Not that I WANT to terraform Mars...

Sorry didn't mean to offend you. I was talk you(plural) for anyone
with dreams of going to Mars and walking out the space ship.

If you want terraforming as a mind exercise. I can see some problems
that need to be solved.

Physically
Gravity is to low to retain an atmosphere. You can add gases to the
existing atmosphere but they will leak out. How much air pressure do
you want? If earth normal, how fast will this leak away. Is it slow
enough that replenishing the atmosphere is possible, remembering that
you can't wait until 10% is gone before adding more.

Gravity is low. What effect will this have on plants and animals?

Temperature. How do you increase the temperature of the planet to
livable levels. Can this be done with green house gases alone, or will
you need large numbers of mirrors to increase the amount of sunlight
hitting the planet.

Cosmic Rays. Can life exist in say 2 or 3 times the amount of cosmic
rays hitting the earth?

Biosphere. Can a biosphere be created on Mars? Will it be self
sustaining or will it need constant vigil on part of human beings?

Timescale. Can this be done in the time an average civilization
exists. If it take a million years or hundred thousand years to get
something stable enough that people want to live there, will it ever
happen?

Bill

> Stop thinking of Mars as that planet over there ready to be
colonized,
> and start thinking of it as a very large colony that has to be
> actively managed like any other complex none self-regulating system.
>
> Hey, I never thought of Mars "as that planet over there ready to be
> colonized". Remember, I'm the guy who created this group and who
wrote at
> the home page that this is for people who believe that space
settlements are
> a better option than terraformation ;-).
>
> Anyway, I like to think about terraformation just because I think
that it is
> an amusing mind exercise. It is like thinking about interstellar
travel: it
> is something that you know will probably never be viable, but anyway
it is
> an interesting puzzle to solve. That's what I'm playing with in this
thread.