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I doubt if your effusive outpourings regarding the hurly-burly that goes on in our Canadian communities with the coming of Spring, resonates half as well south of the border--I mean, in the United States!
I hope, by the way, that I'm right in correcting the rhyme you quote. I believe it should be as follows:
Spring is sprung,
The grass is riz,
I wonder where the birdies is.
Yes ... but where in the popular media? Look at the front-page coverage the "oceans of Mars" hypothesis is getting, which places them at over two billion years ago. Contrast this with the lack of coverage of the black hole discoveries--the hypothesized "cavern skylights"-- which are current, and thus of vital interest to mission planners as potential colony locations to be investigated as soon as possible.
Although not obvious, because of being on the shady side of the hole selected to show no bottom--even at maximum contrast--by enlarging the image broken cliffs can just be discerned all the way around the edge of the hole. The thickness at the edge, compared with the hole diameter of only 100 meters, must be only 10 meters or so. I'd like to see the edges enlarged even more to observe even more detail in the ragged overhangs jutting out over the black opening. I can't help wondering why there seems to be no mention of these black holes in the news media?
Very funny, you jokers ... but this here is something really unexpected, about whch I find it amazing that no reference to "the caverns of Mars" has yet found its way into the daily press, television, or radio international talk-show overnight rebroadcasts.
What could've caused those almost perfectly circular, cliff-edged holes, the size of small impact craters in the vicinity of several but without the requisite ridges, and in fact showing no visible relationship to their surrounding surface terrain features?
These unexpected (I assume) cavern discoveries should be followed-up immediately by revising currently planned mission instrumentation, where feasible. for use in low Mars orbit, and on surface rovers guided in stages right to the brink of at least one cavern, for the purpose of lowering multispectral high-definition binocular television packages down into it.
Are there more of these things elsewhere on Mars, now that we know what to look for?
dicktice,
My guess.
An ice block.Earth spinning backwards at such a slow rate would allow the ocean pointing away from the sun to freeze solid.
On the next rotation less ice would melt than has been produced due to the reflective color of the ice itself.
Don't stop there. I didn't mean an alternative Earth. Just use Earth in place of Venus, to use what we know applied to "terraforming Venus." Would it even be feasible to sustain life with such a rotational configuration. (What could have caused it, by the way, and what a damn shame it turned out the way it did.)
How about, as a thought problem, imagine what Earth would be like weather-wise, if it turned on its axis the way Venus does. Anyone?
It matters little if "they" are out there or not, if we don't pull up our space socks and get off the Earth before we make it impossible to do so for socialogical reasons....
Absolutely, John, but you sound so ... Twentieth Ceentury. Let's face it: it's the tin-horn dictators of the world, of whatever ilk, who are holding up progress--and we who are wasting what resources we have to keep them at bay instead of mounting clandestined death squads to eliminate the presidents-for-life at the top of their so-called nations. Of course, the goons who depend upon them for livelihood--knowing no other--are organized around them to prevent this. Besides, I hope we are above mounting death squads of suicidal citizens, eh? Instead, what is necessary is to conserve the Earth, educate the masses via the Internet resulting in zero and less-than-zero population growth through social reforms, whilst we spacefaring nations cooperate to the greatest extent possible in seriously pioneering Space: Earth-orbit, cis-Lunar, and iIterplanetary. That way, we'll be able to continue developing our space mission capabilities at the same time as building up a base of support in the now-in-thrall nations, as they emerge one-by-one from ignorance of space as the next frontier- for them and theirs, as well as us and ours.
Not strange, since mining would involve that. But robotically, and that very dicey because of the surface conditions which have to be passed through. The "sky cities" on the other hand are a means of providing humanity et al with a second alternative to Earth besides Mars to "live long and prosper" upon in Earth-like conditions.
Better define what you mean by "return." Even astronauts returning from Mars shouldn't be allowed to step from their lander without first being quarantined--preferrably in LEO, say I--so let's agree that initial robotic sample-and-return missions mean just that, and to hell with any delays incurred for the safety, real or imagined of the Home Planet, at least until we know better.
Checking for solar sail as high-speed, high-efficiency, leave-any-time-you want technology: checked. And lacking.
So what else is new? The point was made that "it [is] never going to be efficient to go to Mars, because you have to use too much fuel to get there and then back to Earth." I disagreed with "never" and went on to stir the pot by mentioning the (not yet checked-out in situ) principle of light sailing. I never reject anything out of hand except religion, death, and taxes. By the way, did we ever resolve Gold's contention that light sailing using a perfect reflector can't possibly work? Is there still a thread where this could be taken up again?
It started out, supposedly, as an April Fool ... but then the "fool" got carried away. One April 1st per year is sufficient, Tom, so turn the page!
Hmmmm……countless ideologies each living in their own bubble. It sounds a little bit like planting the seeds for war. Not right away of course but when mars begins to become crowded.
Like the city-states of ancient Greece, eh?
Think of it as a flexible assemblage of rafts remaining at elevations of choice by by means of individual displacement management.
A neon sign in the vacuum of space? Oh, come now--an aurora sign trailing the ISS across the night sky, at the very least....
*cough* Note that they did not say manned Lunar voyage to the surface. They mean around the Moon.
You really ought to do something about that cough, mister....
Fuel cells reguire a certain amount of platinum group metals and it is one of there most limiting factors both in making and cost.
Not to mention a lot of pollution reduction equipment relies again on Pgms so if we could find a source (especially since Pgms are getting harder and harder to find) and can get it back to Earth within a reasonable price then that is a financial reason to be in space and will lead to other better things.
Typically, just when irreconcialable limitations appear to spoil our fuelcell dreams, we have the prospect of the "non-polluting sugar-based fuelcell" to give us hope. It's on Google--and it's sweet!
The possibilities of solar sailing the Inner Solar System still haven't been checked out yet....
Tom, you little dickens ... it's an April Fool, right?
I read somewhere, chiripodists' claim the rate our toenails grow is the same as the rate the Atlantic Ocean is spreading. Hair and toenails being the same, when you think about it, chiripodists ware gonna have to think of another comparison if global warming keeps on like it seems to be doing, eh?
I wonder if you mightn't say what most interested you, because my coffee break ended before I even got through the Abstract.
... While the Brithish look on, eh, Tom?
MR: Re. "As long as the above condition exist, we will never see free and independent exchange of ideas and then take the idea that fit the modal best and run with it. This junk science that being thrown out there has a purpose and it purpose is to swash the real science and discoveries under a pile of GORE! "
I really tried to work out what the "above condition" is, but had to give up. How about breaking down your undoubtedly well reasoned points in list form, so I/we can at least respond and keep the topic going, eh?
More of the same, presumably, if the penetration radar probe continues to work as well as it has for the South Pole. The discovery of a thick ice cap ibrings with it the possibility of using hot-tipped deep penetrators on Mars, comprising relatively simple and lightweight combined suspension/instrumentation cable drums, rather than weak imitations of Earthly drilling rigs. The hot-tip penetrators could be developed and then tested most conveniently on the Greenland icecap. One wonders if they might not already be under development ... anyone know?
You can bet that , if we had an expedition on the way to Mars with increasingly long interruptions between questions and answers beamed from Earth to and from the spacecraft ... it'd be watched avidly by the public if reported in condensed form regularly on the news, followed by expert commentary each evening.