• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Terraforming Mars

Actually for terestrial planets (like Earth and Mars); the planetary core needs to be molten and active, and the planet's rotation and metals in te core have a dynao effect that generates the field. Scientists theorize that Mars' core is either cold, or very minimally active; and that is why there is no planetwide magnetic field.

This brings up an interiesting question, since magnetic materials lose thair magnetism when heated above the courey (sp?) point, how can a molten core be responsible for magnetism?
 
Paraterraforming on certain parts of the planet would be a better way to go, without having to alter the planet.

I've never heard of this concept before, can you elaborate?





Paraterraforming or the worldhouse concept is about building gigantic glass boxes with roofs and pressurize the inside with air we can breathe, and it will appear like we're outside.

The technology has been around since the 1960's but the engineering of it is another story.

And you can start off small and expand on it from there, so it's also worthwhile for investors.

They probably should also compensate for the gravity too, especially since asteroid paraterraforming has been suggested.
 
But Mars has no atmosphere for metorites that would normally burn up in, so it ameks the glass vulnerable to strikes far, far more often.
 
Unless they have lasers to shoot them out of the sky, or they could still thicken and warm up the atmosphere even though it would be a CO2 atmosphere.
 
I love the idea of terraforming Mars, but the fact is, we don't have anywhere near the knowledge required to mold climate on a planetary scale, and considering we might only get one shot at getting it right, we should probably hold off on that one.
 
Wouldn't a large enough explosion when Mars is in it's strongest point of gravitation pull from the sun, knock the planet into a closer orbit until it's new circular orbit stabilizes? Like ideas about using rocket thrusters on incoming asteriods, so they get off trajetory every so slightly and by the time they reach Earth, we are out of it's path.

It's "possible" but would have to be a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very large explosion.

All of the nuclear weapons on Earth right now couldn't do it.

It'd make more sense to have mirrors in orbit designed to reflect extra sunlight down to the surface. Wouldn't make things tropical, but it would help.

I suspect it'd take more mirrors than we can have/reasonably make to do that as well. Terraforming on a planetary scale using machines or manufactured items right now is far beyond our abilities.

We'd have an easier time trying to develop/create a lifefrom than can "beathe" th CO2 in Mars' atmosphere and covert that to O2 and then introduce plant life and other biological organisms to convert Mars' atmosphere. But even that will take centuries to accomplish -not counting the time to develop/discover these life-forms.

We're vastly better off to do the easier and quicker method of just bulding biodomes on the surface that can sustain a self-sufficent atmosphere, block the radiation, weather the, er, weather on Mars and also replenish water soruces (which should probably be fairly easy using the permafrost on Mars' surface.)

We might even need an artificial gravity system or method of getting people to exercise in Earth-like gravity if Mars' lower gravity would present a problem to musculature and bone development/density.

Terraforming an entire planet? Far out of our grasp right now and likely to be for centuries and even it'd take centuries to develop. It's not going to be like in "Total Recall" where the atmosphere is converted in minutes by pressing a button.
 
Oh heck yes, that ending was so insane the dream thing HAD to be the best explanation.
 
There's also the satellite swarm idea around a planet to detect and destroy incoming rocks, maybe around Mars and any asteroid colonies one can be put in place to make Paraterraforming more convenient.
 
Space is big, the accuracy and precision of those satellites (and the number of them) would have to be quite a lot.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top