Terraforming Mars

Do you think it is a good idea to terraform Mars or the moon or any
other planet?

Whats the rush?

We've only set foot (briefly) on the Moon, have yet to set foot on
Mars. I don't have any objections to Terraforming, but I don't see
whats all the rush is. Besides its going to take a loooooong time to
make these places habitable. Also we aren't quite at the level to do
'constructive' whole scale enviromental remodeling, 'destructive' ,yes
we have that down pat ;^)

Just my $0.02


Space Cadet


derwetzelsDASHspacecadetATyahooDOTcom


Moon Society - St. Louis Chapter


http://www.moonsociety.org/chapters/stlouis/


The Moon Society is a non-profit educational and
scientific foundation formed to further scientific
study and development of the moon.

On 29 May 2005 09:14:10 -0700, in a place far, far away,
made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a
way as to indicate that:

Do you think it is a good idea to terraform Mars or the moon or any
other planet?

It's certainly not intrinsically a *bad* idea, unless you worship
rocks and dead environments, and hate humanity, and perhaps life
itself.

wrote:

Do you think it is a good idea to terraform Mars
or the moon or any other planet?

After studying them reasonably thoroughly, weighing the
various factors revealed by the studies -- well, that's
the time to ask the question and make the decision.

If the objects in question turn out to be dead rocks of
little interest or use, sure, go ahead and terraform
them.

If they turn out to be objects of interest -- say Mars
with prebiotic compounds or indications of early
life -- I'd hold off, study it more.

If there are living Marsbugs, I'd declare the planet
a nature preserve.

On 29 May 2005 10:25:53 -0700, in a place far, far away, "Space Cadet"
made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a way
as to indicate that:

Whats the rush?

Who's in a rush?

:

Do you think it is a good idea to terraform Mars or the moon or any
other planet?

???? Why do you even have to ask? You make it sound like it may be a bad
thing. Unless you think it is better to disassembly the planets to make
O'Neils.

Earl Colby Pottinger
--
I make public email sent to me! Hydrogen Peroxide Rockets, OpenBeos,
SerialTransfer 3.0, RAMDISK, BoatBuilding, DIY TabletPC. What happened to
the time? http://webhome.idirect.com/~earlcp

Earl Colby Pottinger wrote:

Do you think it is a good idea to terraform Mars or the moon or any
other planet?


???? Why do you even have to ask? You make it sound like it may be a bad
thing.

Of *course* it's a bad thing. It's blatantly economically nonsensical.

Paul

On 29 May 2005 09:14:10 -0700, wrote:

Do you think it is a good idea to terraform Mars or the moon or any
other planet?

No, that's why we have planetary eva space suits and pressurized
habitats on the drawing boards.



Christopher
++++++++++++
"The best way to keep one's word
is never to give it."

Napoleon Bonaparte

Earl Colby Pottinger wrote:
:

Do you think it is a good idea to terraform Mars or the moon or any
other planet?

???? Why do you even have to ask? You make it sound like it may be a bad
thing. Unless you think it is better to disassembly the planets to make
O'Neils.

Earl Colby Pottinger
--
I make public email sent to me! Hydrogen Peroxide Rockets, OpenBeos,
SerialTransfer 3.0, RAMDISK, BoatBuilding, DIY TabletPC. What happened to
the time? http://webhome.idirect.com/~earlcp

A small mountain could make hundreds of "O'Neils". It's hardly the
dissassembly of a planet, it's hardly scratching the surface. It is
like making bubbles. The huge unused volumn might make it economically
untenable, but it is an efficient use of materials, far more so than a
planet. There are about a trillion tons of earth per person, probably
enough to make floor space for the population of the US.
Assuming that terriforming mars were even possible, are there any
estimates on how long it would take? I can imagine the steps to space
habitats but with terraforming you have to wait untill the process is
complete.

On Sun, 29 May 2005 16:35:37 -0500, in a place far, far away, "Paul F.
Dietz" made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a
way as to indicate that:

Earl Colby Pottinger wrote:

Do you think it is a good idea to terraform Mars or the moon or any
other planet?


???? Why do you even have to ask? You make it sound like it may be a bad
thing.

Of *course* it's a bad thing. It's blatantly economically nonsensical.

Well, from that standpoint, it perhaps is. I inferred that the
question related more to "good idea" in an ethical sense, not an
economic one.