A new space race?

[Kramerman]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


No. No nation is allowed to claim extraterrestrial territories as its own, but scientific research colonies are definitedly allowed.

This is true. But the US should claim the moon as our own anyway

[Willem]

Originally posted by Kramerman


This is true. But the US should claim the moon as our own anyway

Well then, maybe you better be prepared to go up there someday and evict someone. Short of a full scale terrestial war with China, if they decide to stake a claim in the future, you won't have much to say about it.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


No. No nation is allowed to claim extraterrestrial territories as its own, but scientific research colonies are definitedly allowed.

That has a loophole a mile wide though. A base may start out as a research colony, but what's to prevent it from expanding into a full blown settlement? And who would know the difference really?

[yavoon]

while no1 plans ongoing to the moon netime soon. why do u assume china would beat us to the moon?

ie, be the first w/ colonies on the moon.

[Lancer]

I hope I'm alive for the first manned Mars mission. I watched the first footstep on the moon in both black and white. Another planet now, that's really incredible. Terraform! Not enough water though. We'll have to drag ice asteroids in, or some wild engineering achievement. It will take a great generation first of all.

[Willem]

Originally posted by yavoon
while no1 plans ongoing to the moon netime soon. why do u assume china would beat us to the moon?

ie, be the first w/ colonies on the moon.

They're doing all this partly for prestige and attention within the international community. And since so many things have been done already in space; if they do send a man into orbit this fall most people probably won't even notice, they're going to have to look into areas that no one has attempted before. So the logical thing for them to try IMO would be a moon colony.

That's not say that the US might not do it first if they make the effort, but I see absolutely no desire by them to do so at the moment. They've almost completely ignored the Moon for 30 years now.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Lancer
Not enough water though.

That's still debatable by the sounds of it. I read someone's estimate recently and he mentioned that if the current ice was melted suddenly, there would be enough to cover the entire planet until it was ankle deep. We just don't know for sure yet how much is there, it could be much more prevalent that we realize.

And I watched the moon landing as well, it was pretty amazing for me at the time. I was pretty much glued to that B&W TV set at my sister's place for awhile.

[Lancer]

It would settle into tiny oceans though. Not enough for evaporation to bring enough rain. The Earth is 3/4 water, yes? ...and look at the huge dry places we have.

Seems to make sense to me though it's all just speculation, I don't know such stuff. They can't make it rain in the desert here though...

[Az]

If we'd smothen the face of the earth into a ball, it would be covered by 2km deep ocean.

If we'd smother the face of mars into a ball it would be covered by a 200 meter deep ocean.

that's what I heard, anyway.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Lancer
It would settle into tiny oceans though. Not enough for evaporation to bring enough rain. The Earth is 3/4 water, yes? ...and look at the huge dry places we have.

Seems to make sense to me though it's all just speculation, I don't know such stuff. They can't make it rain in the desert here though...

I think rain will be a bit much to ask for on Mars, it's always going to be cold no matter what we do. Unless we eventually develop the technology to move the entire planet closer to the sun. Any settlements, including agricultural facilities, will have to be enclosed, and it sounds like there's plenty of water for that.

BTW, our deserts aren't dry because of lack of water, it has more to do with wind patterns etc.

[Kramerman]

I thought it was Mars's extremely thin atmosphere that was to blame for its low temperature, adn not necissarily its distance form the sun, tho that is a major factor... I read somewhere that in valleys along the equatorial belt it can get up to 60 degrees F when the Sun is high in the sky. Of course, at night its temperatures plunge to colder than Antartica...

[RedFred]

The main problem with Mars is weak gravity. A lot of the volatile gases have likely already be lost into space. Hence the thin atmosphere.

As an aside, I was in elementary school at the time of the moon landing. Everyone was asked to guess when the first manned Mars mission would take place. Most of the guesses ranged between ten and thirty years.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Willem
That has a loophole a mile wide though. A base may start out as a research colony, but what's to prevent it from expanding into a full blown settlement? And who would know the difference really?

That's true. Though it would be quite problematic to maintain anything big on the Moon, lots of problems without a protective atmosphere. The whole colony must be self-contained to reduce the need for resupply.

Mars and Venus are better choices for any long term human settlements.

[Dauphin]

I don't worry too much about nations claiming celestial territory in defiance of international acceptability. Antarctica is probably more replete with resources and easier to exploit. No-one has attempted to enforce their flag-planted claims on it or its resources as far as I am aware.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


That's true. Though it would be quite problematic to maintain anything big on the Moon, lots of problems without a protective atmosphere. The whole colony must be self-contained to reduce the need for resupply.

Mars and Venus are better choices for any long term human settlements.

Venus, are you joking? I think it's about 800 C on the surface, with a corrosive atmosphere. We're a long ways from being able to colonize there, if ever.

As for the moon, since there's water ice there already, it wouldn't require that much to establish a self sufficient colony. A few lessons in biodome technology and that's about it. And those lessons would set the stage for a settlement on Mars as well.