Topic: Terraforming Mars

[Nemesis]

Melting Mars To Create A New Earth

by Astrobiology Magazine
Moffett Field CA (SPX)
Feb 04, 2005

Injecting synthetic "super" greenhouse gases into the Martian atmosphere could raise the planet's temperature enough to melt its polar ice caps and create conditions suitable for sustaining biological life.

Best Way to Make Mars Habitable: Inject Greenhouse Gas

By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 03 February 2005
02:23 pm ET

The best way to make Mars habitable would be to inject synthetic greenhouse gases into its atmosphere, researchers said Thursday.

The stuff could be shipped to Mars or manufactured there.

Scientists and science-fiction authors have long pondered terraforming Mars, melting the vast stores of ice in its polar caps to create an environment suitable for humans. The topic is highly controversial.

Some think earthlings have no right to mess with the climate of another planet. Others see Mars as a refuge for people who might need to flee this world as conditions deteriorate. Another argument holds that Mars was likely warmer and wetter in its distant past, and it might have harbored life, so bringing it back to a previous state makes sense.

[Bonk]

Lol, this led me to this illuminating "review": http://www.wordsfromhere.com/movies/32.html ...guess how...

[J. Carney]

"Some think earthlings have no right to mess with the climate of another planet."

WTF?

That is one of the most idiotic statements that I have EVER heard. Humanity is expanding more rapidly than the Earth can contain, and will VERY soon reach a point where the Earth alone can't support it.

We need some room to grow, and since we are still a ways off from interstellar travel, terraforming Mars is a VERY logical choice.

[Nemesis]

Link to full article

Mars Express 'divining rod' to deploy

A "divining rod" to search for underground water on Mars will be deployed on Europe's Mars Express spacecraft in the first week of May 2005, after a year of delays.

Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding - or MARSIS - consists of wires strung inside three long fibreglass tubes. These will seek water - which might provide oases for life - as deep as several kilometres below the Martian surface.

Now to see if the resources for terraforming are there.

[Stormbringer]

I disagreee with their assessment of the best methods. The best method would be aerosolized catalytic agents or bio-engineered organisms that reproduce rapidly. They could likely be set to die off when thier reason for being is accomplished. a living terraformer would grow exponetially, thus the process would be self sustaining self terminating and exponentially accelerated. I think it not unreasonable to believe it could be achieved within 50 years.

[Centurus]

We could always ship all politicans to Mars, as it is now.  :-D  Just kidding.  But this is a very interesting concept.  I remember reading in grade school that by 2020 or so, NASA hoped to have a self contained community established on Mars.

[E_Look]

We could always ship all politicans to Mars, as it is now.  :-D  Just kidding.  But this is a very interesting concept.  I remember reading in grade school that by 2020 or so, NASA hoped to have a self contained community established on Mars.

Daihak, just to take off on your joke in a more serious direction, have you ever read Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles?  There was a story about sending folks to Mars in it.