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If I'm not mistaken, Iraq fits the bill, too. We were subsidising Saddam Hussein before he became 'evil,' because he was fighting the Iranians.
So why are so many people intrigued by the idea of turning mars into the same kind of place that we've just left?
I don't think they are. Myself, I'm interested in humans gaining the power to engineer atmospheres, hydrospheres and biospheres to support and enhance our noospheres on other worlds. A worthy goal. And the Martians who may ultimately decide to undertake terraformation will not strive to create the 'same kind of place (they've) just left.' The place they will just have left could be a dusty domed crater or tin can in the dirt.
To me, mars represents a training ground, a place to learn the basics of a spacefaring lifestyle.
I agree with that. Humans will learn much in the first century of Martian history. Those Martian colonists and others like them could use their new knowledge to move outward to the belt, Jupiter, and beyond. But Mars will not be that kind of frontier 'training ground' forever. Would you send your colonists to Plymouth Rock, MA or Jamestown, VA for training today?
There is the possibility that native Martians will eventually find the idea of creating a living world out of their desolate one irresistable. Then it will become a training ground of a new and potentially more revolutionary kind.
Someday, eventually, humanity is going to meet extraterrestrial intelligence, and we might have an interest in the kind of impression we make on our new neighbors. Do we really want or need a terraformed mars on our resume?
You'll forgive me I'm not persuaded by this one. If we're to worry about damnation from future Big Brothers of the Galaxy, especially for terraforming a lifeless world in our own solar system, then we're probably already way beyond redemption, aren't we?
Since I expect to be stuck on earth for the duration, I know where I'd want my money to go...
Thankfully, you're money will not be needed. If Mars is ever terraformed, it will not likely be done with any help from U.S. taxpayers, or Terran money of any kind. The Martian and solar economy will have to be invented first.
Tri
Hey thanks, I provided a link to the page, instead.
tri
Just for the sake of fantasy . . .
Linked is a 1000x500 pixel global map of Mars as imagined after terraformation. I based it on the MOLA elevation map and the one in the front of Blue Mars. I'm working on something of an atlas based on the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson.
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