Will the first Mars colony set a racial precedent?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Will the first Mars colony set a racial precedent?

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

Baronjutter posted:

None, the incredibly toxic soil will prevent it from ever having anything other than the most rudimentary little science base that's not worth the ridiculous expense. It's never going to be "colonized".

Martian soil isn't toxic.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2016 18:50

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 14:17

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

OwlFancier posted:

I like the space tek 9

I'd expect it to have a decent amount of heavy metals in it at least, maybe that's what's meant?

Martian soil is perfectly safe to grow plants in, as far as soil analysis equipment can tell. It's low on humus and would probably need fertilization, but that's an entirely different thing.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2016 18:54

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

Baronjutter posted:

http://www.space.com/21554-mars-toxic-perchlorate-chemicals.html

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/can-plants-grow-with-mars-soil

The main issue would be filtering the water and ensuring enough nitrogen, but Martian soil has everything to support plant life.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2016 20:13

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

Baronjutter posted:

Great, we can grow some plants while the "colonists" die from severe thyroid issues.

If we can make Mars have a thick enough atmosphere to breathe and have it stick around for hundreds of thousands of years, we can clear out the perchlorates.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2016 20:17

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

Baronjutter posted:

Correct, with magic and unlimited resources we could in theory do something.

Okay, but we don't need unlimited resources to clear out enough room for high-intensity farming or hydroponics. We possibly don't even need that many resources if we make some breakthroughs on DNA sequencing and develop perchlorate-eating extremophiles.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2016 20:23

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

Helsing posted:

Unless we have nearly unlimited resources this would seem like a hard plan to justify given the seemingly massive opportunity costs it imposes. Why are we trying to transform Mars into a hospitable environment for high-intensity farming in the first place?

Probably because it's easier than conjuring up a working ecosystem out of nothing, as would be required for space habs like the O'Neill Cylinder.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2016 20:40

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 14:17

Effectronica: May 31, 2011; Fallen Rib

Helsing posted:

Would it really?

That's an honest question because I have no idea. I would assume that the health complications of living in a low-gee environment and the huge costs of having to change a planet's environment would make a viable Mars colony a lot more expensive than a permanently inhabited space station. This is way outside my field of expertise though so I'm genuinely curious if there's a case to be made that colonizing planets is cheaper than the alternative forms of living outside planet earth. My intuition would be that it's going to be the opposite.

Mars is going to be like an early-gen space hab except you don't have to crack silicates and carbonates for oxygen, just compress the atmosphere enough, and you don't have to haul dirt up. You also don't have to use as much material for the same total area of land being used! Now, in the long run, space habs will probably be better, but in the short run, planets still have some really attractive features.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2016 21:03

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Will the first Mars colony set a racial precedent?