New Mars Forums

Hello,

Actually, I have to admit that the ISS program is doing worthwhile science towards possible manned deep-space exploration and applied research, such as commercial applications and Earth sciences. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I hope to see a human on Mars or a return of manned missions to the Moon before I die. Sorry for my last post. 

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

I remember seeing a documentary on the possibilities of terraforming Mars. The problem as the program stated was that Mars' gravity is too weak to retain any atmosphere that humans could engineer. That in a sense, Mars would be a leaky bag, seeping air and heat into space. Is that possible?

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

Hmmmm. Good points, Republic. Beach has a good point, though. Larger cities generate more graft and corruption than smaller communities, though smaller communities still have it. A smaller community would have a better quality of life overall. IMHO.

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

I recently read a paper by Dr. Zubrin that postulated that by opening up a Martian frontier, can society on Earth be saved from a crystallization that could eventually kill democractic society as we know it. But would it? From what I remember of history, colonies were settled by two different methods. One was by direct government control and support, like the use of colonial Australia as a penal colony by Britain and the settlement of Quebec by pre-Revolution France.

The other was by private enterprise or private parties, such as the New Netherlands colony by the Dutch and the Puritan colonies in Massachusetts. But what makes these colonies different from any prospective Martian colony is the degree of isolation from the parent government and that these Earth colonies could subsist without substantial and necessary support from home. A third point of contention is that national governments and multinational corporations would be sending colonists to Mars. Wouldn't that make sure that things in the Martian colonies would go just as the big interests on Earth would have it?

All have to admit, though, his point on the value of labor and that governments would have to contend with the threat of demographic drain to Mars could be a boon for the folks left on the homeworld.

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

I've read Red Mars, but not any of the sequels. I've been trying to figure out what Hiroko Ai was trying to do. So far, no luck. Though, I think she had some sort of revisionist theory that incorporated humans living in harmony with a terraformed Mars.

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

Since I read Red Mars back in 1997, I wondered if it was even possible for jet-powered aircraft to fly on Mars. I remember that the colonists in the novel used jet airminers to refine gases from the atmosphere. But, since the Martian atmosphere has only a 1/1000th of the air pressure of Earth at sea level, can a jet grab enough air to generate the needed thrust?

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

I have read before that both the U.S. and Russian space programs had devoted research towards the physiological effect of microgravity on humans. But, have there been any research on the effect psychologically that spaceflight has on humans? Have there been any identified psychiatric problems in manned spaceflight?

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

I'm curious to see if arcology type settlements would be practical, given the wild Martian climate.

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

Well, I remember reading in a sci-fi RPG that ion engines could be used to propel manned spacecraft. But, the downside was that ion engines couldn't produce the necessary amount of thrust in a short enough time to achieve escape velocity. About plasma rockets, how do these rockets generate thrust? Do they use some form of high energy physics to produce plasma and force the resulting plasma out of an exhaust nozzle?

Could plasma rockets be practical enough for use aboard manned spacecraft? What speeds ( Like miles per second ) can these rockets achieve? Also, I believe the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 prohibits the use of fission reactors in space. Could be wrong.

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

I'm curious: What radius does a station require before it can rotate to the rpms that produce 1 G?

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

Recently, I've seen a History Channel program that talked about the possible first contact protocols developed by governments and private groups. I'd like to know what you folks think would be a good first contact procedure, assuming that an alien civilization would send an embassy team to Earth in the near future.

Cordially,

EarthWolf

Hello,

Well, if anyone doesn't mind, I'd like to put my two cents into the pot. I've studied the history of the European colonial/imperial period. I've seen in these years that the driving force behind European colonialism was primarily economic. I feel that the only way a Mars colony would be started, remember that funding/backing is the key, is if there is a substantial economic benefit to the colonial venture.

That's one reason why we don't have orbital factories and Moon bases right now. Too much cost and not enough profit to justify the investment. As for the economic basis for a Mars colony, I'd say that the colony would need to establish an industrial infrastructure to maintain it's own needs and possibly compete with Earth in the interplanetary market. Especially if the colonists intend to gain their political/economic, as well as, practical independence from Earth governments.

I'm not a pro-industrial person. I'm probably what you might call an environmentalist and humanist. So I don't advocate a wholesale industrialization at the cost of humanity and the environment. I just try to think and weigh the options with a balanced, common sense approach.

Cordially,

EarthWolf