Nat Geo- Terra-Forming Mars, 12:00 am, EST

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ZenGalacticore

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Hey space science and space fans! Nat Geo is re-running a program on terraforming Mars tonight at midnight, EST. That's tonight, in an hour and a half from now.

It was very enjoyable, even though they never mentioned anything about the 1/3 Earth gravity or the fact that Mars has no magnetosphere. But I was in and out of the kitchen making my famous Anglo-Saxon lasagna, so I missed a good portion of it.

Hope you catch it, it was cool.
 
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jim48

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Not to mention that Mars is just too far away from the Sun. I'm working on a recipe that sounds weird but has promise: shrimp, bacon, grits, diced onions and tomatoes. It's sort of a bisque. I'll letcha' know how it comes out!
 
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ZenGalacticore

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It's not that Mars is too far away from the Sun. Although it could probably never be made as warm as the Earth, Mars is on average 75 degrees below zero because it's atmosphere is 90 times thinner that Earth's and it lacks enough greenhouse gasses to warm it.

A little greenhouse effect is a good thing. If Mars had more gh gases than Earth, that would compensate for the distance. Mars is considered to be part of the habitable zone. They pointed out that even if we did release the ancient Martian atmosphere from the ground, and added to it from without, that over about 10 million years it would dissipate back into space because of the low gravity.

But if we could make Mars liveable, not just for us, but for life itself, 5 or 10 million years of habitability is a long time. By the time it would dissipate, we would be long ago branching out to other star systems. (We'll probably be branching out to other systems within the next 1,000 or 2,000 years, perhaps sooner.)

At any rate, that doesn't mean you shouldn't check out the show, Jimbo! ;)
 
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dragon04

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It was a very entertaining program. Very enjoyable. For those of you on the higher end of the education chain, no, it won't teach you anything nor will it likely entertain you, but for the audience it was produced, it's pretty good stuff.

Mars could be a very livable place. I'm absolutely certain future humans will call it home terraformed or not. While it has only 1/3 Earth gravity and no magnetosphere, it does have localized surface magnetic fields in places and with an atmosphere, including ozone, would likely provide an adequate shield for an ecosystem of some sort.

For the hard core scientists and avid, above-average readers here at SDC, it's not likely that the program will set your worlds on fire, but I'm sure you all have spent an hour of your time in a worse manner.
 
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ZenGalacticore

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Well, it didn't say much that I haven't already read, but I enjoyed the computer simulations. And Chris McKay's enthusiasm is contagious.

I like what Freeman Dyson said years ago, 20 or more years ago in fact, about how it might be humanitys' ultimate destiny to spread not so much human life, but life itself wherever we can and wherever we go. Obviously, to travel and live in deep space, in order to survive, we will have to take life with us.
 
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bdewoody

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They also didn't mention any adverse effects from not having a large moon such as we have. As I understand it our moon keeps our rotation stable which in turn keeps the habitat stable. I assume that Mars wobbles on it's axis and at some point in it's history had a tilt greater than now or else all that moon stuff was hoey.

I have no problem terra forming Mars whether it has microbial life or not. It isn't very likely that without a lot of input from us humans that Mars will ever spring back into life.
 
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ZenGalacticore

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That's true. They didn't mention the stabilizing and other effects of a proportionatly large moon. I guess they didn't want to rain on their own parade.

I'm somewhat surprised that they didn't mention these several counter-points. I hope Nat Geo isn't on the road to becoming like much of the History Channel's programming.* Good God! Let's hope not!

*IOWs, hardly any viable counter-points to what they assert.
 
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dragon04

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The show was about terraforming Mars and the possible ways to do it, not its low gravity or lack of a massive Moon.


Sheesh, guys.
 
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ZenGalacticore

Guest
dragon04":2rf6oqay said:
The show was about terraforming Mars and the possible ways to do it, not its low gravity or lack of a massive Moon.


Sheesh, guys.

We're just trying to be scientifically critical here, Drag. They are legitimate questions. For example, in 1/3 Earth gravity, will trees be dense enough and strong enough to grow properly and support themselves? There are tons of questions about how imported Earth life would respond to the 1/3 e g conditions.

OTOH, life is extemely tenacious and adaptable, so who knows.

But it was a very enjoyable doc to watch, despite the untackled questions.
 
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