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Water Fount On Mars!!! (Large amounts!)
A2597
Fanboy
in Zocalo v2.0
Check this out, Mars Express found ALOT of water on mars!!
[img]http://www.esa.int/export/images/ob_22_reull_v,1.jpg[/img]
and
[img]http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,323967,00.jpg[/img]
sheesh...opened this topic five times before I relized I had a typo in the subject line...
[img]http://www.esa.int/export/images/ob_22_reull_v,1.jpg[/img]
and
[img]http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,323967,00.jpg[/img]
sheesh...opened this topic five times before I relized I had a typo in the subject line...
Comments
PURPLE
[url]http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEM8ZB474OD_index_0.html[/url]
"One of the main targets of the Mars Express mission is to discover the presence of water in one of its chemical states. Through the initial mapping of the South polar cap on 18 January, OMEGA, the combined camera and infrared spectrometer, has already revealed the presence of water ice and carbon dioxide ice."
PURPLE
[B]...has already revealed the presence of water ice and carbon dioxide ice."
[/B][/QUOTE]
Just if someone doesn't know: carbon dioxide ice is "frozen" carbon dioxide, it isn't water.
I had no idea martians were in the mail-order meat business. ;)
[B]It's also more commonly known as "Dry Ice".[/B][/QUOTE]
And that's because it doesn't wet anything.
It just vaporizes directly from solid to gas when it "melts".
I was rather depressed when Beagle got lost.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by CurZ [/i]
[B]For those of us who are less immersed into the Mars topic, how signifigant is this for the eventual plan for colonization? Water, of course, a necessity for sustaining human life there, but what about the frozen carbon dioxide? [/B][/QUOTE]
Well aren't they tallking of possibly melting the polar caps of Mars to create carbon dioxide to help start create a Green Mars? Or have I got the science wrong?! ;)
with all that dry ice I'm sure the astronauts will all be very mole and melanoma free..:D
only problem with dry ice is it indicates a totally crap climate.. :D when CO2 freezes its isnt exactly shorts and T shirt weather..:)
H20 is more likely to mean a colony is much more possible, in fact, it may be easier to set up on Mars than it is to set up on the moon, even with the humungus difference in distance.
[B]Well aren't they tallking of possibly melting the polar caps of Mars to create carbon dioxide to help start create a Green Mars? Or have I got the science wrong?! ;) [/B][/QUOTE]
I still need to read that. I figure I'll move on to Robinson once I finish Pratchett.
[B]H20 is more likely to mean a colony is much more possible, in fact, it may be easier to set up on Mars than it is to set up on the moon, even with the humungus difference in distance. [/B][/QUOTE]
H20 - You mean water, right? Not clued up on this stuff hehe
I also read little while ago that there was talk of using huge and I mean HUGE.. mirrors above Mars to direct the sunlight 24/7, that this would melt the caps and heat up the planet. But all this would take 1000's of yrs til it was breathable. So obviously not in our lifetime or the next generation!! Less they come up with a "Forever" pill where you do live forever, then you got a slight chance! ;) It was a very interesting read and I wish I could remember where I read it now. As they suggested all sorts of things.
I would love to know actually whether you guys think Terraforming is a good idea no matter how long? Or do you think Mars should not be interferred with but left as its natural state now? Or do you even care? Just curious. :)
Bekenn - I not read those books. But you make me think of the Family Robinsons Lost in Space lol for some reason! Must be cos its late! ;)
[B]H20 - You mean water, right? Not clued up on this stuff hehe[/B][/QUOTE]
Yep, it's water.
[quote][b]...using huge and I mean HUGE.. mirrors above Mars to direct the sunlight 24/7, that this would melt the caps and heat up the planet. But all this would take 1000's of yrs til it was breathable.[/B][/QUOTE]
One other way for faster warming would be "shooting" Mars with comet which have lot of ammonia.
Because ammonia is much better greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide it would boost warming significantly.
It's a stereo image, not a picture of a lake...
Shit... when I first saw that, I thought they had found a fucking liquid lake! I was thinking about being the first MoFO to take a dive in it too!
