Are Earth colonies on Mars feasible?

Realistically I think the moon will be the first place we built settlements in fact I just read that Japan is already moving in that direction. Planning settlements on the moon. Not to distract from the cataclysms to come but perhaps we can see why Mars and the moon are necessary for us now to consider. Quote from Stephen Hawking video (2nd video)

"500 years from now... I think Mars will have its own language, its own currency, its own cuisine.."

First watch this short Discovery Channel film dsc.discovery.com... and you will also wonder why haven't we started this already.
And this also excellent, Stephen Hawking Colonizing Mars
dsc.discovery.com...





Dr Robert Zubrin is behind a project called Mars Direct
His thinking for this project is fleshed out for you in the following films

Presentation by Dr. Robert Zubrin on Aug. 5 2009





Here is near as I can tell the only couple of ATS threads close to this subject - Dr. Robert Zubrin, Mars Direct, which mostly discusses his credibility www.abovetopsecret.com... And this one www.abovetopsecret.com...

This was also interesting and vital for life in space. Growing food.
Physics of Space Gardens www.nasa.gov...

Cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin photographed this scene on April 9, 2003. He was peering into the Russian Lada greenhouse onboard the International Space Station (ISS), and his snapshot illustrates some of the strange physics of gardening in space.

reply to post by newcovenant


It's a fun idea to play around with, but it's not going to happen in our life times. Especially not with the way the economy is going right now and some space institutes have to shut down because of financial reasons. IF it ever happens, it's going to be a slow process.

Hell, I wouldn't even WANT to travel space with the risk of Space Junk, Static Electricity at full force, risk of getting a heatstroke, or worse.. Oh God.. the Kidney Stones. All very real dangers of traveling space.

reply to post by newcovenant


In doing various research on this exact topic you can find conspiracies, photos, documentation, and interviews with people who claim that these colonies either exist or have been attempted in the past. Al Bielek is one who has spoken about them on numerous occasions and so has Phil Schneider.

I believe the technology and methods already exist for one to create a colony. At present I think It would be very basic, and require plenty of supplies from earth to get going.

Biggest challenge will be creating fuel for return trips as lifting fuel into orbit is expensive, and locating a viable and sustainable water source.

Once you have a basic and functioning colony, I don't see why you wouldn't start building compounds underground to begin expanding. This would help protect the occupants.

Trouble is logistics. Getting machinery up there.

It would be a lot easier and quicker by using anti-gravity propulsion.

To disagree with some of the comments above, I am almost certain this will happen in our lifetime. With technological progress and significant private enterprize investment into space, we will most certainly be on Mars within 10-15 years.

3-5 Years: The private space stations and space tourism will hit its prime. Bigelow Aerospace, Space X, Virgin Galactic and I am sure there will be new companies sprouting up around the profits made in the industry.

5-8 Years: We will have developed the launch and technical capacity to begin putting bases on the moon. We will also begin mining the moon and local astroids for rescources.

8-15 Years: The private companies that are raking in the profits from the mining efforts will turn their sights to Mars. I truly believe the first manned expiditions to mars will begin in roughly ten years.

15-25 Years: The technology and infrastructure will exist for mass transit to mars in a wholesale colonization effort not seen since the colonization of the west.

reply to post by wisintel


Sign me up!

And who is going finance the colonzation of Mars or the moon?

The amount of money to continue the moon mission was one of the reasons we ended the moon mission.

Further, the human race iss actually very delicate.

WE can only survive outside the protection of the earths protective shield for a very short time.

This is our space ship traveling through the cosmos.
.
It provides humans and all the other species a perfect place to live and proliferate.

Why someone would want to leave it to go survive on a red rock is beyond my comprehension

In 1968 Kubrick made "2001". At the the time it seemed a not altogether unrealistic dream of our not to distant future. Are we even close to that vision yet? I thought so once, but no more.

I once thought that the ingenuity of man when combined with our united efforts to propel our species out into the solar system would get us to a moon colony at least in my lifetime. But it's not going to happen, and you know why?

It's not going to happen because those dreams were dreamt on a belief in the brotherhood of man, our ability to set aside our differences and work together in solving our common goals. That we could pool our resources direct our energies and train our "best and brightest" to work towards the common good.

Instead the dream that is winning out is a simple one of economics. It is the dream of the individual seeking gain and profit in a closed system of resources. Not only are we at the bottom of a deep gravity well, there is no free air to breath for a zillion miles.

And what's on Mars? What's on the moon? Nothing and nothing. And nothing in between. The simple truth of space colonization is that there is no short term profit in it. Sure maybe a little for Branson and his "ferry the very rich into orbit for a day" business. And sure, all the rest of the near earth orbit satellites, but what else is there to profit from? Not long term, but short term.

The vast amounts of wealth and the machinery it would take to colonize space are under the control of a few hundred people whose mentality is geared to the continuation of their wealth through short term goals. And it is very clear to them that there is no short term profit on the moon and little hope of short or even of long term profit Mars.

We are here and here is where we are staying barring some fantastical cheap tech dropping in our laps or the cavalry swooping in from Antares to save us.

reply to post by TerryMcGuire


The huge amount of wealth available to company's such as Facebook (How many billion is it?) and Microsoft to name but a two of the enormous amount of grossly profitable companies throughout the world should help mankind reach the next stage in space exploration.

Could you imagine how many trillions of dollars could be generated if every multi-million and multi-billion dollar company contributed?

What if there are already colonies on various moons and planets in the solar system. Maybe we have been kept in the dark?

reply to post by TerryMcGuire


Your wrong, your wrong and your wrong.

