New Mars Forums

"I have wondered if you could have two reactors, in a chain, one fusing H2O and then one splitting it, sending it back to the first one to run the chain again.  it seems to me like an endless power chain, with very low maintenance."

Ummm...
You can't get more energy out of a system than you put into it. If you tried the above with two perfect reactors (i.e. 100% efficiency), at best you would get just barely enough power to keep the reactors running, with no leftover to power anything else.

Basic laws of Thermodynamics. Sorry.

I have suggested elsewhere that the habs be made of self-sealing material in case they're punctured, whether its by a meteorite or something else.

That said, I think it would more likely be the something else.

According to several studies, humans are no longer able to sense or respond to pheremones. We just don't have the same triggers that animals have. Even extremely high concentrations of pheremones in the air have no effect on human behavior.

Also: psychological studies of group dynamics have shown that when small groups of people were forced to live in isolation (except for each other) and faced with often-stressfull circumstances, the groups that coped best were made up entirely of women!
In second place were the groups made of couples that had been married 10 years or more. There were several other combinations tried, but the groups made entirely of men usually fell prey to internal competition and did the worst.
(Keep in mind that these are generalizations. The article I read about this was almost 12 pages long, and I'm sure the raw data could have filled a couple of filling cabinets )

Eating bugs?!?!

If we're going to consider that route, then we should look into edible bugs that WON'T destroy crops. Bee larvae are edible, as are grubs and several varieties of butterflies. And, since we're looking into alternative sources of protien, we can't forget snails and earthworms (altough earthworms have to crawl in cornmeal for 24 hours before eating. Don't ask. )

"Any suggestions for pocket-sized food plants?"

You might try Corsican Mint, Creeping Thyme, or Purselane. These are just what I can think of while I'm still waking up, I'll try to put together a longer list sometime.

Mushrooms might grow well, but they use up oxygen and give off CO2, so they might not be the best thing to grow.

Somewhere I have a book about wild edible plants that gave the nutritional information, but I moved last November, and, well, it's in a box somewhere.

I do remember that purselane is high in omega-3, nettles are high in iron and vitamin b (they have to be cooked first, of course), and cattails have so many uses that its possible to live off a marsh. And don't forget, you can eat every part of a dandelion!

Low-maintenance but nutritious? Actually, there are a lot of weeds that would fit that category

With the colony design I'm currently working on, each set of living quarters has a small section devoted to a garden, in addition to having the main greenhouse. That way people can have a little space all to themselves. So, one person might just have a flower garden, a family might put in a swingset, or a group of people might pool together to raise animals (i.e.: chickens, rabbits, a goat, etc).That way, people not only have the psychological advantage of having their own space, but there could also be a sort of marketplace where people can buy, sell, and trade what they grow or make.

Of course, that would only be practical for a large, permenant colony.

I think the problem was more because messing with the polarity of the iron in hemoglobin made it harder for the blood to carry and deliver oxygen.

Ever been to Death Valley? It hasn't rained there for, oh, about 200 years, at least.

If Mars has enough wind, then there will be wind erosion, and the ground won't necessarily be rock-hard.

The address is www.1000planets.com

The site itself is "currently undergoing renovation". Its there, but it looks and reads like it was written by college students. The message board has better information on the company.

Their colonization goal is rather long-term, but one of their short-term goals is to build an orbiter that would help move sattelites from a low orbit to a geostationary orbit.

1000Planets is an internet based company who's goal is to eventually colonize 1000 planets. It's kind of a neat company to work for, because almost all work is done over the web, through the forums or email. That means that you can work on designing a sattelite with a team from all over the world.

OK, this is starting to sound like a recruitment brochure. Any comments?

It might also help if we put the domes in the bottom of a large crater and had solar panels arrayed on the sides of the crater. Solar panels reflect a lot more light than they absorb, so the reflected light could be used to help warm the dome.