Posts Tagged colonize

NASA Proposes One-Way trip to Mars, Surprised When Hundreds Volunteer

Posted by mistergroonk in Science, Space on January 14, 2011

living on Mars

So a few scientists proposed an unconventional idea: send astronauts — but simplify the flight by making it a one-way trip. The astronauts would be settlers as well as explorers. A return trip is massively more difficult than the voyage there, partly because the fuel and supplies to get home would have make the round trip from Earth.

It’s just a fanciful idea for now — but the editors say they were stunned when more than 500 e-mail messages came from people around the world, volunteering to be the first Mars colonists.

Students, soldiers, law enforcement officers, nurses, and space enthusiasts young and old wrote in, saying they’d be happy to leave their lives on Earth for the chance to be pioneers. (The response was so great, in fact, that the journal announced Thursday that it would actively seek volunteers and supporters for a Mars mission. It encouraged the public to sign up on the journal’s home page or e-mail them.)

Have you seen the world lately? Mars looks like the better bet with each passing day.

When asked why he would be willing to leave his son, family and friends behind, he said, “Christopher Columbus did it. It’s a pioneering thing. …Because it’s there.”

Well, yeah. There’s that, too.

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Exploring the Moon hole… to Live In

Posted by mistergroonk in Science, The Future on January 3, 2010

The international team of scientists have discovered something:


…a protected lunar “lava tube” — a deep, giant hole — that might be well suited for a moon colony or a lunar base.

The vertical hole, in the volcanic Marius Hills region on the moon’s near side, is 213 feet wide and is estimated to be more than 260 feet deep, according to findings published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

More important, the scientists say, the hole is protected from the moon’s harsh temperatures and meteorite strikes by a thin sheet of lava. That makes the tube a good candidate for further exploration or possible inhabitation, …

It took, what, 50,000 years* for humans to crawl out of caves and build deluxe apartments in the sky? Now these world scientists are saying we have to crawl back in a hole to step off this rock and start the Trek/Wars future we all long for?

Scientists love irony.

*We’re pretty sure that’s not the scientific number but you get the point.

(via CNN and someone’s tweet but we can’t recall whose.)

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Scientists Find Water on the Moon. Moon Water!

Posted by mistergroonk in Science, Space, The Future on September 25, 2009

moonwater

Small amounts of water were detected on the surface of the moon at various locations. This image illustrates their distribution at high latitudes toward the poles.

Blue shows the signature of water, green shows the brightness of the surface as measured by reflected infrared radiation from the sun and red shows an iron-bearing mineral called pyroxene.

So what does this mean? Easier human colonization comes to mind. The truth is there’s more water on the driest deserts on Earth than there is water at the moon’s polar regions. But…

…there’s still the very real possibility that there could be water ice underneath the regolith on the Moon or buried deep within craters at the poles. Fairly recent (within the past million years) impact craters on the moon were found to have ejecta “rich” with water and hydroxyl, according to M cubed data, which implies recently those molecules are buried under the surface.

Moon water! The only thing PLUTO NASH found wandering the moonscape was Rosario Dawson. Considering how we feel about her, it’s tough to choose which is the better find.

(via spacefellowship: 1, 2)

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