Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Huge Mars Colony Eyed by SpaceX Founder Elon Musk
SPACE.com ^ | Date: 23 November 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET | Rob Coppinger,

Posted on 11/24/2012 2:48:04 PM PST by BenLurkin

In Musk's vision, the ambitious Mars settlement program would start with a pioneering group of fewer than 10 people, who would journey to the Red Planet aboard a huge reusable rocket powered by liquid oxygen and methane.

"At Mars, you can start a self-sustaining civilization and grow it into something really big," Musk told an audience at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London on Friday (Nov. 16). Musk was there to talk about his business plans, and to receive the Society’s gold medal for his contribution to the commercialization of space.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: Travel
KEYWORDS: elonmusk; mars; spacex
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

1 posted on 11/24/2012 2:48:11 PM PST by BenLurkin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
I say let two of those ten be zero and his fag hag.

Leave the kids here ... they're still young enough ... I think we can straighten them out.

If socialism and power is so wonderful ...

GO

Build your colony ... write your constitution, pen your EO's, make law .. eat, drink and be merry and gay.


We'll ship ice cream once a year.

2 posted on 11/24/2012 2:54:02 PM PST by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Ehhhhh.....I been to Mars. Looks like Detroit without the Eiffel Tower.


3 posted on 11/24/2012 3:04:22 PM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
"At Mars, you can start a self-sustaining civilization and grow it into something really big,"

You can but only if you can produce enough to trade and you have an increasing stream of settlers.

I'm all for it. Mars is looking increasingly livable within certain parameters. Its not a total vacuum which helps a lot. Radiation levels at the surface are comparable to what astronauts on the ISS experience.
4 posted on 11/24/2012 3:07:45 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: knarf

Just don’t let him have any dogs up there


5 posted on 11/24/2012 3:25:10 PM PST by faithhopecharity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

There is absolutely no point to settling Mars. The Moon at least has massive reserves of Helium-3. @hat does Mars have? And it is vastly farther away.


6 posted on 11/24/2012 3:31:54 PM PST by montag813
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
While a Mars colony sounds nice, as does a moon colony, where will the water come from? Yep, you can grow vegetation inside a dome for the oxygen, and food, but you need water to do that, you also have to have some for the humans to drink.

All this may seem obvious but I have yet to see anyone explain where this water will come from. Ice on Mars, I am sure, but how much and how difficult to get to it?

7 posted on 11/24/2012 3:49:42 PM PST by calex59
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: montag813

Mars has plenty of water, you just have to have the equipment in place to get at it and separate out the H2 from the O.


8 posted on 11/24/2012 3:52:53 PM PST by AU72
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: AU72

The real problem is getting there. Life on the surface is technologically much easier to deal with than the moon. You don’t need the bulky suit on mars. You don’t have a 2 week day and two week night like the moon. Radiation levels at the surface are comparable to what astronauts in low earth orbit experience. There are caves on mars that could serve as handy shelters if the entrances are covered. Its cold on mars but the day night temperature fluctuations aren’t nearly as wide as they are on the moon.


9 posted on 11/24/2012 4:04:36 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
This is going to make Marvin very angry. He doesn't like it when huge colonies on Mars, are "eyed".
10 posted on 11/24/2012 4:06:37 PM PST by BlueDragon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Send Michelle. They need Moms.


11 posted on 11/24/2012 4:10:24 PM PST by COBOL2Java (The GOP-e said "Beat a Marxist with a Liberal!" What a colossal blunder.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids, in fact it’s cold as hell


12 posted on 11/24/2012 4:15:26 PM PST by jaz.357 (Welcome to hell. Here's your accordion.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jaz.357

And there’s no one there to raise them if you did


13 posted on 11/24/2012 4:19:29 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: calex59

The water comes from the soil. Even if the soil does not contain significant amounts of water ice, the planet has an immense quantity of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which would be combined with the hyrogen in the rock to produce water.

If the prospect of using such chemical means to produce large amounts of water is deemed to be too impractical, it would not be unreasonable to redirect the orbital path of a comet or water rich asteroid to impact on Mars and thereby resupply Mars with seas of water.


14 posted on 11/24/2012 4:36:32 PM PST by WhiskeyX
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: WhiskeyX

I think moisture in the soil may be the big discovery they’re talking about lately. To those with no real interest it doesn’t seem like much but water in the soil would be earthshaking in science circles.


15 posted on 11/24/2012 4:48:08 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: montag813

Moon also has Thorium and exotic minerals for mining.

All we need are some Hortas and we’re set!!!


16 posted on 11/24/2012 4:59:50 PM PST by Kolath
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: montag813
What does Mars have?

It's absolute absence of liberals seems promising. I've been working on a ship in my garage ever since the pictures came back and showed no liberals in all directions.

17 posted on 11/24/2012 5:07:52 PM PST by douginthearmy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

He can’t even get proper electric cars working with hundreds of millions of investor dollars.

He’s gotta walk before he can run.


18 posted on 11/24/2012 5:40:04 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kolath

I prefer the Botany Bay solution.


19 posted on 11/24/2012 5:45:28 PM PST by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: KevinDavis

Thanks BenLurkin.

NASA Not Sharing a “Historic” Find On Mars.... yet
C-Net | Novembe 21 ,2012 | Eric Mack
Posted on 11/24/2012 5:03:29 PM PST by lbryce
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2962704/posts


20 posted on 11/24/2012 5:59:00 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson