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#1 Re: Life support systems » We need a brainstorming session! - Bat around a few ideas. » 2002-03-12 20:31:49
Just a thought... why not use high-altitude balloons to simulate a martian enviroment? I got to thinking about this when reading a National Geographic from a few years ago, it was about the history of ballooning. The military has used balloons to conduct high-altitude suit tests. One mission included the highest jump ever... from 102,000 feet. Took the guy 13 minutes to reach the ground, most of it free-falling.
Another thought...why would martian bases need to be on the ground? Why not floating in the atmosphere?
#2 Re: Water on Mars » Need help spreading the word - Water on Mars? » 2002-02-05 13:31:46
In one of JC's posts I read that the ice is rather rapidly dwindling. At the rate he specified, the ice should have been gone long ago. I wonder if there is something replenishing it
on a periodic basis, like hydrothermal action? Also, Mars is not quite dead, there is a potential for renewed volcanism and all the effects associated with volcanism could come into play, such as an increase in atmospheric gases.
#3 Re: Water on Mars » Need help spreading the word - Water on Mars? » 2002-02-04 21:01:49
Sorry for the triple post. In your post "Water Ice on Mars" you
state that there is about 300,000 cubic miles of water ice on the north polar ice cap. That translates into ALOT more water
than 3, 30, or even 300 trillion gallons. There is over 100 billion
cubic feet in a cubic mile. Assuming that a cubic foot only had
one gallon in it, that would be 100 billion gallons per cubic mile.
lets see here, 1,000 times a 100 billion is 100 trillion, times 300
is 30000 trillion gallons in total. This is a very rough guestimate. 
#4 Re: Water on Mars » Need help spreading the word - Water on Mars? » 2002-02-04 20:37:37
Whoops, did I misread your post? Did you mean 3 trillion is the amount missing, or the present total?
#5 Re: Water on Mars » Need help spreading the word - Water on Mars? » 2002-02-04 20:32:41
Where did you get your numbers? If 90% of the former total
is 3 trillion gallons, than 100% would be about 3.3 trillion gallons.
Doesn't seem like near enough water to create the channels. Those channels dwarf our biggest known flood, the Missoula flood 10,000 years ago. That flood had a flow rate of several CUBIC miles per hour, and lasted several days.
Of course, the martian channels flow rate would have depended on gradient and depth, plus it is unknown how many floods there were. Naturally, the lower gravity would affect the equation as well, possibly arguing for more water.
#6 Re: Water on Mars » Need help spreading the word - Water on Mars? » 2002-02-01 17:04:24
Thanks for the moral support! Even if you are a Red. 
#7 Re: Water on Mars » Need help spreading the word - Water on Mars? » 2002-02-01 10:38:02
I recently tried to start a Red/Green Mars debate amongst
the general populaton on another board. Tried and failed!
It was at www.desertusa.com, on the enviromental board.
All I got was a snide remark about the lack of water on Mars.
I would appreciate any help from people here to back me up there... I really think it is time for people who believe in space colonization(especially on Mars) to start spreading their views
on a broader basis.
A little about myself... I tend to look at the big picture. I believe that the mission of humans should be to spread Earth's life beyond Earth, as sooner or later a permanent extinction level event will occur. This is also what the
founder(s) of the Mars Society believe, as I saw on TV.
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