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| Posted By : Anaconda - 3/5/2008 4:12 PM | | "Tomorrow, we will plan how to terraform Mars".
Any ideas, please, on how could this be accomplished, assuming an unlimited supply of money?
Alec Anaconda, author of “Slaves of Janice”, “After Janice” and “Toxic Retribution”. |

| Posted By : MysticWino - 3/5/2008 4:31 PM | First we need to send a drill team to tunnel toward the planet's core from 512 precise global angles. We fire 200 Billion megatons worth of nuclear bombs to explode precisely at the same time to re-ignite the planet core, and hope to God the EMP and reactivated core tosses up a workable magnetosphere. Having gotten lucky (or blessed) with this success, we wait fifty years to see what comes of that. Meantime, we transport specimens of every successful and beneficial microbe we can to release in specific areas according to terrain and such. Also, we install monitoring stations and comsats in networked orbits (new ones as the EMP and new magnetosphere likely knocked out the present ones and we have cooler toys now anyway). We send in the self-sustaining and self-duplicating nanobot team to explore and network; seperate but cooperative networks for various terrain and subterrain as the search for water procedes and the planet settles into new life from our little jumpstart.
One alternative to the nuclear jumpstart may be a billiard ball maneuver: we drive a new moon into it with enough momentum to reignite the core and figure out how to fit Mars' newest satellite into a network of magnetic and gravitational harmony (and being very careful in this process not to knock Mars or anything else too big from its current path to one likely to collide with Terra Firma before the sun supernovas).
Then send in Chemlawn! Read me soon in The Return of the Sword! Blog: http://bitterhermit.wordpress.com Buy wine: http://fringemonkey.org Poetry Blog: http://fringemonkey.wordpress.com |

| Posted By : Hazimel - 3/5/2008 6:46 PM | This may not be very helpful, but you might want to check out Kim Stanley Robinson's hard science fiction trilogy Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars. I Dream of Dragons, a writing blog |

| Posted By : MR Hicks - 3/6/2008 12:04 AM | i don't think it's a question of money - it's a question of national (or international) will. also, we have to get there first: the Mars Direct mission profile seemed to make a lot more sense than some of the NASA proposals. but at this rate we'll never get there. :-( Author of In Her Name, a Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel now available on Amazon Kindle. Learn more and read a free excerpt at www.KreelanWarrior.com! |

| Posted By : H.P. Lovesauce - 3/6/2008 11:52 AM | | Isn't it premature to think about terraforming Mars before we've paved Earth? |

| Posted By : MysticWino - 3/6/2008 12:47 PM | I think maybe it's safer to terraform Mars before we screw up the Earth in any kind of irreperable way.
What about terraforming the moon? Again, I think the problem is that terraforming is going to require a living planet - one with a molten core capable of producing a viable mangetosphere (largely to protect to some degree against the constant bombardment of solar radiation).
But this pure speculation on my part based on a few episodes of The History Channel's "The Universe" series and books on quantum science, ecology, and a wee bit of reading on cosmology.
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| Posted By : Anaconda - 3/6/2008 12:47 PM | |
Thanks for the ideas.
The suggestion “ Red, Green and Blue Mars” was most helpful, leading to many informative sites. I’m fascinated that nobody questioned whether mankind has the right to terraform Mars, before we have proven that nothing is already living there. Perhaps we should start transforming our moon first. Alec Anaconda, author of “Slaves of Janice”, “After Janice” and “Toxic Retribution”. |

| Posted By : Anaconda - 3/6/2008 12:53 PM | That was weird, I mention the moon and before I finish typing, another moon post has hit the forum before mine.
Alec Anaconda, author of “Slaves of Janice”, “After Janice” and “Toxic Retribution”. |

| Posted By : Gustavo - 3/6/2008 2:21 PM | Better than terraforming Mars: push Venus into Earth orbit (at the other end of the Orbit) and terraform that! Visit my livejournal! http://bondo-ba.livejournal.com/
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| Posted By : Anaconda - 3/6/2008 3:20 PM | Venus would still be far too hot.
I hate to ask, but how does one move a planet? Alec Anaconda, author of “Slaves of Janice”, “After Janice” and “Toxic Retribution”. |


