A Mars Colony in Our Lifetimes?

[Ian]

...Mexico's?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

...Mexico's?

Ummmm.....

Trigger Warning!!!1! :

[klr]

Let's start a Ratz Colony near Pavonis Mons

... the ideal spot for a space elevator.

What's wrong with Olympus Mons, it's already out of the atmosphere. No drag.

Pavonis Mons is closer to the Martian Equator.

Read Red Mars

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Let's start a Ratz Colony near Pavonis Mons

... the ideal spot for a space elevator.

What's wrong with Olympus Mons, it's already out of the atmosphere. No drag.

Pavonis Mons is closer to the Martian Equator.

Read Red Mars

See my quibbles above.

[Clinton Huxley]

No.

What if we fly St. George's Cross on Mars? Would that help?

It's a techno-utopia fantasy. It's not happening any time soon.

But, Branson is a Limey, right? So, his space program will most certainly be far superior to.....

He's not even allowed to run the trains in the UK any more....

[klr]

He can't even keep Usain Bolt out of his own office, dammit!

[JimC]

Not in my lifetime, certainly...

[That Alien Guy.]

Not in any of your lifetimes. At best you might get a Martian Colonoscopy. Though technically those squatting on the planet are not Martians but are Rogue Proctologists from Uranus.

[Blind groper]

All very romantic.
However, I would never volunteer to be a colonist. You would need to be stark staring raving bananas to volunteer.

Think about it. The only place you could live would be underground, in tunnels. Digging those tunnels would be a nightmare. Food would be grown under artificial light, with artificial heating, and would likely be rationed, with the slightest problem sending the entire colony into starvation, and possible cannibalism. With the enormous cost of transporting anything from Earth, you would be utterly impoverished, with none of the luxuries we take for granted. Entertainment would be square dancing to the sound of a harmonica or the human voice - anything larger would not be sent. Your life would be crowded, dirty (little water for cleaning), in stuffy air, and with no food security. I suspect the first 50 years would be like this, until Mars people learn to produce more goods.

Mind you, despite all this, literally millions are quite idiotic enough to volunteer - so there would be no shortage.

[Pappa]

That's pretty pessimistic Blind Groper. I'm sure there are lots of people who would be up to the challenge and wouldn't consider many of those things as hardships. Human ingenuity knows no bounds, so I'm sure they could do better than a harmonica. As long as the food production and oxygen production stuff was fail safe, I don't see why they'd need to resort to cannibalism. If I had no earthly responsibilities, it'd be something is seriously consider doing.

[Tyrannical]

All very romantic.
However, I would never volunteer to be a colonist. You would need to be stark staring raving bananas to volunteer.

Think about it. The only place you could live would be underground, in tunnels. Digging those tunnels would be a nightmare. Food would be grown under artificial light, with artificial heating, and would likely be rationed, with the slightest problem sending the entire colony into starvation, and possible cannibalism. With the enormous cost of transporting anything from Earth, you would be utterly impoverished, with none of the luxuries we take for granted. Entertainment would be square dancing to the sound of a harmonica or the human voice - anything larger would not be sent. Your life would be crowded, dirty (little water for cleaning), in stuffy air, and with no food security. I suspect the first 50 years would be like this, until Mars people learn to produce more goods.

Mind you, despite all this, literally millions are quite idiotic enough to volunteer - so there would be no shortage.

The original plan was to use an underground nuke to create a cavern, and the heat of the blast would fuse the rocks solid making a safe large protected underground habitat.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The original plan was to use an underground nuke to create a cavern, and the heat of the blast would fuse the rocks solid making a safe large protected underground habitat.

I still like the idea of roofing over a side canyon of Valles Marineris. You live in the canyon sides, farm on the floor, and fly in the space below the roof.

[Blind groper]

The high level of radiation on Mars would require 10 metres of dirt overhead for screening, or else you would face early death from cancer. You would need that, anyway, for thermal insulation, plus some form of foamed material.

In spite of the romance of being a pioneer, the living conditions would be horrendous, with massive discomfort. I cannot believe either, that oxygen and food production would be "fail safe". The risk of failure would be massive.

But, as I said, there would still be no shortage of volunteers, but I would not be among them.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The high level of radiation on Mars would require 10 metres of dirt overhead for screening, or else you would face early death from cancer. You would need that, anyway, for thermal insulation, plus some form of foamed material.

In spite of the romance of being a pioneer, the living conditions would be horrendous, with massive discomfort. I cannot believe either, that oxygen and food production would be "fail safe". The risk of failure would be massive.

But, as I said, there would still be no shortage of volunteers, but I would not be among them.

Living conditions would be horrendous? Sounds like my hootch.

[Tyrannical]

The high level of radiation on Mars would require 10 metres of dirt overhead for screening, or else you would face early death from cancer. You would need that, anyway, for thermal insulation, plus some form of foamed material.

In spite of the romance of being a pioneer, the living conditions would be horrendous, with massive discomfort. I cannot believe either, that oxygen and food production would be "fail safe". The risk of failure would be massive.

But, as I said, there would still be no shortage of volunteers, but I would not be among them.

We have the technology to easily do it, just not the will because of radiation risks on Earth.

The real expense is getting things from Earth into Earth orbit, and the is a limit to how much energy chemical reactions for fuel provide. This little baby conceived by NASA in the late 50's detonated small atomic bombs and rode the shock wave for propulsion. The bottom of the ship was a giant shock absorber that lessened the feel of acceleration after each blast to accommodate people.
The conceived Interplanetary Orion class ship would be only a bit more massive than a Saturn V rocket, but able to drop 800 tons of payload onto Mars and return to Earth. Round trip time, about nine months. With maybe a trip a year, and nuclear reactors for power I suppose a permanent colony would be easily feasable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Or ... pulsion%29