New Mars Forums

Orionblad: I must say, you've covered any further questions I could have imagined regarding nitrogen in the atmosphere for the needs of the Mars settlers. This society has such a great bunch of members, as far as obtaining needed information is concerned. The simpler (dumber?) it seems that my questions are, the more interesting and complete the answers you post in response.... I wonder if my question were: "Duh, anyone?" what might be the response? (The mind boggles.)

Hello, Cobra Commander? Planets will be hard to find, certainly none which can be "tailored" to human ecological needs and desires. Space habitats can do the same, given your motivations.

A word of caution: If you substitute the name "Saddam Hussain" for "Iraq" in those of the above Posts that recommend some form of nuclear attack to eliminate him from the picture...don't they sound foolish?
   It's only one man...not the (mostly captive) population of Iraq you want to eliminate! Once he's gone, you can bet he will have left no one capable of taking his place.
   Ditto, Hitler (in hindsight) because either of them could have been eliminated, or sent into exile, without destroying populations. The regimes they set up to protect their asses, tend to whither away without them to inspire and/or terrorize in order to stay in power.
   How you ensure how/where/when you've got the real Saddam, requires spying and covert intelligence inside Iraq--  James Bond type stuff--tweezers instead of a club, in other words.
   Either that, or induce Saddam et al to abdicate into luxurious exile, like others of his ilk, who are presently living out their lives at the expense of the countries they ruined.
  What, you say? Let him get away with it? Well, he's just like any other crook who's been allowed to become too big and threatening to arrest and put in jail. Kim, of North Korea, is another of these. You have to make it worth their while to leave, or they'll take their entire nation down with them. That's what happened with Hitler. That's my opinion, anyway.
   I thank you for your kind attention.

Two queries:
(1) I have never understood the importance of nitrogen gas to breath. Something to do with partial pressures...?
(2) Pressure suits, in which "pressure" applied to the body by means of elastic characteristics of the suit material itself (mentioned from time-to-time in other forums) are not suggested for solving the above-mentioned pressure conundrums--where the atmospheric pressure needs of plants conflict with those of the human horticulturists. Why not...?

Soph! But first, we need to be able to live routinely off-Earth, and the first step is to learn how to do this...through the use of the ISS. Why is that so hard to accept? Without the ISS, getting to Mars from Earth (motivated how, I wonder?) would be just another Apollo-like, Mars-or-bust exercise which, due to lessons yet  unlearned in LEO, would most likely end in tragedy. The repercussions, at this fragile stage of the ISS program, if the U.S. were to let it go by default, would kill any chance for a meaningful Mars Program in my opinion. There's more to this scenario (e.g. possibility of "foreign" takeover) but I've got to quit and get some sleep. Nice chatting with you.

To paraphrase what my realitor-nephew keeps on about the three ways property values are determined (location, location, location)...there only three ways to solve the "population crisis" on Earth: Education...Education...Education!

Soph, you've started something. But, in all of the above responses, there doesn't seem to be a reuseable scheme suggested so far, to boost the proposed spacecraft out of the atmosphere!
   I glanced at my World Atlas just now at Peru, at the foot of the Andes. They appear to go abruptly up from the desert along the Pacific coast, to five and six thousand metres. I would love to start some discussion as to the practicality of building a maglev booster-sled track up the slopes of that mountain chain.
   The spacecraft would ride a retrievable sled to the top, separating from it at Mach 0.9 (say) at some steep angle of ascent, to further accelerate out of the atmosphere by whatever propulsion means the client space agency has adopted for their particular spacecraft.
   Upon separation, the sled would continue in a trajectory out over the Atlantic Ocean, using airbrakes, and then by deploying a Ragallo-type flexible wing to perform a remotly piloted soft flying letdown to a designated retrieval location in the ocean. The sled would then be returned by ship, via the Panama Canal, to the lanch facility.
   The launch facility (nationally and/or internationally owned and operated) would be expanded rather than rebuilt, by adding parallel tracks up the slopes of the Andes, to handle increasingly heavy spacecraft as future needs develop.

Personally, I think it's quite fantastic how much we humans are already aware of the universe, considering the short time we have existed on Earth. So what, if we're nasty at times to one another, cooped-up together as we are.
  We needed to be nasty to get this far...and tough...and mean...to survive. The same goes of successfully spreading off-Earth. Ignorance and superstition is what we should be afraid will overcome what knowledge and education makes us capable of.
  Feeling ashamed of belonging to the only intelligent life in the known universe is foolishness. But...that we can have such feelings at all, says a great deal about our potential for continued improvement.
  So forget about any help from "out there" by anyone superior to us--we're all we've got. Let's get the heck off the planet, those of us who already know how to go about it, while educating those of us who are to follow!
   I thank you (no applause, please).

Here is a tasteless and non-politically-acceptable point regarding the postulated war between a Consortium and Iraq that I have yet to see addressed, namely:

   What if the Consortium were to invade Iraq on the ground? In view of Iraq's assurances that they have no hidden bacterial or chemical weapons...rather than admit they lied to the U.N., wouldn't this prevent their use of such weapons on the invading ground-troops, even if they actually clandestinely possess these weapons?

Until further notice, the Russian Soyuz space transportation system is ready and able, I'm convinced, to service the ISS in its present half-built stage of development. I could go on...but it's a bit too soon after the catastrophe.

I'd better reply so you'll know you've been read and appreciated for bringing this to our attention. Thanks heaps. Comments after I follow-up....

Why anyone with any amount of sense, with knowledge beforehand, would even want to "try" anything that might degrade their ability to function physically and mentally, is more than I can understand. But, criminalization by the establishment, of habit-forming (whatever) without providing humane ways and means of kicking a victimizing habit, is worse than criminal! Drug addiction education similar to up-to-date hygene courses in schools should be available to all, myself included, to avoid getting started out of sheer ignorance. (I thank you...next?)