Subsurface Mars: Earth-like, Habitable, Ripe to Colonize!

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PJay_A

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<p>Just like the idea of the upper atmosphere of Venus many miles up consisting the qualities of human-tolerable air pressure and temperature, tunneling deep below the Martian surface would yeild similiar results.</p><p>Eventually, a dig into the Martian interiour would yield atmospheric pressures we humans could live with. Also, the temperature gets warmer and eventually to our liking. Here, we can hollow out enough area to construct a subterrain Martian city-colony, complete with man-made underground lakes and seas. Future expansion of the city is achieved by hollowing out new adjacent sections.</p><p>For air chemistry quality and composition, air going into the tunnels from outside surface can be regulated with filter, placed at each of the tunnels surface entry points. Oxygen and nitrogen, naturally found in the Martian air, would be pulled from the air and allowed to flow freelly inside, while much of the CO2 is filtered and kept out.</p><p>The Martain subsurface is cooler and 25% less dense than Earth's subsurface, making its construction far easier than similiar undertakings on Earth. Of course, it would be wise to use robots to build an inititial habitat before launching an initial population to settle it. Also, farms and vegitation would be required throughout for food and oxygen.</p><p>Being underground, settlers will be safe from those nasty Martian snow and dust storms, and - more importantly - safe from the dangerous radiation levels found on the surface!</p><p>Power could be generated by means of underground thermal electric generator. A spaceport can be built on the surface, where a high-speed vertical elevator can whisk travelers to and fro the city. Also, at surface level, next to the spaceport glass-domed observation decks can be constructed as a tourist attraction for visitors and way to "break free" of the cabin illness residence would likely experience occastionally.</p><p>Lastly, since Mars does not have a molten core, future cities on Mars can be built - anywhere on Mars - and connected with a transportation system that could use a propultion system powered entirely by gravity and would connect any two points on the planet in only about a half-hour travel time no matter how far apart the points are.</p>
 
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Boris_Badenov

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<p><font size="2">Sounds like a premise for a Sci Fi story.</font></p><p>&nbsp;<font size="2">It is a great plan, but one that requires technologies not currently available to us. It also would require a sustantial industrial infrastructure on Mars. It'll be a while before we can even put boots on the ground.</font></p><p><font size="2">&nbsp;That being said, it's always good to plan for the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/7/12/a7d07fb0-5f0c-4e6f-ac2a-061f85603245.Medium.gif" alt="" /><br /></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>
 
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l3p3r

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<p>i like the underground lakes and sea, and the a propulsion system powered entirely by gravity sounds pretty neat, but what's all this nonsense about <strong><em>vertical </em></strong>elevators?!?! </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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Zipi

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Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>i like the underground lakes and sea, and the a propulsion system powered entirely by gravity sounds pretty neat, but what's all this nonsense about vertical elevators?!?! <br />Posted by l3p3r</DIV><br /><br />Travelling to the planet surface and back to the underground city? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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JonClarke

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<p>I assume he means space elevators, which would be easier on Mars than on Earth.</p><p>Jon</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>
 
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l3p3r

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It's just hopeless trying to be sarcastic on these boards it just <em>doesn't work</em>!! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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PJay_A

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I assume he means space elevators, which would be easier on Mars than on Earth.Jon <br /> Posted by jonclarke</DIV></p><p>No, I mean giant elevators - like the kind you see in modern skyscrapers, but wider so it can hold both cargo and passengers. These pressurized elevators would connect pressurized surface-level elements (i.e. the space port, satellite communication control towers, and the glass dome observatory) to the city several miles below the Martian surface. </p>
 
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mithridates

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>It's just hopeless trying to be sarcastic on these boards it just doesn't work!! <br /> Posted by l3p3r</DIV></p><p>Ha, I knew what you meant.</p><p>(to everybody else: a 'vertical' elevator is like saying wet water) </p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>----- </p><p>http://mithridates.blogspot.com</p> </div>
 
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Zipi

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Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Ha, I knew what you meant.(to everybody else: a 'vertical' elevator is like saying wet water) &nbsp; <br />Posted by mithridates</DIV><br /><br />Non-native english speakers it is sometimes pretty hard to notice humour and sarcasm... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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3488

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">Ha, I knew what you meant.(to everybody else: a 'vertical' elevator is like saying wet water) &nbsp; <br /> Posted by mithridates</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Very funny Mithridates. </strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>It's great to see you here again.</strong></font></p><p> <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/10/1/bac0159f-d929-4720-9118-8ecb40e72220.Medium.gif" alt="" />&nbsp; <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/1/3/91b5550a-ae6a-4655-8302-7797c4f5361f.Medium.gif" alt="" /></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Andrew Brown.&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>
 
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thor06

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>It's just hopeless trying to be sarcastic on these boards it just doesn't work!! <br /> Posted by l3p3r</DIV></p><p>Hehe, nope not touching that one.<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; PJay, I'm in!&nbsp; I like the way you think, and share your vision for Mars.&nbsp; Borris your right on both counts, I would love to see a new sci fi, postitve look, at our future.&nbsp; Barring some sort of calamity we will see this technology develop. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> <font color="#0000ff">                           www.watchnasatv.com</font></p><p>                          ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </p> </div>
 
