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Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

jpl.nasa.gov

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Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#51

Post by stcredzero »

Animats wrote: post #48
stcredzero wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a sentence that seems to imply that the frozen status implies there is no life. I'm not so sure we can be sure of that. There are microbes on Earth that basically live in virtually frozen environments. (All you need are moments when the water is liquid.)

All you need are moments when the water is liquid. But you don't get those at such low atmospheric pressure. Mars atmospheric pressure is around 600pa. Below 611pa, the boiling point of water drops to the freezing point; you can have ice or steam, but not liquid water.

But you don't get those at such low atmospheric pressure. Mars atmospheric pressure is around 600pa.

A mental exercise: Any place on Mars with higher than 600pa pressure?

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#52

Post by pasbesoin »

pasbesoin wrote: post #31
anigbrowl wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried turning it off and on again /ducks to avoid projectiles

I've progressed to the eternal struggle between pounding on it with my fist and utter apathy. Apathy is on its way to winning. (Don't tell Jen.)

Hmm. Downvotes.

Isn't this the next step after turning it off and on again.

Back when we had more mechanical drives, daughterboards, socketed chips and the like, it worked a surprising amount of the time.

Apathy... Maybe that comes with age.

P.S. Not to mention tubes. Yeah, I'm that old.

P.P.S The grandparent was making a reference to a show, and Jen is a character in that show. In case that was confusing anyone.

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#53

Post by jononor »

bonzini wrote: post #36
mimimimi wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This should be enough for a colony though. With a recycling program it would probably last indefinitely. Much better than bringing the water from Earth.

Just the two little problems with the magnetic field and atmosphere left to solve.

Recyling could mean never letting it out into the atmosphere in the first place. Or maybe would, since there is no water cycle to talk of on Mars. Think closed-loop aquaponics systems etc.

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#54

Post by bonzini »

jononor wrote: post #53
bonzini wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the two little problems with the magnetic field and atmosphere left to solve.

Recyling could mean never letting it out into the atmosphere in the first place. Or maybe would, since there is no water cycle to talk of on Mars. Think closed-loop aquaponics systems etc.

I mean that water if going to be the least of your problems, unless you've mastered terraforming (we haven't) or you're okay with living under a huge dome (that we don't even have technology to build, either). Liquid water cannot exist on Mars, and liquid blood can't either, so you would die horribly if you went on Martian sole without a spacesuit. Apart from having gravity, living on Mars would be like living on the ISS, minus the food they bring to the station from Earth...

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#55

Post by cyberferret »

sfifs wrote: post #17
557833 wrote: post #7

Lake Superior has enough water to flood all of North and South America to almost one foot.

I read the post title and thought "huh that's all?". Then I read your comment! Also puts into perspective just how much water there is on earth.

Exactly the same here. Love it when something that is simply too large for comprehension is reframed in an easy to understand way.

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#56

Post by cjensen »

personjerry wrote: post #35
pasbesoin wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but how are we going to reheat and spin up the core?

Why do we need that?

Without a magnetic field, there is way too much radiation on the surface of Mars. A colony would pretty much need to live underground. If you are going to live underground on a planet with unusably-thin air, why not live on the Moon instead?

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#57

Post by astrodust »

sfifs wrote: post #17
557833 wrote: post #7

Lake Superior has enough water to flood all of North and South America to almost one foot.

I read the post title and thought "huh that's all?". Then I read your comment! Also puts into perspective just how much water there is on earth.

That lake is not just huge, but crazy deep. It's bigger than the state of Maine in terms of area and in places is deeper than the Empire State Building is tall.

Or in other words, imagine turning Maine into a fishtank forty stories high that's full of fresh water.

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#58

Post by pasbesoin »

AgentME wrote: post #46
scardine wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because a magnetic shield will prevent the solar winds from wiping your atmosphere. Without a spinning core, Earth would be like Mars. Of course you can live in caves instead of trying to terraform Mars, but doesn't sound so fun.

Solar wind strips that atmosphere very slowly over geological timescales. If we terraform Mars, then we probably have the technology to replenish it faster than that loss.

Geomagnetism also keeps your genetic change (via irradiation) from exceeding your tolerance. Relevant within single and generational lifespans.

I.e. Breathing is of limited utility, if the solar weather still gives you cancer.

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#59

Post by motoboi »

dekhn wrote: post #14
giarc wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was intrigued by this comment so I looked it up. North and South America have a surface area of about 42.55 million sq km or 4.58x10^14 sq ft (1 foot deep water is obviously 4.58x10^14 cubic feet). Lake Superior has a volume of 12,100 cubic km or 4.2x10^14 cubic feet. That's unbelievable!

now do the calculations on lake baikal.

What about Guarani Aquifer?

Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior

#60

Post by rangibaby »

pasbesoin wrote: post #24
codecamper wrote: post #23

If we could just pack up some of this extra CO2 & get it over there, maybe we'd have a new planet! I wonder how many PPM you'd need?

Yeah, but how are we going to reheat and spin up the core?

Surprisingly, a microwave oven satisfies both requirements
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