3 ms·

Neil DeGrasse Tyson made the point quite a while ago that if we had the ability to terraform another planet, we'd have the ability to fix our own.

ceejayoz 4y ago
That's not necessarily true, though. There are things you can do with a fresh slate, empty planet that aren't feasible on Earth. It also misses the redundancy aspect of colonizing another planet. Short-term Mars plans aren't "terraform it so you can live outside"; it's stuff we can already likely accomplish in the Sahara or Antarctica if we really felt like it. Oases already exist in the Sahara; humans have permanent inhabitation in the Antarctic.
- undersuit 4y ago
  Yeah, but slamming ice asteroids into Mars is also wholly impractical on current timescales.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  Another comment mentioned turning the Sahara green. This is] within our capacity. But the Sahara, as presently composited, is home to myriad life. It is a cultural edifice for bordering civilizations. And its modification would have repercussions for every other person on the planet. This baggage doesn't exist on Mars. (To the degree it does, it's de minimus compared with Earth's.) We can close off a canyon, pressurize it and call it a city. Try doing a tenth of that here without going bankrupt on the back of CEQUA challenges.
btilly 4y ago
And that is intellectually dishonest. If, as we are finding, it is easier to heat up a planet, then we can both terraform Mars and not fix Earth.
- nyokodo 4y ago
  > it is easier to heat up a planet, then we can both terraform Mars and not fix Earth That's not the only challenge with terraforming Mars, e.g. you also have to remove perchlorates and install a healthy soil microbiome etc. Those are fertile ground (pun not intended) for earthly applications.
  - xupybd 4y ago
    I'd say the challenge on earth is political. I'm not sure if changing the minds and actions of billions of humans is easier than removing all the perchlorates from Mars.
    - tstrimple 4y ago
      Good thing there won’t be any “politics” involved in the colonization of mars then right?
xupybd 4y ago
Perhaps developing that technology on another planet is a good idea? I don't know about you but I hate developing on the production system. It's just too high stress.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

ceejayoz 4y ago

That's not necessarily true, though. There are things you can do with a fresh slate, empty planet that aren't feasible on Earth. It also misses the redundancy aspect of colonizing another planet. Short-term Mars plans aren't "terraform it so you can live outside"; it's stuff we can already likely accomplish in the Sahara or Antarctica if we really felt like it. Oases already exist in the Sahara; humans have permanent inhabitation in the Antarctic.

undersuit 4y ago
Yeah, but slamming ice asteroids into Mars is also wholly impractical on current timescales.
JumpCrisscross 4y ago
Another comment mentioned turning the Sahara green. This is] within our capacity. But the Sahara, as presently composited, is home to myriad life. It is a cultural edifice for bordering civilizations. And its modification would have repercussions for every other person on the planet. This baggage doesn't exist on Mars. (To the degree it does, it's de minimus compared with Earth's.) We can close off a canyon, pressurize it and call it a city. Try doing a tenth of that here without going bankrupt on the back of CEQUA challenges.

btilly 4y ago

And that is intellectually dishonest. If, as we are finding, it is easier to heat up a planet, then we can both terraform Mars and not fix Earth.

nyokodo 4y ago
> it is easier to heat up a planet, then we can both terraform Mars and not fix Earth That's not the only challenge with terraforming Mars, e.g. you also have to remove perchlorates and install a healthy soil microbiome etc. Those are fertile ground (pun not intended) for earthly applications.
- xupybd 4y ago
  I'd say the challenge on earth is political. I'm not sure if changing the minds and actions of billions of humans is easier than removing all the perchlorates from Mars.
  - tstrimple 4y ago
    Good thing there won’t be any “politics” involved in the colonization of mars then right?

xupybd 4y ago

Perhaps developing that technology on another planet is a good idea? I don't know about you but I hate developing on the production system. It's just too high stress.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]