Not that I WANT to terraform Mars...

Dr. Omni wrote:

> From: "Bill"
> To:
> Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 1:38 AM
> Subject: [spacesettlers] Re: Not that I WANT to terraform Mars...
>
> Such a ring would be structurally impossible.
>
> I can't see why. The *entire* ring would be in circular orbit around Mars -
> that is, the ring would be spinning in orbital velocity around Mars - and
> so gravity would be counteracted by centrifugation, as in the case of any
> satellite. As for tidal effects, I don't think that the ring would be more
> than a few kilometers thick, and so the tidal effects would as negligible as
> they are in Phobos and Deimos.

I think this can be done. There are some big issues though.

Rings like that are in unstable equilibrium. You give them
the slightest nudge and a few days later they impact the planet.
(The instability is somewhat counterintuitive.) [If you want to
know why or how, check the web for references to instability and
'Ring World' by Larry Niven.]

This isn't to say that rings in general are unstable (Saturn doesn't
have any worries), but continuous rings have this issue.

Anyway- the ring is stabilisable, but it would take quite careful
design to do that. It's not a trivial problem.

> Even if we found some
> magic material with that kind of strength, superconductors can't
> really store as much power as everyone believes. The same magnetic
> field that you are trying to create will cause decoupling of electrons
> in the superconductor making it lose superconductivity. The magnetic
> field for complete decoupling is not very high and is normally
> measured in the micro-Teslas.
>
> That seems a more plausible objection. I agree that the terraformers would
> need a magical superconducting material (stable metallic hydrogen), not a
> magical *structural* material.
>
> [snikt]
> 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.
>
> [snikt]
> Bill
>
> Lucio
>

--
- Ian Woollard (ian.woollard@...)

"Is a planetary surface the right place for an expanding technological
civilization?"
- Gerard O'Neill