| Posted By : Nathan Jerpe - 3/6/2008 7:28 PM |
Anaconda said...  Venus would still be far too hot.
I hate to ask, but how does one move a planet?
Introduce a very large mass somewhere else? http://roguelikefiction.com |


| Posted By : Rob Mancebo - 3/7/2008 12:44 PM |
Anaconda said...  Venus would still be far too hot.
I hate to ask, but how does one move a planet?
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| Posted By : Anaconda - 3/7/2008 5:32 PM | I’m tempted to ask how to move gargantuan mitts, but I suspect the answer will be with leviathan hands.
Alec Anaconda, author of “Slaves of Janice”, “After Janice” and “Toxic Retribution”. |


| Posted By : Gustavo - 3/7/2008 8:14 PM | I was thinking of mounting a big rocket onto a big asteroid and bashing the planet with it. But, of course, the kitchen mitts are much more practical... Visit my livejournal! http://bondo-ba.livejournal.com/
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| Posted By : Anaconda - 3/14/2008 1:54 PM |
Does anybody know of a case where two celestial masses share an orbit? It seems to me that, as planets and moons are prone to change slightly in mass, they must eventually collide. Alec Anaconda, author of “Slaves of Janice”, “After Janice” and “Extreme Vengeance”. |

| Posted By : MysticWino - 3/14/2008 2:29 PM | | Nope. Sorry. But I think it's more complicated than simply mass-flux. Vulcanism and magnetic fields play into the equation - as well as any other massive bodies near enough to interact in those fields (gravitational and radiational). Why collide? A massive moon with a fairly weak attraction and on an eliptical orbit might eventually shoot off into space. Then a number of posibilities arise from that. Especially considering all the posibilities of where that occurs in relation to the center of the solar system, other planets, stroid fields, etc. And the particular make-up of the moon - living core? dead? ice? plasma? Iron? gas? etc. . . . I love History Channel's "Universe" series!
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| Posted By : FredLand - 3/28/2008 12:16 PM | The CO2 approach has been used before and is a real theory. Nuke the polar ice caps (mostly CO2) to create a greenhouse environment. That heats the planet and creates more atmosphere. Then go for the algea and mold and so forth. That, of course, takes years and years and years.
Fred |

| Posted By : Jordan Lapp - 3/28/2008 5:15 PM |
Anaconda said...
I hate to ask, but how does one move a planet? A gravity tractor would do it. Jordan Lapp
Managing Editor
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| Posted By : Jordan Lapp - 3/28/2008 5:40 PM |
MysticWino said...
We fire 200 Billion megatons worth of nuclear bombs to explode precisely at the same time to re-ignite the planet core, Where did you get that we need to restart the planet's core? Mars has a magnetic field, and therefore has a molten core.
As far as I know, the idea of detonating nukes under the surface is a) to melt the regolith and thicken the atmosphere and b) to help warm the planet through radioactive heat.
Jordan Lapp
Managing Editor
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| Posted By : Frank - 4/16/2008 3:46 PM |
Anaconda said...
Does anybody know of a case where two celestial masses share an orbit?
Yes! There are at least two examples in our very own solar system. Click the link below to read a brief article about them:
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| Posted By : Frank - 4/16/2008 4:03 PM |
Jordan Lapp said...
Where did you get that we need to restart the planet's core? Mars has a magnetic field, and therefore has a molten core.
Mars' magnetic field is very weak. The easiest answer to this is that Mars' core is mostly cold, if not completely so. Mars was more geologocally active in it's distant past, made obvious by the numerous (and very large) volcanos that dot its face. A few of these vocanos still occasionally sigh very thin clouds of gas. Clearly there is some latent heat trapped beneath the Martian surface, but probably not enough heat to truely revive any of the volcanos so far observed. As far as we can tell right now there are no plate techtonics happening on Mars either, signifying a geologically dead planet.
That means the solar wind is eroding what little is left of Mars' atmosphere, making long term habitation there impractical for life as we know it. But don't take my word for it. Click the links below:
These are all brief articles and I found all of them helpful. |

