Posted on 10/01/2015 7:22:28 AM PDT by PROCON
I guess the question is whether they need a planet to inhabit. The problem for them, however, is that by the time the rest of their civilization could get here, our world will have already been destroyed by climate change. LOL
On another note, if they had the technology to get here from almost incomprehensible distances, would they have the ability to terraform another planet for their own use?
Let them have Mars. Maybe they could terraform it much quicker than the thousands of years it might take Earthlings.
How Terraforming Mars Will Work
by Kevin Bonsor
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How Terraforming Mars Will Work
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Creating a Martian Greenhouse
How Terraforming Mars Will Work
Mars before and after terraformation.
Photo courtesy Lightworld
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Terraforming Mars will be a huge undertaking, if it is ever done at all. Initial stages of terraforming Mars could take several decades or centuries. Terraforming the entire planet into an Earth-like habitat would have to be done over several millennia. Some have even suggested that such a project would last thousands of millennia. So, how are we supposed to transform a dry, desert-like land into a lush environment, where people, plants and other animals can survive. Here are three terraforming methods that have been proposed:
•Large orbital mirrors that will reflect sunlight and heat the Mars surface.
•Greenhouse gas-producing factories to trap solar radiation.
•Smashing ammonia-heavy asteroids into the planet to raise the greenhouse gas level.
NASA is currently working on a solar sail propulsion system that would use large reflective mirrors to harness the sun’s radiation to propel spacecraft through space. Another use for these large mirrors would be to place them a couple hundred thousand miles from Mars and use the mirrors to reflect the sun’s radiation and heat the Martian surface. Scientists have proposed building mylar mirrors that would have a diameter of 250 km (155.34 miles) and cover an area larger than Lake Michigan. These gigantic mirrors would weigh about 200,000 tons, which means they would be far too large to launch from Earth. However, there is the possibility that the mirrors could be constructed from material found in space.
If a mirror this size were to be directed at Mars, it could raise the surface temperature of a small area by a few degrees. The idea would be to concentrate the mirrors on the polar caps to melt the ice and release the carbon dioxide that are believed to be trapped inside the ice. Over a period of many years, the rise in temperature would release greenhouse gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which you can find in your air conditioner or refrigerator.
Another option for thickening the atmosphere of Mars, and, in turn, raising the temperature of the planet, would be to set up solar-powered, greenhouse-gas producing factories. Humans have had a lot of experience with this over the last century, as we have inadvertently released tons of greenhouse gases into our own atmosphere, which some believe is raising the Earth’s temperature. The same heating effect could be reproduced on Mars by setting up hundreds of these factories. Their sole purpose would be to pump out CFCs, methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
These greenhouse-gas factories would either have to be ferried to Mars or made out of materials already located on Mars, which would take years to process. In order to transport these machines to Mars, they would have to be lightweight and efficient. These greenhouse machines would mimic the natural process of plant photosynthesis, inhaling carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen. It would take many years, but the Mars atmosphere would slowly be oxygenated to the point that Mars colonists would need only a breathing-assistance apparatus, and not a pressure suit as worn by astronauts. Photosynthetic bacteria could also be used in place of or in addition to these greenhouse machines.
Space scientist Christopher McKay and Robert Zubrin, author of The Case For Mars, have also proposed a more extreme method for greenhousing Mars. They believe that hurling large, icy asteroids containing ammonia at the red planet would produce tons of greenhouse gases and water. For this to be done, nuclear thermal rocket engines would have to be somehow attached to asteroids from the outer solar system. The rockets would move the asteroids at about 4 kilometers per second, for a period of about 10 years, before the rockets would shut off and allow the 10-billion-ton asteroids to glide, unpowered, toward Mars. Energy released upon impact would be about 130 million megawatts of power. That’s enough energy to power Earth for a decade.
If it is possible to smash an asteroid of such enormous size into Mars, the energy of one impact would raise the temperature of the planet by 3 degrees Celsius. The sudden raise in temperature would melt about a trillion tons of water, which is enough water to form a lake, with a depth of one meter, that could cover an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Several of these missions over 50 years would create a temperate climate and enough water to cover 25 percent of the planet’s surface. However, the bombardment by asteroids, each releasing energy equivalent to 70,000 one-megaton hydrogen bombs, would delay human settlement of the planet for centuries.
While we may reach Mars this century, it could take several millennia for the idea of terraforming to be fully realized. It took the Earth billions of years to transform into a planet on which plants and animals could flourish. To transform the Mars landscape into one that resembles Earth is not a simple project. It will take many centuries of human ingenuity and labor to develop a habitable environment and bring life to the cold, dry world of Mars.
Aww, c’mon, who does he think sent the comet to wipe out the dinosaurs and mixed up the DNA of the two legged furry things...
Stir thoroughly, let ferment for a few millennia and ...
???
(I know, sad attempt at humor, but you gotta try sometimes.)
Star Trek:Voyager already did that, called them the Kazon, or some such...
the infowarrior
Vicks?
My great-great grandfather fought as a Confederate in the Civil War. Husband’s did, too. - Neither of them had slaves.. they were, rather, pretty much slaves themselves. Plowed with mules hitched to a plow, tethered with a leather strap on their backs. My g.g. grandfather fought at Shiloh. - Daddy always said, “Lincoln did not have to have that war! “Modern” inventions were just a few years down the road; and the need for slaves would soon be over.” - I grew up with my parents taking me to Shiloh Park. - I’m 69 and the Bloody Pond was much, much darker red with blood when I was a child. Over time it has sort of faded a bit.
“We were not originally created to be filled with hatred greed pride and murder. We have been genetically sabotaged from a long time ago, and it’s coming back full circle again.”
Yes. God was not listened to when He said “wipe them ALL out”. Those descendants which were allowed to live have passed on their DNA.
“If I were an alien (And God how I wish I was sometimes)”
Perhaps we are some type of alien, or descendants there of, originally placed in a paradise, but failed to follow the *rules* when tempted by another race of not so benevolent aliens. Clearly we are quite different from all else on the planet, and individually our stays here are quite brief in a linear type time frame.
True, nothing else on the planet displays such suicidal behavior.
Yeh right. One look at our planet any rational Alien would run like Hell. :-)
You’ve been mislead about the great Abe. Google ‘war criminal and mass murderer.
The greatest stain on American history- mass murder of Americans
That war could have been avoided. It was not about slavery.
Hardly misled, and I’ve been very well acquainted with Lincoln since decades before Google came into existence. Lincoln was a co-worker and friend of our family in Illinois, gave them some of his personal memorabilia which I have today, and was supported by my family when the Republican Party was formed and Lincoln ran for elected office. Some of my family members served alongside of Lincoln during the Black Hawk Wars, which I am well acquainted with, including the allegations of mistreatment of the Amerindians. Again, your accusations are false, irresponsible, and reprehensible acts of political correctness run amuck.
“Lincoln did not have to have that war! “
Then he should not have helped his Confederate slavemasters start the conflict and civil war before Lincoln was ever elected, inaugurated as President, or prompted to free the slaves. There never would have been a civil war if the leaders of the Confederacy had not committed treason and started waging war upon the United States while President Buchanan and President Lincoln were in office.
You got your opinion. I got mine.
I hear there is a balm in Gilead. But don't go there. The Maestro says there is nothing to rent!
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