The original idea of a space race had nothing to do with the brotherhood of man. It was a pissing contest between the U.S.and Russia... Once America won, it became a beauricratic money sink into the aerospace and defense industry.

Second, the motive that is driving the leaders of the companies today are the dreams that we all shared growing up. They want to explore the cosmos, they want to settle other worlds. Google Robert Bigelow and Elon Musk. These guys are sinking a considerable amount of their own fortunes into these space ventures. Beyond the profit motive.. wich I will argue is there in spades, these guys are fueled by dreams.

Finally on the profit motive. To say that there is no profit to be made in space is an extremely naive and uneducated statement. Just one Nickle/Iron astroid is worth 1 trillion dollars in todays market. Mars is an entire world of minerals untouched. The value can't begin to be calculated not to mention the social and technological advances that will come from the people who settle there adapting to the planet.

reply to post by IamJustanAmerican


And also, we have as yet been unable to create a self sustaining totally enclosed ecosystem here on Earth, and there is no reason to believe it would be any easier on a planet 2 years away that requires an enormous amount of resources to get material to.

reply to post by ATSecretAgent


Agent

Exactly my point. All that wealth under control by a few. I CAN imagine what could be done. But will it? What I can't imagine is their philanthropy. They need to keep investing in short term ventures which will turn a profit for a return to investors in the next quarterly.

reply to post by ATSecretAgent


Agent

Exactly my point. All that wealth under control by a few. I CAN imagine what could be done. But will it? What I can't imagine is their philanthropy. They need to keep investing in short term ventures which will turn a profit for a return to investors in the next quarterly.

reply to post by wisintel


reply to post by TerryMcGuire

Your wrong, your wrong and your wrong.

The original idea of a space race had nothing to do with the brotherhood of man. It was a pissing contest between the U.S.and Russia

Granted the element of the pissing contest. However the real contest was for control of near earth orbit. High Ground.

This was sold to the American people in the guise I mentioned above. This dream was gathered into a bundle from the fantasies of thirty years of sic/fi movies and presented in such a way as to stimulate general consensus.
More spending for the space race, why sure Mr. Congressman.

... Once America won, it became a beauricratic money sink into the aerospace and defense industry.

Certainly there were dreamers among these folks. Those who believed in it all as a noble cause. But for the most part as you say, it became a money sink. This money went to a degree to waste and fraud. But a lot of it went to R&D which has paved the way to our present situation. Like so many other avenues of government spending it was used to develop the ground (or space) on which private industry could profit. And in near earth orbit that is what it is doing.

Second, the motive that is driving the leaders of the companies today are the dreams that we all shared growing up. They want to explore the cosmos, they want to settle other worlds. Google Robert Bigelow and Elon Musk. These guys are sinking a considerable amount of their own fortunes into these space ventures. Beyond the profit motive.. wich I will argue is there in spades, these guys are fueled by dreams.

Now who is dreaming? You suggest that they dream the dream we all shared but which was really just a pissing match. Jay Leno has millions of dollars wrapped up in his car collection. So what? It's a hobby of men who have more than they know what to do with.

Granted they have dreams of the cosmos and probably the fame in history books as the great founders of man in space, but I don't for a second think that they will jeopardize their bottom line. And in this world of looming economic chaos, that bottom line WILL be defended at the cost of playing in space.

Finally on the profit motive. To say that there is no profit to be made in space is an extremely naive and uneducated statement. Just one Nickle/Iron astroid is worth 1 trillion dollars in todays market. Mars is an entire world of minerals untouched. The value can't begin to be calculated not to mention the social and technological advances that will come from the people who settle there adapting to the planet.

Naive? How far is the Astroid Belt? By the time free enterprise gets out to the Astroid Belt, that nickle/iron astroid will be worth a buck three eighty. And how much will it cost to get it so it can be used? Who is naive here?

Uneducated? You say minerals. I say this is the carrot dangled in our faces, the red herring of pay offs that has been the Holy Grail of space born riches to be found in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It's a pipe dream.

The cost of R&D has largely been on the backs of the tax payer. Once the research is done, the science is turned over to the private sector and turned into profit machines. Our present economic situation is cutting back on taxes and government and science expenses. Where will the R&D come from. The billions and billions that have paid for this research has come from the pockets of the tax payer, not the free market. Without increasing government involvement in this aspect, free enterprise will not make it alone.

reply to post by newcovenant
i think we are already on mars .............

Its not going to be done in our lifetime. It should be though, just ask the dinosauars.

Look how long it took to build the ISS just a few miles above the Earth.

One idea I heard about awhile back involved building a lightweight space vehicle with no means of propulsion. Orbiting around Earth and Mars would be satelittes with extremely powerful lasers. The spacecraft would have a reflector the laser beam would be focused on. The laser would 'push' the craft at near the speed of light. As the craft approached Mars, another laser would be used to slow it down. The trip would take minutes.

While humans probably couldn't be moved that way, all the materials wed need could be. This would also require a space elevator to get thing into orbit cheaply and quickly.

However it ends up being done, we are no where near being close to having the means to do it.

The first trip to Mars will be one-way in my opinion. What a trip it will be. Like Columbus who sailed into the waters not knowing for sure if he would not fall of the side of the Earth. These hearty souls will extend us out into the cosmos.

reply to post by dfrank39


One way with a view to self sustaining in any way possible I should thinks. I wouldn't imagine NASA or JAXA sending them on their way "Bon Voyage, oh and btw, here are some syanide pills."

I think they would take the bare essentials, solar cells, inflatable greenhouse, seeds, rations, water, plus any other equipment they could fit on board. Perhaps a cargo ship could be sent along with them to haul extra stuff.