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#1 2019-09-16 14:50:57
- louis
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PBS Doc on Mars terraformation
Probably not much new here for people but good to see such programmes being aired:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshtPsOTCP4
Looks like it was produced before the idea of a 3 cm layer of silica aerogel was suggested as a relatively low energy method of heating up the planet and releasing gases.
Let's Go to Mars...Google on: Fast Track to Mars blogspot.com
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#2 2026-07-01 17:46:31
- tahanson43206
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Re: PBS Doc on Mars terraformation
This post is reserved for an index to posts that may be contributed by NewMars members.
Chances of a post seem slim since this topic was created in 2019, but it showed up in a review of Terraforming topics, and since Louis was the originator, I thought it might be of current interest.
The video still plays, 6 years later.
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#3 2026-07-02 08:49:42
- Void
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Re: PBS Doc on Mars terraformation
I reviewed the video from Louis. I wish here were still here.
The narrator, does a fairly typical negative prance. Its so easy to feel intelligent while kicking down other peoples sad castles. But it is actually good to get reality checks.
First think in my opinion, is evidence of past life, and evidence of existing life. If an essay yes, then that bends things a lot.
But lets say we ignore that problem.
As I recall to turn Mars into a second Earth, in warmth if not in size, then you need either 1 bar of CO2 or 2 bars of an atmospheric mix like that of Earth. That is not going to occur any time soon.
If you did access the extra CO2 layer on top of the South Polar ice cap, then the expectation is that the atmospheric pressure would double. And I have seen opinions that suggest that the climate would allow for proper snowfalls. Snowmelt would then allow for temporary streams of liquid water.
In the night of the planet the temperatures would be well below freezing, but during the day, in direct sunlight, especially if the snow is dirty, melt water should occur at least in some locations at some seasons.
So, the planet might become more habitable just from that, as people could collect the water either from the snow itself or from the temporary streams and put it into Cisterns. The air pressure would be high enough for ice water to exist as a liquid for brief periods of time.
So, Mars might be considered as a source of raw materials. A question exists, if mass drivers or Space Elevators could work on Mars.
I am likely to imagine a tubular space elevator. If you could make a pipe of Carbon Nano-Tubes, perhaps you could send gas molecules up it. Pulling a vacuum from the top of it would not work. The atmosphere already fades into a vacuum. But if you had periodic pumping stations, you might push gasses up the "Pipe". Methane for instance, Oxygen perhaps. It may be that some electric force could pull/push ions, instead of using pumps.
So, you could essentially pull the water of Mars up to orbit. At a similar time you could be dropping harvested ice blocks into the Mars atmosphere from Ceres as Calliban has suggested. Calliban's plan would be to send blocks of ice from Ceres into elliptical orbits that would eventually intercept Mars. If of a proper size, the blocks will vaporize well before hitting the surface of Mars.
I would modify that into a multi-step plan.
1) Mine Ceres and other icy worlds at about the 3.0 AU distance from the sun, to make large Aquarium Worlds that orbit inside of the asteroid belt.
2) Pass water from #1 into plasma drive spacecraft that would carry water ice and other things to Aquarium worlds in elliptical orbits that can intercept the orbit and positions of Mars. These spacecraft perhaps driven by plasma water method, might also first be given a kick by a Mass Driver system at about the 3.0 AU position.
3) Upon crossing the Mars orbit, large amounts of water might be ejected to collide with the atmosphere of Mars. It may be that if it is available some Ammonia would also be transferred.
At times the #2 "Aquarium Worlds", could converge on Mars crossing more stony asteroids that present a collision hazard, and the Aquarium Worlds could ingest the stony asteroids as "Food". So, the Elliptical Aquarium Worlds would grow in size and number over time.
Here is a list of Mars Crossing Asteroids: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_M … or_planets
The water delivered to Mars by collision with Mars, might be split and perhaps Hydrogen would be sent up a "Pipeline" Space Elevator. Or Hydrogen could be released to flow to the top of the atmosphere and perhaps be collected by some kind of "Ram-Scooping-VELO" system.
The Oxygen resulting from splitting the water would accumulate in the atmosphere.
The Hydrogen in orbit might be combined with Oxygen from Phobos and Deimos.
But indeed Hydrogen and heat might be used to reduce Mars regolith and to produce Iron and Aluminum and other products.
This also could build up the atmosphere.
If you brought energy in by some means you could have an almost infinite number of robots to work reducing Martian regolith. A pseudo-Dyson sphere could provide the energy.
So, at some point you might have an atmosphere of about 1/3 bar of mostly Oxygen.
It would still be a cold planet as you need to have 2 bars of Earth type atmosphere to make Mars about as warm as Earth.
But you would have several Earth-Oceans worth of water/Ammonia? to extract from the Asteroid belt.
And then you might start looking at the Moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
I think that the Aquarium Worlds themselves would become quite important.
Ending Pending 
Last edited by Void (2026-07-02 09:29:11)
Is it possible that the root of political science claims is to produce white collar jobs for people who paid for an education and do not want a real job?
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