We generally don’t post pornography on this site, Senrab.
That being said, I posted that video first, Max re-posted it as its own post, and now it’s top of the page again.
Well-done.
FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND LINES OF CODE. Explosive bolts, retro-rockets, ultra-low temperatures, ultra-high temperatures, and possible attacks from unknown monsters.
Uh, I’ll be in the restroom for a little bit with the door locked.
byronius & senrab: Actually, I claim priority as I covered the MSL/Curiosity last August (Next Step to Mars), several months before launch.
But hey, what if the ol’ hard disk gets hit by a micro-meteorite? We might be grateful for a little redundancy! [if it's bigger than 'micro', I'll just be the gooey part of the smoking hole... ]
We ALL look at those landing animations and go ‘oh shit.’… MSL will be clearly the most acrobatic set-down we’ve (humans) ever attempted. And the animations are so well done that I’m not surprised at a little ‘overlap’. We’ve got the disk space.
Actually, I get to claim priority with all things related to Mars as I am the only Weamer to have spent two weeks in a simulated Mars base on duty as Chief Geologist, Human Factors Analyst, and Journalist (please don’t ask for any evidence, documentation, or especially results of these exalted positions).
Max: I’ll concede your Mars Society membership priority and general Mars booster extraordinaire status. Please pardon my rash presumption.
As Chief Geologist on the “Mall To Mars” mission you must know that KSR’s Multicoloured Mars series about terraforming the Rusty Planet has a fundamental problem. Contrary to popular belief:
Mars will never be terraformed.
WHAT??? Blasphemy! you cry. How could THAT be?
Because Mars has no significant magnetic field. It would be a waste of time and resources.
Obviously Mars has iron (or it wouldn’t be red), but much of it is in the crust instead of the core where it needs to be. And that core is frozen solid. An EM field needs a dynamo which requires that iron to be molten… and moving. This is not the case on the Red Planet, and hasn’t been for a VERY long time.
Apparently, just as Earth did, Mars suffered a major collision back in the early days of the Solar System (the ‘Heavy Bombardment Era’). In Earth’s case, the result was our big Moon and a significant boost to the iron content of Earth’s core while leaving Luna made almost entirely of crustal material.
In Mars’ case, it may have been on the loosing end of the heavy element collision ‘trade off’. I don’t think we really know WHAT happened. Or MAYBE there was just less iron to start with, and Mercury, Venus and Earth simply got the lion’s share of the heavy stuff.
Your assignment Max (should you choose to accept it), is to find out why Mars has such an anaemic and iron-poor core.
Because Mars has no significant magnetic field. It would be a waste of time and resources.
I assume you mean because of the lack of protection from radiation? KSR doesn’t completely ignore this problem, but he probably let’s it slide into the background as the story gets going to facilitate a good plot. Wouldn’t want the colonists to always be hiding deep underground or the story wouldn’t be so cool.
It really depends on what you mean by terraforming. Most Mars fans think primarily about thickening the atmosphere and consequently warming things up considerably. Byron might have more info from having just read 2312 about how KSR deals with it. I assume the radiation problem enters into the storyline in a few places in the settlement of various off-Earth locales throughout the solar system.
Max: Right. Unless I’ve got it wrong, once upon a time there was significant liquid surface water on Mars, and very likely a much more substantial atmosphere… albeit with almost no oxygen.
It’s sometimes helpful to think of an atmosphere as an ocean of gas. In Mars’ case, we can’t just ‘thicken’ the atmosphere because it would only blow away with the next Solar flare. And with only a wisp of atmosphere to act as an insulating blanket, you’d need more than a bunch of space heaters to warm Mars up.
So it looks as if Mars will never be a very good Earth. But it is an excellent Mars!
If you had an image of a nice blue sky and verdant fields while strolling around in shirtsleeves and shades, you’re likely gonna be disappointment.
We generally don’t post pornography on this site, Senrab.
That being said, I posted that video first, Max re-posted it as its own post, and now it’s top of the page again.
Well-done.
FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND LINES OF CODE. Explosive bolts, retro-rockets, ultra-low temperatures, ultra-high temperatures, and possible attacks from unknown monsters.
