New Mars Forums

Official discussion forum of The Mars Society and MarsNews.com

You are not logged in.

Announcement

Announcement: As a reader of NewMars forum, we have opportunities for you to assist with technical discussions in several initiatives underway. NewMars needs volunteers with appropriate education, skills, talent, motivation and generosity of spirit as a highly valued member. Write to newmarsmember * gmail.com to tell us about your ability's to help contribute to NewMars and become a registered member.

#1 2005-01-18 05:00:44

karov
Member
From: Bulgaria
Registered: 2004-06-03
Posts: 953

Re: Dusty plasma lenses for ilumination manipulation - Terraforming Pluto and other KBO+

With a stellar temperature below ~ 4900 K the polymerisation that
enclouds and cools Titan won't last. The skies would clear and, in Titan's
case, the Sun's luminosity would be high enough to allow ammonia/water oceans since
we're talking the Sun's Red Giant phase for such a red spectrum.
Around other stars, namely K stars and cooler, the clear N2/CH4 skies
could allow a range of semi-habitable worlds - cold (<250 K), but with dense atmospheres and ammonia/water oceans.

A huge solar sail UV filter will do it.

The same result in the Solar system could be achieved if
say we put infront of Pluto ( in Pluto-Solar L1) or other planetary
mass ( round) TNO a not so huge soleta ( if we want to worm them to
~300K at the surface that would need soleta with the radius of
Jupiter!) - concentrating reflectors` lense, but made from 'mesh'
with holes big enough to filter the UV, so the mini-world to be
litered with only visible light and IR. At temperature >90 K gaseous
N2/O2 atmosphere and granite-solid water lithosphere intact. Thus the
inhabitants baseline hus should only warm the air when introducing it
in the habitats.

The lenses could be very mass efficient, compared with the solid
material sheets, if Dusty Plasma is used:
http://bex.nsstc.uah.edu/RbS/HTML/STAIF … 2/img8.htm

Imagine Pluto with artificial magnetosphere ( round a cable along its
equator and blow huge the minimagntosphere with plasma) or more
complex magnetospheres design, with the size of Jupiter diameter.
Immerse its plasma with smart dast , so the half of it to act as
giant curved mirror focused on the planet and the closer to the Sun
part to let the properly filetered light to come trough free...
Reverse the process for planets in much closer proximity to the Sun
so efficiently to rise their albedo to ~100%. Thus very small worlds
can hold earth-like atmosphere indeffinitelly long no matter of their
distance to the light sourses. The artificial magnetosphere will
provide not only structural support for the light-concentrator, but
also will filter the light out of UV in order to prevent gas escape
and activelly will channel back the termodynamically trying to escape
molecules back down in the denser atmosphere`s part...

The same way, say Mercury or closer to the central star world , can be provided with hovering partialy in such artificial magnetosphere, partially permanentlty maneuvring light nano-sails, with an analogue of constant 'cloud' which to prevent most of the light to reach the surface and react with the atmosphere.

Imagine some of the many discovered hot-jupiters, posseing undoubtedly huge natural magnetospheres to be cooled down in order higher than 1 gee terraformed volumes to be created, normal temperatures to be kept in the upper layers of their atmospheres, so continent-scale terraformed rafts to be deployed there. The excess of solar energy can be used for industrial purposes. If the smart-clouds are smart enough and can manipulate the enclosed in them plasma in lasering... the energy can be exported in the outer system.

These dusty plama systems seem very fragile, but the energy which will they contain in balanced manner is much bigger than the energy confined in the ordinary solid matter to keep it structural strenght.

Offline

#2 2005-03-19 10:13:57

srmeaney
Member
From: 18 tiwi gdns rd, TIWI NT 0810
Registered: 2005-03-18
Posts: 976

Re: Dusty plasma lenses for ilumination manipulation - Terraforming Pluto and other KBO+

Of course. Titan will most likely be (if we attempt to terraform), simply a Bacterial seeding project. Something that will feed off Methane to produce conditions for more advanced life forms. Probably moss.

Offline

#3 2005-03-29 23:18:01

MarsDog
Member
From: vancouver canada
Registered: 2004-03-24
Posts: 852

Re: Dusty plasma lenses for ilumination manipulation - Terraforming Pluto and other KBO+

fresnelcut.gif

Have to wonder if a Fresnel arrangement could be produced, to reduce mass

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB