The Mars Colony

Zachstar · 07-07-10, 11:30 PM

You HAVE to develop those technologies for the colony to have even the SLIGHTEST hope of being self sustaining.

People really have no idea what an advantage having breathable air and easily accessed water is. Have no idea how much it costs to send even simple probes to mars much less many ton modules. Have no idea how much energy it takes to mine even high quality ore. etc. etc..

Why do I mention Algae for instance? NASA loves to show their hydroponics and all that Jazz but if you look at how much real life farmland it takes to feed a single person every year you quickly realize how silly it is. Sure some needs to be grown such as herbs medical use plants and some foodstuffs but history has shown us that disaster can come out of nowhere. There is no escaping a potato blight on mars. A major crop disease could mean collapse of economy due to how workforce is affected. Algae technology tho grows a GREAT amount of food in a single day without genetically altering it. What is needed is to be able to transform that algae into something reasonable to eat. That will take a bunch of time and money. But the risk of failure due to the food failure is too great otherwise.

Do it today? Sure put the entire world on the project somehow stop discrimination and corruption and politics overnight and at the same time convince the populace that all entitlement and social services and 75 percent of the military is going to mars instead. I'm being serious.

07-07-10, 11:30 PM	#10
Zachstar Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Shreveport, Louisiana Posts: 1,956 Downloads: 13 Uploads: 0	You HAVE to develop those technologies for the colony to have even the SLIGHTEST hope of being self sustaining. People really have no idea what an advantage having breathable air and easily accessed water is. Have no idea how much it costs to send even simple probes to mars much less many ton modules. Have no idea how much energy it takes to mine even high quality ore. etc. etc.. Why do I mention Algae for instance? NASA loves to show their hydroponics and all that Jazz but if you look at how much real life farmland it takes to feed a single person every year you quickly realize how silly it is. Sure some needs to be grown such as herbs medical use plants and some foodstuffs but history has shown us that disaster can come out of nowhere. There is no escaping a potato blight on mars. A major crop disease could mean collapse of economy due to how workforce is affected. Algae technology tho grows a GREAT amount of food in a single day without genetically altering it. What is needed is to be able to transform that algae into something reasonable to eat. That will take a bunch of time and money. But the risk of failure due to the food failure is too great otherwise. Do it today? Sure put the entire world on the project somehow stop discrimination and corruption and politics overnight and at the same time convince the populace that all entitlement and social services and 75 percent of the military is going to mars instead. I'm being serious. __________________