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Clark, I am impressed, you can crank out some really good stuff. Does it take you long?
We seem to have more to say about terraforming Venus than Mars. Maybe it is because there are more options with Venus?
That is a good theory.
Initially I thought the water making the gullies was coming from an aquifer near the top layers. If the source of the water was really under ground, wouldn’t is seep a little deeper before exiting. Wouldn’t it be seeping out near the bottom of these craters?
Perhaps the water is coming from the air. It is condensing as ice on the sides of these craters as ice before turning liquid. I believe that water could remain liquid for some time under Mars conditions if it had an ice layer over it.
I have seen some gullies on dunes (I’ll try to find a picture) that could not have had an underground water source.
I have noticed that most gullies on Mars are in the southern hemisphere.
Thanks Clark. I enjoy writing science fiction. I have done very little poetry. It is kind of fun and challenging.
Good point clark. No one but a government has sent a payload into space, until now.
You would think it would not be too difficult to fill a long tube with fuel and launch it into space. I don’t claim to be a rocket scientist, but I suspect there is more to it than that.
So perhaps it was not so easy for the private sector to do, but maybe, thanks to these folks, it will be.
Perhaps we are seeing the first steps to Mars and beyond.
I am not really a poet, but I'll give it a shot.
Two sisters sparkle
In the eyes of their red brother
The blue sister is a mother
With a son by her side
Who sometime likes to hide
In his mother twinkle
The red brother
Has two sons of his own
They were adopted to his home
In his red eyes the sons often show.
But the red brother does not know
Who is his two sons’ mother
The yellow sister
Who shines in her red brother’s eyes
Has no children in her skies
She is her sisters twin only in size
With a hot temper and a breath that flies
She is nothing like her blue sister.
The two sisters shining bright
And their red brother
Also bask in the light
Of their powerful mother
who holds on tight
Nano nano!
or maybe
Help!
Seriously, I would ask them to tell us about themselves and what they have learned about the universe.
Dicktice, if they do send a probe to scoop out some atmophere, I hope they take some pictures.
The skies above the clouds should be blue. If they catch the sun at a low angle, they could get some really nice pictures above the clouds.
For me, I don't have a conflict with religion and science.
Here is something a wrote a few years ago and posted on MSNBC's message board (Which no longer exist)
Why the Genesis day is not the same as an Earth day.
The word day has been used to represent many things. I the Bible it has been used to represent the Earth’s day, a man’s life, and a creation period. A planetary day is just a planets rotation and it’s relative as to what planet you are on. Planetary days vary from planet to planet. Venus’ day is 243 Earth days. A Mars day is closer to the Earth at 1.026 Earth days. The Moons day is around 29 Earth days.
I also have a hard time believing that God would be tired after 6 Earth days. Scientist believe the Universe is about 15 billion years old. I can see God being tired after 15 billion years, but after 6 Earth days? God is stronger and more powerful than that. Six 24 hour Earth days are not going to tire God out.
I have two Hypotheses on Genesis. According to my second Hypothesis, the actual day night cycle did not start and shows that the Earth day and Genesis Day can not be the same.
Hypothesis I
The First Genesis day picks up about 10 billion Years after the Big Bang. It talks about the Solar Nebula (The formless Earth). It also talks about the Sun starting its Nuclear power (Let their be light).
The Second and Genesis day talks about the molten Earth cooling and separating into it’s different layers- the Core, Mantel, crust, continents, oceans and atmosphere. The Sun and Moon are also forming, but they, along with the stars, can not be seen from the surface of the Earth.
The Third Genesis day talks about Pangaea splitting apart, and life evolving on the Earth.
The Fourth Genesis day the atmosphere has cleared enough for the Sun, Moon and stars to be seen from the surface of the Earth.
On the Fifth Genesis day, life continues to evolve as it spreads all over the Earth.
On the Sixth Genesis day, life continues to Evolve. Man evolves.
*******************************
Hypothesis II
The First Genesis day starts with the Big Bang (Let there be light). The Galaxies full of young new stars separate the light from the darkness. The Earth has yet to form, so it is formless. Under this Hypothesis, this first Genesis day would be about 9 to 11 billion years long.
