this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2024
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By Albert Burneko

9:00 AM EDT on September 11, 2024

Mars does not have a magnetosphere. Any discussion of humans ever settling the red planet can stop right there, but of course it never does. Do you have a low-cost plan for, uh, creating a gigantic active dynamo at Mars's dead core? No? Well. It's fine. I'm sure you have some other workable, sustainable plan for shielding live Mars inhabitants from deadly solar and cosmic radiation, forever. No? Huh. Well then let's discuss something else equally realistic, like your plan to build a condo complex in Middle Earth.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Even in the unlikely event that Elon did get a colony going on Mars, he'd be like Cohaagen from Total Recall, but worse.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Doesn't colonization require stealing resources from someone else?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Billionaires are stealing resources from humanity to waste on some wacky escape plan to mars.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The problem of sun radiation can be mitigated by dwelling underground as many early humans did so

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Humans can already live underground here on eatth

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Colonize is not the same as terraform.

Mars could be colonized without terraforming it. Closed habitats could be permanent thus providing a way of colonization.

Terraforming is a trouble without magnetosphere that's true. But not impossible. As there are tech concepts on how it could be possible to shield mars atmosphere. And doesn't seem imposible, just expensive and complex.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago

Never say never - unless you're writing clickbait.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Could you imagine relying on elon musk for your oxygen supply?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

He's a "free-breathing absolutist." He thinks everyone should have a supply of oxygen except the people he personally doesn't like.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

We, as a human race, will face so many problems, of various orders and magnitudes in the near future, that thinking about colonizing Mars will be considered an outrage.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

It's already considered an outrage by anybody who's not totally brainwashed.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I honestly don't think any wetware human will ever land on Mars or even enter its orbit.

We'll be posthuman cyborgs before that happens.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The idea of "posthuman cyborgs" is so fanciful, that I don't think you are connected enough to reality to even make an accurate judgement on "the possible."

We have the technology TODAY, RIGHT NOW to go to mars and make it back. There is no over-arching reason to do such a thing, but there are also no significant technological barriers preventing us from doing it. Human Cyborgs are 100% impossible today, and there are a myriad number of things preventing that kind of development. For example, we cannot today, keep a brain alive for any significant time, outside of it's existing organic support body. Individual neurons? Sure, but a system of neurons at any comparable complexity as even a simple mouse brain? Nope. On the other-hand we have actually kept people alive in space for over a year, and we only need around 2years to get to mars and back. We also have the capability to send things to mars and bring them back, so combining those two things, and there ya go.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

We really don't. We can barely make it to orbit. Boeing is failing at even doing that.

It's like saying your grandpa can climb Mount Everest because he can shamble to the local tesco. It's not even close.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

this is straight up nonsense. we get into orbit just fine, ISS has been operating for decades. Going beyond that is only a matter of political will, not a limit of tech or engineering. In fact they are working on Artemis to go back to the moon right now, and Mars after that.

and i actually disagree with the person above that we can go to mars right now. there are issues they need to figure out, but they are solvable problems. This isn’t like cold fusion that is 30 years away from being 30 years away.

also boeing isn’t representative of the aerospace industry or even just NASA. They are mismanaged and negligent. they can’t even build airplanes, never mind spacecraft.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Going beyond that is only a matter of political will

Yeah, who's willing to murder a bunch of hapless astronauts?

also boeing isn’t representative of the aerospace industry or even just NASA. They are mismanaged and negligent. they can’t even build airplanes, never mind spacecraft.

Tell that to NASA.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah, who’s willing to murder a bunch of hapless astronauts?

pure ignorance.

Tell that to NASA.

what does this even mean? NASA knows, that's why they didn't let Boeing take astronauts back. NASA had concerns and acted accordingly, as a competent organization should.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

just landing on mars? nah that'll happen soon. settling it on a long term basis is a whole other matter though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

We can land corpses or soon-corpses on Mars sure. Getting people there and back reliably and in good shape is going to be extremely difficult if not completely impossible. And the benefit is near zero.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

difficult yes, of course. impossible, not even close. NASA's goal is by the 2030s - even if you don't believe that timeline which would be fair, the technology is well within our reach.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Every time we do it we learn from it. That’s nowhere near zero.

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