You are not logged in.
Pages: 1
In this discussion we are assuming molecular oxygen and water vapor is detected in the atmosphere of Proxima b. Its the dawn of the 22nd century there have been some settlements on Mars by this time, but otherwise Mars is as it is today. And some planners are thinking, they could terraform Mars or send a one-way colonization mission to the planet Proxima b, seen from a distance Proxima b seems to have an atmosphere similar to Earth, or at least as much as telescopes can tell. They are thinking about creating a second home for humanity, a home where humans can walk the surface without need of a spacesuit. One idea is to terraform Mars, a process that will take centuries, the other idea is to build colony ships which can achieve 1% of the speed of light and take centuries to get to Proxima b, but these ships are massive, about on the scale of O'Neill colonies. Suppose the planners decided to split the difference, and allocated 50% of their resources to terraforming Mars and 50% of their resources towards building worldships, and seeder ships to send towards Proxima b, at a cruising speed of 1% of the speed of light. Which one of these methods do you think is more likely to achieve positive results first?
Offline
Terraforming Mars seems to be less risky, as implausible as that statement might be given most other alternatives. There's already been much discussion on the topic, and the presence of settlements would likely accelerate it, to the point of there being a coherent and decisive plan for terraformation that can be followed by local underlings or robots by 2100. That being said, there's a lot of risk in the space voyage, especially if there's no steering mechanism on the ships to avoid potential collisions, or the colony ships' colonists' descendants will lose sight of the bigger picture and live permanently on the ships and never reach the Proxima b planet. Therefore I believe terraforming Mars will likely come to fruition first.
The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot live in a cradle forever. -Paraphrased from Tsiolkovsky
Offline
As I've discussed in this essay, "Interstellar Comparisons", it's something of a false dichotomy. Chiefly because the power levels required are of the same magnitude - if we can do one, then we can do both.
Look straight up and be reminded that the Universe is vastly larger, older and more wonderful than the trivia around you. Our woes and worries shrink before such glory.
Offline
Pages: 1