The Second Genesis day talks about the molten Earth cooling and separating into it’s different layers- the Core, Mantel, and crust. The Sun and Moon are also forming, but they, along with the stars, can not be seen from the surface of the Earth.
The Third Genesis day talks about the molten Earth cooling on the surface so that land starts to form. Water also pools on the surface.
On the Fourth Genesis day, the Sun lights up. The solar winds start up and blow away all the remaining interstellar dust so that the Sun, Moon and stars are visible from the surface of the Earth. Before the young Sun fired up, the Solar system was full of interstellar dust, left over from the formation of the planets. Once the Sun fired up, the heat and stellar winds it generated would drive this dust away.
On the Fifth Genesis day, life starts to evolve as it spreads all over the Earth.
On the Sixth Genesis day life continues to Evolve. Man evolves.
This MOC image shows some nice gullies;
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e01_e06 … ...474.jpg
A couple of them have some nice meanders.
Usually, meanders means the liquid flowed for some time.
More evidence of flowing water on Mars;
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e01_e06 … 01423.html
If you go to the full size picture and go almost halfway down, you’ll see what looks like braided stream beds. Braded streams are usually caused by meandering water.
Dust will be a problem for long stays of humans on the Moon or Mars. I read somewhere that NASA was studying this problem. I'll have to search the net and see if I can find anything.
Here is a great Apollo site;
I can picture it now, a scene like the one in the movie Blues Brothers (Where they are in church) except with some green tentacle alien dancing around and singing. :band:
This Noachis pit crater is one of the most intriguing craters on Mars. It appears to be an old impact crater that has been filled with ice and regolith, and in places, the ice has receded leaving pits.
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e19_r02 … 00805.html
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/m19_m23 … 01812.html
That would certainly make things interesting here on the Earth.
Clark, I liked on one of the Star Treks where they had an old sailing ship wheel.
To think of what a Martian would is difficult. I try to put myself in their shoes. The first settlers will find stuff from Earth valuable, but the natives, especially generations down may feel differently. Some will see artifacts from the Old World as valuable or interesting, but I imagine others will have more respect of Mars items.
Perhaps, us Americans anyway, can lean towards how we feel about items from Europe.
I bet the movie Dune will be a big hit on Mars. I also predict Hawaiian shirts being in style.
Many people assume the discovery of aliens would tend to kill religion, but what if we find they not only worshipped God, but it appeared to be the same God as Christians, Jewish, and Muslims believe (All three worship God, but in a different way)?
That would make things interesting.
(I am a Christian who believes in Evolution, the Big Bang, and a 5 Billion year old Earth)
Roof the whole place? Hmmmmmm.
I always imagined people living inside asteroids, with domes on the surface. But if you could put a roof over the whole place, that would be grand.
Ceres would make a cool moon for Venus.
How about an origional copy of War of the Worlds?
I have a 1930's copy, and a leatherbound copy.
Still a great read.
I am a big believer that the "living-off-the-land" approach is the best way to go. Under this approach, humans use space resource to colonies and explore. The more space resources we use, the cheaper space exploration and settlement become.
Starting such an endeavor will take time. An infrastructure needs to be built. We need to learn how to mine and process raw material in space. But once we get it going, I believe it will take off, and humans will be in space permanently.
The best way to get rid of a troublesome asteroid, IMO, is to mine it until there is little of it left to be a problem.
I think asteroid study should be a top goal of NASAs. This goal has two parts.
First, learn about asteroid resources and develop ways to mine and process their resources. This material could be used in space to build things.
Second, figure out a way to stop potential impactors.
The Juventae Chasma is a very interesting place. some of the features look like art in the MOC pictures
Here is a sample
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/r03_r09 … 03652.html
Taken from here;
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/r03_r09 … /mc18.html
Northeast Schiaparelli Crater has some beautiful, art-like features;
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/r03_r09 … 03281.html
Taken from here;
http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/r03_r09 … /mc20.html
In both these images, I am reminded of the region Opportunity is exploring. Could the dark area’s be similar to the fields of spheres Opportunity is traveling over?
Could the lighter rock be marine deposits?
