck on that. Also in other news, they discovered a giant brown streak on Uranus...yes you did just read that.

Even if Mars colonization became a high priority ( lets say each major power -US, Russia, EU, China, etc. Decided to do without a defense budget and each agreed to put all of the 100s of billions they now spend on defense into space colonization) though it would speed up exploration of the planet- it would still take generations, and centuries. if not millenia to actually remodel the planet into being earth like- if that is even doable at all.

And like Aristophanes said- you need a live magnetic core to hold the atmosphere and water in. And it also helps to have more gravity. Both are influenced by the planet's total size. Size is what Mars lacks.

I saw a documentary on cable (Smithsonian channel?) in which they explained how back when solar system formed "Jupiter ate Mars's lunch".

According to the latest theory rocky planets want to get earth sized, and tend to get unstable and fall apart if they get much bigger than earth. Venus and earth are virtual twins, and Mars would have become a third earth-sized planet if Jupiter had not hogged the loose building material in that region of space for itself.

Though I am glad that Jupiter is there to absorb all of the bad meteors/comets that would hit us if it werent there- it still makes me angry at Jove for stunting Mars!

Just makes me livid!

Lol!


But we cant turn the clock back and redo Mars can we?

Interesting, I never doubted that there are simple life forms there.

So what? It's not like it's fresh or drinkable. But then again neither is the water here on Earth anymore.

Well...if they can find water on Mars, it gives us hope that they may find water in California!

Regarding the radiation blasting of the surface: I was reading about how naked mole rats never get cancer.

Scientists have shot them with x-rays and injected all sorts of carcinogens under their skin and they just shrug it off. So, biological defenses to radiation apparently exist. (And also in water bears, come to think of it.). So, I wonder if a radiation-resistant ecosystem could evolve? And, maybe that property could be engineered into other organisms.

I guess the evolution could be nipped in the bud if life has to evolve certain other properties first, though.


Future textbook chapter: "How Mars Became Overrun with GMO Corn & Naked Mole-Rats.

Maybe they can genetically engineer some plant that lives (and photosynthesizes) off of space radiation.

Actually nature already has created algae that thrive on the walls of radioactive buildings in Chernoble (if I understand that documentary I saw the other night).

Yes, that's all great, but all the other things needed for an atmosphere would need a magnetosphere to hold it all in, that's how it lost it's atmosphere in the first place: the core became dormant or slowed to the point that the iron on the inside started producing less magnetism and then the solar wind blew most of the atmosphere away. It is the key to any revival of habitable conditions on mars.

These are valid points but I don't think anyone realistically expects terra forming to be viable anyway.

What's more feasible is to develop biosphere type colonies on Mars which are self-sufficient and enclosed. We know there is ample water to supply growing colonies and in the future AI robots can mine the planet for minerals to make the scheme economically viable. The big drawback with these type of colonies is the reliance on earth to keep sending materials and supplies for a number of years. I think the Mars one mission planned by the Dutch for 2025 will hit this snag along with high risks of CO2 poisoning and other potential pitfalls. One estimate from MIT suggests (based on current planning) that the Mars one colonists will all die within 68 days.

Thank goodness they found a positive reason to justify all those billions of taxpayers dollars NASA gets, maybe this will result in them getting even more money to see if there is life.
Maybe even more money to send Man to Mars, just as soon as they work out how to get through the Van Allen belts having somehow forgotten how they passed through them when they went to the Moon.

Which is why such an endeavor will have to be as self-sufficient as possible. We now know crops can grow in microgravity, so Mars gravity should be fine. All you'd have to do (in theory) is develop means of recycling human waste products back into the crop system, as well as keep the CO2/O2 levels balanced.

The magnetosphere isn't responsible for holding the atmosphere in, or rather it depends on what you mean by that. The Earth's magnetosphere prevents the solar wind from blowing away the Earth's atmosphere. We know that Mars used to have a magnetosphere as well because there are still remnants of it but the loss of it's magnetosphere could be what was responsible for the loss of it's original atmosphere as well.

Let's face it, if anyone is going to live on Mars, they will have to live underground. Not an existence I would care for.
Why don't we quit pissing away money on a planet we can't use and spend it here where it is needed?