There have been numerous comments here that I think are unsubstantiated and quite ridiculous. If they were written purely as a joke, than they're funny, but if any of these were written from a serious viewpoint I feel compelled to comment.
To the question of why go to mars. You obviously don't want to go. It takes a certain kind of vision and desire to want to go to a different place and do something that no one has done before. It is not to abandon everything here on the Earth. Even future martians will be Earthmen(and women) at the heart of it. Someone suggested that we won't go until it's comfortable on Mars. This is a ludicrous suggestion. Did our ancestors stay in the comfortable reaches of Africa and the fertile crescent in the middle east? Did the explorers of the new world leave when they found that there were diseases and other hardships that no one had ever seen before? No, if we are to wait until this happens, no on will go to Mars for several centuries (if ever).
We will go not to "abandon hope for the Earth," but will go there to expand our knowledge fo the universe and to discover new resources. Someone commented that we need to concentrate on solving the problems here on Earth first. I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at this. We will never solve all of the problems here on Earth. Resources will continue to fade. If you thought out your statement ahead of time you would realize that this is an argument FOR going to mars. Humans are inherently flawed, and therefore there will always be problems. If we are to avoid a complete loss of resources than we need to leave this planet, at least some of us.
As for feasibility, this year's field season is being devoted just to a shakedown of the habitat. It is not intended to proove the feasibility of the design or the idea of going to Mars with this single short use of the habitat. This is not a biosphere. The habitat is to be used to simulate a similar (emphasis on similar) environment and living conditions. Scientists will communicate with "mission control" through a time delay to simulate the distance between the Earth and Mars. Scientists will also simulate the necessity of wearing a space suit by waiting in the "airlock" to simulate pre-breathing and wearing a suit during field excursions. This project is designed to allow scientists to do some of the same research that would be done on Mars. It is not intended to replace the research that would be done on Mars. It is not bad science. It is good science that will be good for PR and getting the idea of sending humans to Mars out in the public eye. For those of you who want to read more about the science side, go to http://www.arctic-mars.org and read up on the science that is being done up there.
This is not anything like the crap that was displayed in survivor or big brother. This is not a contest for money. This is an opportunity to do good science in a Martian analog with a good simulation of the martian experience. The ATV's are used because they're cheap. Any project that would use a "Mars Rover" would be much more expensive and not that realistic for the present.
Yuppies won't take over Mars because it will be tough of an environment for quite a while. Yuppies like things easy, and they wouldn't survive.
If you believe what you saw in "Mission to Mars," than you should rethink everything about a mission to mars. The whole tent thing was ridiculous. The materials and the tent itself wouldn't be able to sustain a breathable environment for anyone. That whole movie was filled with bad science.
As for the issue of terraforming, there are many people who are looking into terraforming Mars. As a matter of fact, I am working on a zonal energy balance model for the martian atmosphere as it's terraformed. I will be presenting the results at the Mars Society Conference which runs August 9-13. I encourage people to attend. For those who want to read more about terraforming, I suggest you do a search for papers written by Chris McKay, Robert Zubrin, and Martin Fogg. Chris did the first real serious work on terraforming.
As for going to Mars being the precursor to nuclear war, I think the entire concept is ludicrous and doesn't deserve any more comment.
Erik Carlstrom
"The most incomprehensible thing about the univers is that it is comprehensible." -Albert Einstein
"He who quotes a lot exhibits memory rather than intelligence." -Leonardo Da Vinci
Slashdot Mirror
There have been numerous comments here that I think are unsubstantiated and quite ridiculous. If they were written purely as a joke, than they're funny, but if any of these were written from a serious viewpoint I feel compelled to comment.
To the question of why go to mars. You obviously don't want to go. It takes a certain kind of vision and desire to want to go to a different place and do something that no one has done before. It is not to abandon everything here on the Earth. Even future martians will be Earthmen(and women) at the heart of it. Someone suggested that we won't go until it's comfortable on Mars. This is a ludicrous suggestion. Did our ancestors stay in the comfortable reaches of Africa and the fertile crescent in the middle east? Did the explorers of the new world leave when they found that there were diseases and other hardships that no one had ever seen before? No, if we are to wait until this happens, no on will go to Mars for several centuries (if ever).
We will go not to "abandon hope for the Earth," but will go there to expand our knowledge fo the universe and to discover new resources. Someone commented that we need to concentrate on solving the problems here on Earth first. I'm sorry, but I have to laugh at this. We will never solve all of the problems here on Earth. Resources will continue to fade. If you thought out your statement ahead of time you would realize that this is an argument FOR going to mars. Humans are inherently flawed, and therefore there will always be problems. If we are to avoid a complete loss of resources than we need to leave this planet, at least some of us.
As for feasibility, this year's field season is being devoted just to a shakedown of the habitat. It is not intended to proove the feasibility of the design or the idea of going to Mars with this single short use of the habitat. This is not a biosphere. The habitat is to be used to simulate a similar (emphasis on similar) environment and living conditions. Scientists will communicate with "mission control" through a time delay to simulate the distance between the Earth and Mars. Scientists will also simulate the necessity of wearing a space suit by waiting in the "airlock" to simulate pre-breathing and wearing a suit during field excursions. This project is designed to allow scientists to do some of the same research that would be done on Mars. It is not intended to replace the research that would be done on Mars. It is not bad science. It is good science that will be good for PR and getting the idea of sending humans to Mars out in the public eye. For those of you who want to read more about the science side, go to http://www.arctic-mars.org and read up on the science that is being done up there.
This is not anything like the crap that was displayed in survivor or big brother. This is not a contest for money. This is an opportunity to do good science in a Martian analog with a good simulation of the martian experience. The ATV's are used because they're cheap. Any project that would use a "Mars Rover" would be much more expensive and not that realistic for the present.
Yuppies won't take over Mars because it will be tough of an environment for quite a while. Yuppies like things easy, and they wouldn't survive.
If you believe what you saw in "Mission to Mars," than you should rethink everything about a mission to mars. The whole tent thing was ridiculous. The materials and the tent itself wouldn't be able to sustain a breathable environment for anyone. That whole movie was filled with bad science.
As for the issue of terraforming, there are many people who are looking into terraforming Mars. As a matter of fact, I am working on a zonal energy balance model for the martian atmosphere as it's terraformed. I will be presenting the results at the Mars Society Conference which runs August 9-13. I encourage people to attend. For those who want to read more about terraforming, I suggest you do a search for papers written by Chris McKay, Robert Zubrin, and Martin Fogg. Chris did the first real serious work on terraforming.
As for going to Mars being the precursor to nuclear war, I think the entire concept is ludicrous and doesn't deserve any more comment.
Erik Carlstrom
"The most incomprehensible thing about the univers is that it is comprehensible."
-Albert Einstein
"He who quotes a lot exhibits memory rather than intelligence."
-Leonardo Da Vinci