In article , says...

On Jul/27/2018 at 6:37 AM, Jeff Findley wrote :
In article ,
says...

Planetary Society Blog

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Liquid Water on Mars! Really for Real This Time (Probably)

Posted: 25 Jul 2018 09:11 AM PDT
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily...rs-really.html

A radar instrument on one of the oldest operational Mars orbiters has
discovered possible evidence of present-day liquid water on Mars.

This is really big news. We really, really need to explore this area to
determine how much water is there and how easy it is to get to. Water
means air to breathe and rocket fuel (CO2 from the atmosphere plus H2O
gives you liquid methane and liquid oxygen).

I should add also that using Martian water for rocket fuel is the right
thing to do at first. But once you have a well established colony you
will want to keep water for the colony. The colonist will probably want
their colony to grow. And they will want lots of water. The more water
you have the easier it is to have an attractive colony.

So start dropping comets on Mars. You're going to (eventually) need
more water than Mars has anyway. In the long run, you're going to want
to terraform the whole planet.

Some launch systems that are wacky and impractical here on Earth become
feasible on Mars. For instance, if you have some kind of maglev rail on
the slope of Olympus Mons, you have the advantage of near vacuum at the
top and lower orbital/escape speeds.

Have you run the numbers on that? Is it long enough to safely launch
people?

Jeff
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