| Posted By : Jordan Lapp - 4/16/2008 4:06 PM | I get that. I just didn't see how it was possible to "restart" the core with a controlled nuclear explosion. Jordan Lapp
Managing Editor
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| Posted By : Edward Knight - 4/16/2008 4:15 PM | I think Fred has the right idea. If you create more atmosphere then the planet surface will warm. After the surface warms you'd need a supply of water. That too could come from the polar caps. Once you have warmth and water you could introduce some plant life. The plants produce oxygen. Then you could introduce some animal life (probably microscopic first and work your way up). In a few thousand years you might have something.
I seems more likely to me that it would be easier to create some kind of biosphere on the Martian surface. It would be easier to work within a smaller space than terraforming the whole planet.
I'd build a space station orbiting Mars first. Then we could fly materials to the International Space Station by shuttle. Then ship to the Mars Station. Then shuttle it down again. As soon as you have a dome made from all those plexiglas plates then you can start building an atmosphere within. Then the idea of drilling might be helpful to tap into whatever geothermal warmth is available (could also be a source of power.)
Yeah, I like the idea of bubbles on Mars better than terraforming the whole place at once. That way we can colonize like the days of old. All the religious factions could build their own bubble. All the different national and racial groups could have bubbles. Before long it would be just like good old Earth. People killing each other, rockets flying, invasions, abuse, trade agreements, treaties, government collapse, spies, armies, social issues---politics as usual. A whole planet full of bubbles where nobody gets along would make for some great scifi. Edward Knight Editor Journey Books Publishing
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| Posted By : Frank - 4/16/2008 4:26 PM |
Anaconda said...
I’m fascinated that nobody questioned whether mankind has the right to terraform Mars, before we have proven that nothing is already living there.
Mars is mostly likely lifeless now, but that doesn't mean it was always so. There is some mineral evidence supporting the idea of large bodies of water early in Mars' past. Maybe not oceans exactly but large lakes were very possible. Whether or not life evolved in these lakes depends somewhat on how long these water bodies persisted at the surface before evaporating in the thinning atmosphere or taking the form of (very) deep permafrost.
On our own planet the earliest microbial species have long since retreated to places deep inside earth's crust where there is no oxygen, which is toxic to them. (Yes, some of earth's earliest microbes are still beneath us but we can't expose them without killing them because there was no oxygen in the atmosphere of early earth). On mars we may not be able to find any such hidden life (or even evidence that it once existed there) until we actually warm up that planet and see what surfaces along with the melted permafrost. Of course by then the damage may already be done and we could either wipe clean any evidence of such life or revive it just before we kill it with whatever process we use to warm up Mars.
This moral dilemma has been addressed in many science fiction stories and several non-fiction articles and books. Click here:
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| Posted By : Frank - 4/16/2008 4:39 PM | | "Restarting" a planet core (or solar core as in the film Sunshine) is pretty far-fetched stuff. These ideas have only vague and tenuous basis in science as we know it. Battling entropy is about as useful as persuing the invention of a perpetual motion machine. The universe expands, heat and energy are dissipated forever, deal with it. In another 200 billion years or so it's possible that all matter in the universe will be spread so thin, stars and planets will no longer form, and so we are all bound for the eternal void. Cling to your fetishes of Anubis and pray...
...or, smoke em if ya got em. |

| Posted By : Frank - 4/16/2008 4:49 PM |
MysticWino said...
I tend to use sorcery.
I needed about ten minutes to stop laughing at this one and nearly regurgitated a half glass of sugar-free lemonade through my nose.
As for the whole bit about the cosmic oven mits, I felt like i was reading the lyrics to a Frank Zappa song. Good times, indeed... |


| Posted By : Anaconda - 5/23/2008 3:31 PM |
Alec Anaconda, author of “Slaves of Janice”, “After Janice” and “Extreme Vengeance”. |
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