ALL SCI-FI

[Robert (Butch) Day]

Info at

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/07/news-lake-found-mars-water-polar-cap-life-space/
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[Bud Brewster]

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Very interesting, Butch!

It's a shame that this 12-mile-long reservoir of water is a mile underground. The article says it could "provide a resource for future human settlements". That seems unrealistic in the foreseeable future, since it would requiring drilling down one mile to tap into it. The average oil well on Earth is about a mile deep, so it can be done, but that kind of project on Mars would be no walk in the park.

As I've stated often, the idea of building long term habitats on Mars seems like more trouble than it's worth. I still think large lunar bases at the north and south poles would be a better way of expanding out into the space.

And the same amount of effort needed to colonize and terraform Mars could transforms our deserts into fertile zones, save the rain forest, etc etc.

I'm not trying to be a party pooper, folks. I just hope we'll prioritize our efforts to get the most bang for our buck.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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The video from the article Butch posted a link for is terrific. I found it on Youtube and posted it below.

It tries to make a strong case for why Mars should be colonized, but all it really does is prove that Mars took it's best shot at being Earth-like back around the time dinosaurs rules the Earth . . . and failed completely.

If Mars has already proven it can't sustain an Earth-like environment, why should we believe that efforts to terraform it which costs us trillions of dollars and takes hundreds of years could succeed in making it anything like Earth?

I still maintain that a polar lunar colony would be the best option in the short term, and a colony on a distant Earth-like world is our only good long-term option.

We shouldn't let our fondness for the centuries-old legends and myths about Mars convince us that it's anything other than a dead, useless world we shouldn't waste our time and money on.

Watch the video and decided for yourself. Then post something to either prove me wrong or prove me right.

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_____________ Mars 101 | National Geographic


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]