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earth_bound_misfit

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>i like the underground lakes and sea, and the a propulsion system powered entirely by gravity sounds pretty neat, but what's all this nonsense about vertical elevators?!?! <br /> Posted by l3p3r</DIV></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>LOL! <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>Wanna see this site looking like the old SDC uplink?</p><p>Go here to see how: <strong>SDC Eye saver </strong>  </p> </div>
 
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PJay_A

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Hehe, nope not touching that one.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; PJay, I'm in!&nbsp; I like the way you think, and share your vision for Mars.&nbsp; Borris your right on both counts, I would love to see a new sci fi, postitve look, at our future.&nbsp; Barring some sort of calamity we will see this technology develop. <br /> Posted by thor06</DIV></p><p>&nbsp;OKAY, let's take this discussion a step further. Where else would human habitation be possible?</p><p>&nbsp;Here's some other prospects:</p><p>&nbsp;1. Venus Upper Atmosphere -- Several miles up -- It would need to be anchored to either a tower planted on the surface or tethered to a satellite. I'm not sure if the engineering on either would be feasable. Tower material on surface could melt and I don't even know if satellite tethering is even possible! All Oxygen would need to be processed out from the CO2 or generated from greenhouses since Venus has no Oxygen in its atmosphere.</p><p>&nbsp;2. Ceres -- May be cold, but our electronic systems could warm things up to comforable levels. Its small size would make us super light in weight but yet have a certain characteristic of neighbourly intimacy about it. A plus to having less gravity would be the low energy cost for vehicles reaching escape velocity to orbit. As of now, very little is known about this minor planet, positioned between Mars and Jupiter. It might even have water and possibly an atmosphere. The highest resolution pictures we have as of now (taken by HST) show definate surface features and subsurface haziness, planetoid features. In my opinion, this is no astroid and we will be surprised the coming fly-by mission.</p><p>&nbsp;3. Jupiter (Europa/Ganymede) -- Oceans of WATER & Oxygen-filled atmosphere, need I say more? The radiation of Jupiter may be deadly and so might its torturous fridget cold temperature, but a pressurized deep-ocean base near a volcanic vent may do the trick. Ventillation tubes leading to the surface could somehow suck in an unlimited suppy of Oxygen, water taken naturally from the ocean, and power/heat from the geothermal oceanic vent.</p><p>&nbsp;4. Saturn (Titan) -- Here we can do something similiar to the Venus idea, but since Titan's atmosphere is far less dense then Venus', we don't need to go so high up in the sky, as we would on Venus, to reach air pressure eual to Earth's. We can actually build on top of a tall tower securely anchored to the ground and not have to worry about the structure melting as we would on Venus. At that elevation, we can actually breath posion-filtered filtered, Oxygen-added air of mostly nitrogen. The Oxygen would need to be manufactured somehow. We can import methane-eating microbes to generate CO2 that can be used to grow food and create oxygen. The moon's natural gas can provide fuel and electricity. </p>
 
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l3p3r

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<p>What about subsurface enceladus; water, maybe heat available too? Energy, water and oxygen and we're pretty much set :)&nbsp; </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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cosmictraveler

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<p>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="4">Let us develop a city in low earth orbit first instead of traveling all that way. At least with a city in space we can get to easy we can then have a way of finding a new home for many people. It would cost less and be accessible very easily and also easy to resupply. </font></p><p>http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/8565/tnffarmsjp6.jpg</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>It does not require many words to speak the truth. Chief Joseph</p> </div>
 
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thor06

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>&nbsp;Let us develop a city in low earth orbit first instead of traveling all that way. At least with a city in space we can get to easy we can then have a way of finding a new home for many people. It would cost less and be accessible very easily and also easy to resupply. http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/8565/tnffarmsjp6.jpg <br /> Posted by cosmictraveler</DIV></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Ok, city in space, I'm there too.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; I hope/think this; "easy to resupply"&nbsp; will be developed over time as well.&nbsp; I believe PJay's Mars colony would be self sustaining, so after launch/construction it would not cost anything.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Saturnian moon colony, yes.&nbsp; I like the idea of fuel and water being so close by, Titian/Enceladus.&nbsp; Seems perfect for supply base, or a scientific out post(we might find life on Enceladus).&nbsp; build an inter stellar ship on Earth/in orbit get fuel and water from saturnian system.&nbsp; I'm guessing hydrocarbon fuel will be in short/no supply on Earth by the time we go inter stellar.&nbsp;</p><p>Who know's?&nbsp; I like all of these thoughts, a positive vision of our future can be a powerfull thing.&nbsp; <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> <font color="#0000ff">                           www.watchnasatv.com</font></p><p>                          ONE PERCENT FOR NASA! </p> </div>
 
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PJay_A

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<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>&nbsp;Let us develop a city in low earth orbit first instead of traveling all that way. At least with a city in space we can get to easy we can then have a way of finding a new home for many people. It would cost less and be accessible very easily and also easy to resupply. http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/8565/tnffarmsjp6.jpg <br />Posted by cosmictraveler</DIV><br /><br />We already have the "land" for not just one city in Earth Orbit, but many nations of cities in Earth Orbit. No, I'm not referring the ISS, which has the incredible displeasure of zero gravity (which you would want in a space city supporting a sizable population). Yes, I'm talking about the our moon.</p><p>On the moon, there's no need to build any keel beams to hold it all together. On the moon, you have something much much better, bigger, and something that provides gravity - something no space station can ever have: land.</p>
 
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l3p3r

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I would built a giant rotating space city just for the engineering challenge :) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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