Uh, I’ll be in the restroom for a little bit with the door locked.
Robert Heinlein did this to me.
Comment on July 10, 2012 @ 11:47 pm
byronius & senrab: Actually, I claim priority as I covered the MSL/Curiosity last August (Next Step to Mars), several months before launch.
But hey, what if the ol’ hard disk gets hit by a micro-meteorite? We might be grateful for a little redundancy! [if it's bigger than 'micro', I'll just be the gooey part of the smoking hole...
]
We ALL look at those landing animations and go ‘oh shit.’… MSL will be clearly the most acrobatic set-down we’ve (humans) ever attempted. And the animations are so well done that I’m not surprised at a little ‘overlap’. We’ve got the disk space.
Comment on July 11, 2012 @ 1:12 am
Actually, I get to claim priority with all things related to Mars as I am the only Weamer to have spent two weeks in a simulated Mars base on duty as Chief Geologist, Human Factors Analyst, and Journalist (please don’t ask for any evidence, documentation, or especially results of these exalted positions).
Comment on July 11, 2012 @ 11:04 am
Max: I’ll concede your Mars Society membership priority and general Mars booster extraordinaire status. Please pardon my rash presumption.
As Chief Geologist on the “Mall To Mars” mission you must know that KSR’s Multicoloured Mars series about terraforming the Rusty Planet has a fundamental problem. Contrary to popular belief:
Mars will never be terraformed.
WHAT??? Blasphemy! you cry. How could THAT be?
Because Mars has no significant magnetic field. It would be a waste of time and resources.
Obviously Mars has iron (or it wouldn’t be red), but much of it is in the crust instead of the core where it needs to be. And that core is frozen solid. An EM field needs a dynamo which requires that iron to be molten… and moving. This is not the case on the Red Planet, and hasn’t been for a VERY long time.
Apparently, just as Earth did, Mars suffered a major collision back in the early days of the Solar System (the ‘Heavy Bombardment Era’). In Earth’s case, the result was our big Moon and a significant boost to the iron content of Earth’s core while leaving Luna made almost entirely of crustal material.
In Mars’ case, it may have been on the loosing end of the heavy element collision ‘trade off’. I don’t think we really know WHAT happened. Or MAYBE there was just less iron to start with, and Mercury, Venus and Earth simply got the lion’s share of the heavy stuff.
Your assignment Max (should you choose to accept it), is to find out why Mars has such an anaemic and iron-poor core.
♫ Sputnik Spooner: Mall To Mars
Comment on July 11, 2012 @ 4:58 pm
I assume you mean because of the lack of protection from radiation? KSR doesn’t completely ignore this problem, but he probably let’s it slide into the background as the story gets going to facilitate a good plot. Wouldn’t want the colonists to always be hiding deep underground or the story wouldn’t be so cool.
It really depends on what you mean by terraforming. Most Mars fans think primarily about thickening the atmosphere and consequently warming things up considerably. Byron might have more info from having just read 2312 about how KSR deals with it. I assume the radiation problem enters into the storyline in a few places in the settlement of various off-Earth locales throughout the solar system.
Comment on July 12, 2012 @ 12:35 pm
Max: Right. Unless I’ve got it wrong, once upon a time there was significant liquid surface water on Mars, and very likely a much more substantial atmosphere… albeit with almost no oxygen.
It’s sometimes helpful to think of an atmosphere as an ocean of gas. In Mars’ case, we can’t just ‘thicken’ the atmosphere because it would only blow away with the next Solar flare. And with only a wisp of atmosphere to act as an insulating blanket, you’d need more than a bunch of space heaters to warm Mars up.
So it looks as if Mars will never be a very good Earth. But it is an excellent Mars!
If you had an image of a nice blue sky and verdant fields while strolling around in shirtsleeves and shades, you’re likely gonna be disappointment.
I need to read 2312.
Comment on July 12, 2012 @ 3:15 pm
er, um – make that ‘disappointed’.
Comment on July 12, 2012 @ 3:22 pm
2312 does not actually explain most of what you ponder – sorry to disappoint – it is nevertheless worth a read.
Comment on July 13, 2012 @ 2:52 pm