[Nomor]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

Remember, GAMEPLAY trumps REALISM and CANONISM any day.

I read an interesting paper by Robert M. Zubrin (Pioneer Astronautics) and Christopher P. McKay ( NASA Ames Research Center.) on the Technological Requirements for Terraforming Mars and found a very interesting section on Moving Ammonia Asteroids. http://www.Users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/

The purpose of such an exercise would be to import Greenhouse gases to Mars to assist the melting of it's frozen water reserves and create an atmosphere more suitable for human activity.

"Consider an asteroid made of frozen ammonia with a mass of 10 billion tonnes orbiting the sun at a distance of 12 AU. Such an object, if spherical, would have a diameter of about 2.6km and changing its orbit to intersect Saturn's (where it could get a trans-Mars gravity assist) would require a DV of 0.3 km/s."

It involved collecting asteroids of approx 2.6 km in diameter from the outer solar system and using nuclear thermal rocket engines to heat some of its ammonia up to 2200 K (Kelvin). This would produce an exhaust velocity of 4 km/s, which would allow them to move the asteroid onto its required course using only 8% of its material as propellant. Ten years of steady thrusting would be required, followed by a about a 20 year coast to impact. (This is based on current NASA technology.)

On impact with Mars enough energy would be released to melt a lake 140 km wide and 50 meters deep. In addition, the ammonia released by a single such object would raise the planet's temperature by about 3 degrees centigrade and form a shield that would effectively mask the planet's surface from ultraviolet radiation.

Forty such missions would double the nitrogen content of Mars' atmosphere by direct importation, and could produce much more if some of the asteroids were targeted to hit beds of nitrates, which they would volatilise into nitrogen and oxygen upon impact. If one such mission were launched per year, within half a century or so most of Mars would have a temperate climate, and enough water would have been melted to cover a quarter of the planet with a layer of water 1 m deep.

Humans could not breath the air of the thus transformed Mars, but they would no longer require space suits and instead could travel freely in the open wearing ordinary clothes and a simple SCUBA type breathing gear. However because the outside atmospheric pressure will have been raised to human tolerable levels, it will be possible to have large habitable areas for humans under huge domelike inflatable tents containing breathable air.

Activating the Martian hydrosphere in a timely fashion will require doing some violence to the planet, and , as discussed above, one way this can be done is with targeted asteroidal impacts. Each such impact releases the energy equivalent of 10 TW-yrs. If Plowshare* methods of shock treatment for Mars are desired, then the use of such projectiles is certainly to be preferred to the alternative option of detonation of hundreds of thousands of thermonuclear explosives. After all, even if so much explosive could be manufactured, its use would leave the planet unacceptably radioactive. ( *peaceful use of nuclear explosions for industrial applications )


Mars as it is now has a CO2 atmosphere that is only about 1% the pressure of the Earth's at sea level and would require a space suit similar to those used for the moon landings and space walks.

It is clear from the Babylon 5 series that Mars has had some work done to it for Garibaldi, the Doc and Lyta Alexander to be able to run around in Eskimo suits and fireman's masks.

So Mars Terraforming can now be considered cannon. How having jumpgates and mile long Agamemnon's would improve/speed up these tasks is debatable.. Perhaps war and politics got in the way.

This should allow the Atmospheric Adjusters back into the Mod and consequently the other Planetary Improvement "Facilities". Whilst it may be said that these are processes more that facilities that can be changed simply by having a different picture to represent the chosen option.

In my test mod using a "tax" of -500 rads per turn I was able to have a dozen or more planets undergoing Atmospheric Adjustment and still conduct a War on several fronts. I set them to be constructed in 4 or 5 turns by a planet of 500 million and to convert in 20 yrs or 200 turns. This of course made the planets inhospitable and reduced the mineral values, but that would be in keeping. One can assume that a inhospitable O2 planet is one that is still requiring domed habitats but at a reduced cost and quality that will eventually be dispensed with as further improvements are made.

Sorry it's a bit wordy...

[ June 12, 2004, 06:29: Message edited by: Nomor ]