:D
Read closer:
[url=http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEM8ZB474OD_index_1.html#subhead3]evidence of past water flows[/url]
[quote]This picture was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard ESA's Mars Express orbiter, in colour and 3D, in orbit 18 on 15 January 2004 from a height of 273 km. The location is east of the Hellas basin at 41° South and 101° East. The area is 100 km across, with a resolution of 12 m per pixel, and shows a channel (Reull Vallis) once formed by flowing water. The landscape is seen in a vertical view, North is at the top.[/quote]
The CO2 ice is also handy, because it can be used to thicken the atmosphere and also for greenhouses, as someone mentioned earlier.
[B]I would love to know actually whether you guys think Terraforming is a good idea no matter how long? Or do you think Mars should not be interferred with but left as its natural state now? Or do you even care? Just curious. :)[/B][/QUOTE]
Unless current life is found on Mars, I see absolutely no reason beyond the sheer cost of it to [i]not[/i] terraform Mars. Not much point in a wildlife preserve if there's no wildlife to preserve. Humanity needs to get off this rock on a permanent basis; having a breathable atmosphere that close to us would help immensely.
*SOB*
You people should read Red Mars. It presents some possible arguments for and against terraforming.
[B]Unless current life is found on Mars, I see absolutely no reason beyond the sheer cost of it to [i]not[/i] terraform Mars. Not much point in a wildlife preserve if there's no wildlife to preserve. Humanity needs to get off this rock on a permanent basis; having a breathable atmosphere that close to us would help immensely. [/B][/QUOTE]
Thanks for you thoughts. :) I think that we will have to leave this planet one day! Course only the rich ppl will be able to! ;)
I read a theory that originally we came from Mars. Be funny if it were true and we eventually go back home to Mars again!
Biggles - I'll have to give Red Mars a read.
As far as beliefs go, I tend to feel that the solar system was made for us in the long run.
We just have to learn how to be responsible about it, and in doing so, maybe we can repair the Earth and the damage we've done here.
I think about it this way. Mars has sat there in orbit for millions of years in a pristine condition. What a waste...
I want to see coniferous forests on Mars. Beatiful lakes. I want to see an eco system like our rain forests. I want to see us preserve it, to remember what beauty can be from nature.
When I take my walks for excercise, i often pass red dirt fields with cedars, firs, and pines growing abundantly.
Then I visualize a whole planet as such... very inspiring... ;)
I think that we are not alone in the universe, seems odd that God would just make one species, right? sooooo I figure theres a universe to explore, and lots of life to find out there......and I wanna see it dangit! :)
Same goes for the Moon.
Terraforming mars is essentialy a worthless endeavor. The planet has almost a non existant magnetic field, and without a powerfull one to protect it from constant lashing from the solar winds, any atmosphere you create will ultimatly be lost due to effects from that solar radiaton destroying it along with mars inherent low gravity slowly bleeding off gasses.
However domed and underground facilities should be possible.
[B]After all, Mars has an atmosphere now, and it isn't that low pressure. [/B][/QUOTE]
Yeah, about 6 millibars.
Which is under one percent of our own atmoshpere. :D
(pressure on earth is 1 bar or 1000 millibar)
[url]http://www-mgcm.arc.nasa.gov/mgcm/weather/pressure.html[/url]
ok, realistically it will be quite a while until we get to the point where we could seriously think about terraforming as something other than a neat idea and put it into practice.
so im thinking that as part of any long term plans we will have come up with some sort of system to keep the atmosphere pressure levels constant. maybe some sort of plant that extracts CO2 and O2 from rocks, or from the ice
just my small contribution:)
[B]Yeah, about 6 millibars.
Which is under one percent of our own atmoshpere. :D
(pressure on earth is 1 bar or 1000 millibar)
[url]http://www-mgcm.arc.nasa.gov/mgcm/weather/pressure.html[/url] [/B][/QUOTE]
Yeah, but it's noticeable.
[B]Same goes for the Moon. [/B][/QUOTE]
That won't be possible. The sucker has no atmosphere to speak of and not enough gravity to hold one big enough for anything to survive on it. A base leading up to a colony, yeah. I can see that. Terraforming the moon would be a wasted effort though.