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?
Mars is 96% CO2, I think it might already have enough. In fact, the problem is trying to get rid of it all.
Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
61–70 of 80 posts
Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
#62Earlier 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.
They do have recent satellite images that appear to show signs of water running down ravines at certain times of the Mara year. Don't have a citation handy, though.
Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
#63Lake Superior has enough water to flood all of North and South America to almost one foot.
Really puts into perspective how much water is in the great lakes!
Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
now do the calculations on lake baikal.
What about Guarani Aquifer?
A little over 3 feet.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(40,000+cubic+kilometre...
To skip ahead, the Great Artesian Basin, the largest artesian basin in the world, would be just over 5 feet.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(64,900+cubic+kilometre...
Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
#65Lake Superior has enough water to flood all of North and South America to almost one foot.
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!
I like that Wolfram Alpha will just do this one for you:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=volume+of+lake+superior...
It struggles with the more esoteric aquifers, and doesn't understand "North and South America" as an object, but still pretty cool.
Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
#66Mars is still less habitable than the Earth would be post nuclear war.
Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about Guarani Aquifer?
A little over 3 feet. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(40,000+cubic+kilometre... To skip ahead, the Great Artesian Basin, the largest artesian basin in the world, would be just over 5 feet. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(64,900+cubic+kilometre... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Artesian_Basin
How much fracking liquid could we pump in there and remain profitable?
Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
#68Re: Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
Instead of just asking the question that many people think they have answered, why not say what you don't like about their answers?
For example, Elon's speech about Mars colonization gives one answer. Maybe you've got great reasons to disagree with him. Maybe there's someone else you'd like to reply to?
(Hint: folks advocating for Mars think the atmosphere is not unusable.)