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Source? AFAIK NASA is performing successful experiments of closed isolated colonies. http://hi-seas.org/ http://hi-seas.org/
by DiThi 10y ago
Source? AFAIK NASA is performing successful experiments of closed isolated colonies. http://hi-seas.org/ http://hi-seas.org/
- Pinckney 10y agoHi-seas isn't self-sustaining in food, water, or atmosphere.
- Teever 10y agoHi-Seas is not closed loop. You're thinking of something more like Biosphere 2[1] Which had it's flaws. We've never done this on any significant scale with success. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2
- azeotropic 10y agoA Mars colony doesn't have to be closed loop either. If you're bringing a large power source, you can make oxygen and fix carbon from the martian atmosphere. This is already part of the plan for the purposes of making fuel and oxidizer for the return trip. Think of it more like a nuclear submarine with a greenhouse full of potatoes attached -- we can most likely do that. Nobody's going to try to launch an entire mangrove forest on the first go. Biosphere2 is a failure of experimental design, not a failed experiment.
- nabla9 10y ago>Think of it more like a nuclear submarine with a greenhouse full of potatoes attached - Maybe, but if we want to make Mars economically self sustaining the correct analogy is nuclear submarine that never surfaces and can totally self repair, including building new nuclear reactors and eventually replace all parts in itself.
- nabla9 10y agoThey are not experimenting with sustainable biosphere. They eat prepackaged foods and are not completely sealed from their environment. They just simulate trip to Mars psychologically and test foods. There was Biosphere 2 experiment few decades ago, but they could not keep the biosphere stable.
- pmoriarty 10y agoI'm skeptical of how effective a simulation of a trip to Mars would be. There's just a huge psychological difference between knowing that you're in space, millions of miles from Earth or any kind of help and knowing you're in a simulation on Earth. I suppose it's possible to fool people that they're in the former while actually being in the latter. But the ethical issues surrounding such an experiment would make it out of bounds for NASA. It might make for a fun scifi story, though.