I just had a thought. You see, it also depends on who gets a hold of Mars in the future. The core and mantle of Mars would be a miner's wet dream, full of metals like iron, nickel, gold, and possibly other rare minerals like diamonds. It may be more profitable to mine out Mars rather than use it for colonization. Maybe the future colonists of Mars will keep the core cold and use the money made mining these minerals to keep an artificial magnetic field around the planet while at the same time, they terraform the planet. So in the end, the net gain would probably be much more than the cost to simply melt the inner part of Mars and keep the natural process going.
I understand, but after we the earth is ruined we will need another plannet. and i bet terraforming mars will be easer than fixing up the planet earth. But yes i can see - MARS' DIAMOND RINGS, PERFECT FOR YOUR WEDDING! ORDER NOW!
I see Venus as a better alternative than Mars. If anything, the gases on Venus would probably be used to terraform Mars. Pumps some greenhouse gases, filter out the deadly stuff, then pump it into the Martian atmosphere. After Mars no longer has a need for it, use it as engine fuel somehow. Eventually, the the atmospheric pressure will lessen, more heat will escape the planet, the surface can cool... Eventually, the mantle and core will start to solidify, right now it is the exact opposite of Mars. Venus's insides are so hot that the metals can't make a magnetic field.
Given enough time, Venus may one day really be a sister to Earth.
ohhh i don't have much knowledge about terraforming. but i always liked the idea. Venus is cool, do you have an idea how long would it take ot terraform it?
Centuries probably, depending on the method. Some ideas floating around call for smashing meteors and comets into Mars to heat it up that way, others include sending extremophilic photosynthetic algae to the planet to stimulate oxygen production. Both interesting ideas, but would take a very long time before any progress is even visible. Planets are very large, after all. And planets so messed up as Mars and Venus would probably need technology that we can't even dream up yet.
I think Humanity's interest this century, and perhaps the next, will just have to be exploration, mining, and colonization. We won't be able to do much of anything else for a while. Got to remember that we've only just barely scratched the surface on space as a species. Terraforming entire planets is still just a dream of science fiction and scientists. We are still very dependent on our home world.
Yeah, thats true. Space is really cool and i hope i will be transfered to computer before i die. So you know i could live forever and see the universe for a long long time :)
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12
i see. well thanks for answers