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Findthepin1

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Posts posted by Findthepin1

  1. Early on I think we'll end up with imploded "input" boxes/scanners due to vacuum left by disappearing objects, and objects having been teleported appear at absolute zero with no momentum (although as soon as they appear the laws of physics apply to them and they heat up and fall), so given the risks I don't think humans would teleport until we can transport energy information as well.

    On the other hand, if we had a way to "copy" an area, we would be able to work around this.

  2. If it were not to have "weight" on the Moon it would need to be balanced with the Moon's spin. The Moon is tidally locked to Earth. Any lunar elevator with no apparent weight on the Moon's surface would have to be as long as the distance between the Moon and Earth, so it would need to be anchored to the Earth in order not to collapse onto the Moon. Of course the Earth spins nearly thirty times too quickly for this falsifying my design. If I am incorrect please let me know.

  3. It doesn't have to cost anywhere near $2 billion. If we send a probe straight into solar orbit from Earth, it might require less fuel than to orbit Earth then transfer to solar orbit. Launch, do the out-of-atmosphere burn, get to space, then just keep the engines on until you are on track for a Jupiter trajectory. Fine-tune that path so it goes right over Europa, and wait. Once you're at your Europa periapse, burn to a stop and fall straight down. Then land as usual. Done. The lander need not be very large, only enough to carry the fuel and a payload. IMHO this is cheaper.

  4. electrolyze the ice in the ground to get hydrogen and oxygen. now you have rocket fuel. also you can use the oxygen from the ice to breathe, or get oxygen from the air. you can melt ice to get water. chances are if you are landing in the northern hemisphere, there will be ice. chances are also you'll land in the northern hemisphere.

    you only need to carry enough fuel on the descent to land. you can make more.

  5. Baggers, the CO2 will help the cold, yes. But probably not enough, we may need to add some CFCs to the air. I didn't understand what you meant by a real cycle. If you meant a weather cycle then one will probably form soon after there's sufficient pressure. I have no idea how it will implement itself, though.

    Camacha, we will likely end up with an ocean on Mars. There's enough water to fill most of the northern hemisphere. People think Hellas Planitia will be the first thing to flood but its floor is relatively devoid of water and the Hellespontus blocks a downward slope from the south polar cap so I suspect Hellas will be left dry until late. Sorry I didn't address this in my last post.

  6. About the oxygen, in my original criteria for terraforming, I meant it doesn't matter how the atmosphere is composed as long as we can breathe comfortably using packaged oxygen and there is widespread surface liquid water. There are no limits to oxygen in the atmosphere, people can breathe without packaged oxygen also if the atmosphere allows.

    Apollo 1 was 1.13 ATM of pure oxygen. Mars at most will have 0.6 ATM of CO2 partial pressure (could be converted into oxygen, people seem to want it) by my guess. Since the regolith is already very rusted, there's not much to burn.

    - - - Updated - - -

    I'm going to start a thread where we can all debate the terraforming and colonization of Mars in general, since this thread was originally only to debate a specific method of this process. Said process has many alternative methods. I'll wait a day before I do so. If there is anyone here who can rename this thread, please set it as "The Big Grand Mars Thread" or another fitting name for a thread about Mars' colonization and terraforming. Thanks to everyone for the input.

  7. Well, most of the heat is due to the greenhouse effect from the atmosphere, not proximity to the sun.

    It's the same on Venus as it is on Earth. The 86.5 atm of CO2 partial pressure is creating a greenhouse effect, but if Venus were further from the sun it would be correspondingly colder. It only amplifies what's already there. Also, the CO2 in the atmosphere is only a weak greenhouse gas relative to the sulphuric compounds in the clouds, but creates the vast majority of the heating because of its sheer mass. 90 atm of oxygen would probably heat the planet up almost as much. At these pressures, it's not so much of a greenhouse effect as a "photon-saying-oh-my-god-i-can't-get-out-i'm-surrounded" effect.

    Venus gets its heat from the sun as do all other inner planets in this system. The atmosphere and greenhouse effect only serve to hold it there for longer.

  8. Good idea with the asteroids, Dodgey and Peadar1987, but the ones near Mars large enough to do the job are moving too fast for us to put them on a collision trajectory with a polar cap. Are we able to shift one of the moons into a polar orbit and bring it down? Phobos might work. Deimos won't get the whole cap, but it is very dark and will spread dark ejecta over the cap. According to http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/zubrin.htm, we only need to raise polar temperatures by 4 degrees Kelvin to trigger a runaway greenhouse effect. We should be left with about a third of a bar of mostly CO2. If this is made entirely into oxygen, then it is more O2 partial pressure than oxygen on Earth (0.2 bar).

    Also, in response to Wesreidau, atmosphere loss because of solar wind will probably be negligible during the process of terraforming. We only need Mars because Earth's not big enough for the future population assuming our numbers keep growing. Once we have the technology to live in deep space for decades or centuries Mars isn't needed other than materialistically, because if we can survive our lifetime without planets we no longer need planets at all. Once we can do that, we're free to go. Almost none will have been blown off by the solar wind in that time (probably centuries).

  9. I have launched a Saturn V-Apollo mission to Minmus. But then I got bored and decided to send a rover for them to use. Jeb and Bill are there, and Bob is in orbit. Val was killed by the Grand Airbrake Flappy Bird experiment on Kerbin. I have decided to circumnavigate Minmus. I will post pictures here (as links because they don't work as images here).

    PART 1: LEAVING HOME

    We are ready to go.

    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtdXNocm9vbTIwMDZzb3RoZXJ0aGluZ3MxfGd4OjY5NWM4NjE2MjRmMDJhZDQ

    Jebediah and Bill are in the front compartment of the Minmus Kart. In the background there is the Lunar Module and a flag.

    Off we go then. We will head east.

    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtdXNocm9vbTIwMDZzb3RoZXJ0aGluZ3MxfGd4OjFmYmY4M2YyNTFlYWM0ZQ

    I haven't even gotten 10 meters from the LM when I flipped over. I quickly righted myself and continued on.

    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtdXNocm9vbTIwMDZzb3RoZXJ0aGluZ3MxfGd4OjI2YjhiYzBkYzgxOTVkY2E

    Heading east. There should be a cliff soon.

    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtdXNocm9vbTIwMDZzb3RoZXJ0aGluZ3MxfGd4OmFmOTFiMTdmNzJmNjI0Mg

    We are about to go through a rock.

    https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtdXNocm9vbTIwMDZzb3RoZXJ0aGluZ3MxfGd4OjQ0NjQ2MTQ3M2YyNGM4NjY

    I found that cliff! We have a bird's eye view of it now.

    Part 2 is coming soon.

  10. Correct, and probably not.

    But you misunderstood my question. I asked for people's thoughts on this method of terraforming Mars. It is much easier to cover the Martian polar caps with low-albedo dust than to burn enough fossil fuels to raise the temperature by even four degrees Celsius on a planet with four times the surface area in terms of how much money is spent in my opinion. I may be incorrect on the previous sentence. Does anyone have opinions on this method of terraforming Mars?

    Also, PakledHostage, you misspelled terraform.

  11. Cheap way to the sea, anyone? Thoughts on this please. It might be the least expensive way of terraforming Mars. Keep in mind I define the goal of "terraforming" as having liquid water widespread on the surface with atmospheric pressure at levels where you could breathe comfortably using packaged oxygen/air.

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