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#26 2020-02-04 18:15:15

Calliban
Member
From: Northern England, UK
Registered: 2019-08-18
Posts: 3,352

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

Terraformer wrote:

Not having disease doesn't mean not having an immune system. If everything going to Mars is sterilised (and given the importance of gut bacteria, many of which are good in the gut and bad elsewhere in the body), the immune system will turn on the body in search of something to fight. Having a Martian population full of allergies and auto-immune diseases is unlikely to be a net improvement.

Good point.  Wouldn't it be an interesting turn of events if a future Mars colony had to deliberately import viruses to keep the immune systems of colonists well exercised?

I still think Phobos would be an excellent staging post for colonisation of Mars.  It would be a good source of materials for orbital manufacturing.  And the entire journey from Low Earth orbit to Phobos and back, can be accomplished using low thrust propulsion.  Bulk materials from Phobos could provide reaction mass for mass driver engines.  Oxygen could be made by reducing iron oxides in Phobos rocks and used to execute propulsive landings on Mars.  Phobos could be the key to Mars colonisation.

Last edited by Calliban (2020-02-04 18:22:31)


"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."

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#27 2020-02-04 19:38:40

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,760

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

For Calliban re #26

Re import of virus ... I think that would be a wise practice.  Louis has made reference to the danger of unprotected human populations in this topic and elsewhere.

The ideal way to to that (it seems to me at this point) is to maintain a steady flow of vaccination treatments from Earth to Mars as threats appear and are met with scientific procedures available to a large population, such as human trials with placebo users compared to live treatment users.

It is good to see your support of the idea of making Phobos a primary point of entry to Mars.  Not many folks appear to hold that view at present, but I hope the number of supporters will increase over time.

The advantages of Phobos have been discussed on multiple occasions in this forum.

(th)

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#28 2020-02-04 20:06:10

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

Any slow transit to mars by way of phobos will be an issue if we do go with no artificial gravity and the human body is not made for it as we do lose our immune system after the extended period of time. That being said we would have lots of issues with diseases that go undetected that would do great harm to our crew. Testing for all of them is the only way to ensure man does not die out once on mars as we do not have any data as to whether mars gravity is enough to satify out immune system into working.

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#29 2020-03-11 17:11:31

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

It would seem based on the cruise ship infections, isolation and further military isolation only to still end up infected means that the cycle of all of this could be as great as 2 months even with the best of selection and isolation of people from each other.
This Is How to Know If You Should Be Tested for Coronavirus it is a respiratory disease.

By now, you probably know that the symptoms of coronavirus include a runny nose, cough, sore throat, aches and pains, and fever. The only problem? Those are also some of the symptoms of the common cold or the flu. Whether you have shortness of breath, a high persistent fever, and are unable to eat or drink any liquids—those are signs things are getting more severe."


We sort of know what to do for the flu virus but we still do not follow the rules by all. We do not cough into our sleeves, cover our mouths, cover our sneeze or face away from others, many still do not wash there hands and do not do it often enough. This include cleaning and washing often touched surfaces such as a work place desk, door knobs, floors, bathrooms....

These are all risk reducers for spreading and catching the virus in the first place even when there is no broad testing or vacine.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/home … li=BBnbcA0

hydrogen peroxide is water with an extra oxygen atom—hence the chemical distinction H₂O₂. While no longer recommended as a wound disinfectant (because it slows healing time), hydrogen peroxide has potent antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and bleaching properties.

Other such items that work such as vinegar which can be a universal cleaner for mold and mildew, Bleach can come in handy when you really want to disinfect or clean something.

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#30 2020-03-14 19:47:18

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

we have a problem with this type of virus in that its going to kill those in specific age and health groups when we are on the long journey to mars as the data has shown. Since we need AG to keep men healthy we will be in a bit better condition to fight this off but if we go with out it we are going to not be healthy and could die from it.

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#31 2020-03-14 20:14:57

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,760

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

For SpaceNut re #30 and topic in general

Thanks for keeping this important topic alive.

After taking a look at electron microscope images of the virus (as reported in the virus topic), I am coming to the view that with modern technology, it ought to be possible to catalog all the structures that are present in a sample of body fluid, using AI in conjunction with electron microscopes or similar instruments that operate at that scale that may be invented in future.

The frequent current reports that the United States is flying blind due to the lack of testing devices, and to the difficulty of making them in the numbers needed, inspires me to imagine there will be incentive for invention of rapid acting immediate identification equipment for nanoscale objects such as these.

The article at the link below explains the difference between visual spectrum microscopes (400-700 nm) and electron ones ( 1 nm)
https://sciencestruck.com/light-microsc … microscope

(th)

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#32 2020-03-14 20:19:55

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

The capitalism of the US business is in a mind set of profit first for devices and helping secondary. It seems that rich have been able to get tests but mostly none are available at low costs to that next tiers down or to the poor or homeless that are most likely sick.
I agree that the answer is in the equipment and testing once we detect we have an issue and not downplaying it as its just another virus....

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#33 2020-03-22 12:20:21

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

The time cycle to mars and for isolation seem to be both problems for setting up any means for a quarantine of the mars settler coming and going from the mars surface and for removal of those on the mars surface once they are found to be sickly or infected.

The time for the cycle is not just a week as the infection can set dormant for weeks or possibly months before spreading. As we have seen a resupply production of the critical PPE is a problem for materials factories on a mars surface when we need a capacity that will normally be idle until we have a spike in cases that require it to be turned on.

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#34 2020-03-22 15:00:13

louis
Member
From: UK
Registered: 2008-03-24
Posts: 7,208

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

Yep, and that's why your team were decoding the human genome at a rate about 5 times quicker than the plodding state funded rivals in Europe.

I back Trump fully on this: you need to harness capitalism as a matter of urgency. You also need to be more risk-taking with trials.

SpaceNut wrote:

The capitalism of the US business is in a mind set of profit first for devices and helping secondary. It seems that rich have been able to get tests but mostly none are available at low costs to that next tiers down or to the poor or homeless that are most likely sick.
I agree that the answer is in the equipment and testing once we detect we have an issue and not downplaying it as its just another virus....


Let's Go to Mars...Google on: Fast Track to Mars blogspot.com

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#35 2020-03-22 16:56:21

kbd512
Administrator
Registered: 2015-01-02
Posts: 7,362

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

SpaceNut,

Yes, those "evil" business are in business to make a profit- quite possibly because most business that were not in business to make a profit are no longer in business.  Oh, the horror.

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#36 2020-03-22 17:21:07

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

only after executive order that said testing would be free to the people paid for the government.

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#37 2020-05-11 19:29:33

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

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#38 2022-01-12 16:13:24

Mars_B4_Moon
Member
Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,903

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

A gene that causes bacteria to be resistant to one of the world's most important antibiotics, colistin, has been detected in sewer water in Georgia. The presence of the MCR-9 gene is a major concern for public health because it causes antimicrobial resistance, a problem that the World Health Organization has declared "one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity."

https://phys.org/news/2022-01-gene-geor … hreat.html

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#39 2022-01-12 18:48:49

SpaceNut
Administrator
From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,750

Re: Earth to Mars Phobos quarantine depot

There are a growing number of bacterium that have already begun to bridge the effectiveness of the drugs and its only growing as the virus game has already begun to do the same.

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