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You asked: Is it possible to turn Mars into another Earth? Marshall Brain answers: The process of turning mars into an earth-like planet is called terraforming. However, Mars could ever be exactly like earth. To turn Mars into another earth it needs: – More gravity – More water – More atmosphere – Higher temperatures – [...]
Space Music: This is the Sound of Pipe Organs on Mars
by Robert Lamb | April 13, 2011
I have to admit that I’d never thought about this one before. We love listening to our favorite artists here on Earth, but what would, say, Fleetwood Mac sound like on Mars (prior to Mick Fleetwood’s head exploding ala “Total Recall“)? After all, we’re dealing with different atmospheric temperatures, densities and pressures. Nothing would be quite the same. As it turns out, Physicist Andi Petculescu and acoustics Professor Tim Leighton have already done just about everything short of actually blasting pipe organs into space.
Blow Your Mind: To Terraform or Not to Terraform?
by Robert Lamb | March 17, 2011
What is Mars to you? Is it a place of possible origins, from which panspermia-vaulted samples of ancient life launched themselves toward the Earth? Perhaps it still hides fragments of this primordial spark, axenic and unchanged in some warm, wet oubliette far beneath the barren surface. If so, then the Red Planet is surely worthy of our study, protection and respect. Or do you see Mars as lifeless wasteland of once or never was? Might we even have an ethical obligation to recreate the world in Earth’s image?
It really is a profound question – “would you sign on for a one-way flight to Mars?” It would be a chance to explore the unknown, but it is definitely a one-way ticket: Professors urge one-way Martian colonization missions Why is the one-way option being considered? Cost: In the article, “To Boldly Go: A One-Way [...]
The new Mars rover “Curiosity” is unveiled, getting ready for launch in 2011
by Marshall Brain | September 24, 2010
NASA has unveiled it new Mars rover, named Curiosity. By rover standards, Curiosity is huge, about the size of a small car. You can see what it looks like and get a sense of its size in this unveiling video…
What would it take to create a colony on another planet?
by Marshall Brain | September 8, 2010
You Asked:
What would it take to create a colony on another planet? — Daniel, Munich, Germany
Marshall Brain Answers…
In Russia they are starting an 18-month total isolation experiment to see how a 6-man crew will handle a simulated mission to Mars:
Mars500 – An 18-month complete-isolation simulated Mars mission is about to begin
But the reality is that a real manned mission to Mars would be astronomically expensive and is not likely to happen anytime soon. A robotic sample return mission to Mars is a more likely first step, as described here…
The Mars500 project is about to start its next phase. They will be simulating a complete 18-month mission to Mars here on earth, complete with a simulated 250-day flight to Mars, 30 days on the Martian surface and a 240-day return trip. The crew of six will be totally isolated in a simulator for the entire time. You can see what the simulator looks like between this illustration and this video…
Terraforming Mars for the Greater Good
by Robert Lamb | May 3, 2010
Is it right to terraform another planet and turn it into a second Earth? To some, such an act would be a ghastly, intentional infection — the worst aspects of colonialism and environmental recklessness rolled out on a planetary scale. Yet for some cosmologists, bringing dead worlds to life is mankind’s destiny and a necessary step toward the long-term survival of the human race.
Back in February, I attended a speech by Vatican astronomer Guy J. Consolmagno on the ethics of planetary exploration and colonization. The Jesuit brother argued that terraforming a planet might either erase evidence of past life or prevent the world from evolving its own life. Last week, I interviewed Mars Society founder and terraforming advocate Robert Zubrin. Here’s what he had to say on the issue.
You Asked: Can a nuclear reactor work in space? — Micheal, Bullard, Texas Marshall Brain Answers: Yes. In the same way that a nuclear reactor can work in a submarine, a nuclear reactor can work in space. A nuclear reactor that generates electricity on earth is a fairly simple machine. The nuclear fuel creates heat, [...]
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