Re: my kids are going to space
Quote:
Saulot said: Well, somewhat tangental, but as good of a time to discuss it as any... this far off world may have the same problems as Mars does. The problems with colonizing Mars are twofold, and neither of these have anything to do with water.
1. Mars has a very limited atmosphere.
2. Mars' core is not molten.
[...]
Without that molten core, maintaining an atmosphere on mars will be difficult, and without both field and atmosphere, there will be very significant amounts of radiation. I suppose one could survive underground on mars, but I don't imagine that would be any different from living in a deep underground bunker here on earth.
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Getting to Mars or this extrasolar planet are both going to require a lot of radiation shielding anyway. The extrasolar mission is likely to be a one way trip; we may as well design it to cannibalize the ship when it gets there. After spending the entire trip inside a relatively small spacecraft, an expandable underground complex is going to seem luxurious.
IMO, the psychological challenges are going to be harder to solve than the technological ones.
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