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Humans Will Never Colonize Mars
The suggestion that humans will soon set up bustling, long-lasting colonies on Mars is something many of us take for granted. What this lofty vision fails to appreciate, however, are the monumental—if not intractable—challenges awaiting colonists who want to permanently live on Mars. Unless we radically adapt our brains and bodies to the harsh Martian environment, the Red Planet will forever remain off limits to humans.
Mars is the closest thing we have to Earth in the entire solar system, and that's not saying much.
The Red Planet is a cold, dead place, with an atmosphere about 100 times thinner than Earth's. The paltry amount of air that does exist on Mars is primarily composed of noxious carbon dioxide, which does little to protect the surface from the Sun's harmful rays. Air pressure on Mars is very low; at 600 Pascals, it's only about 0.6 percent that of Earth. You might as well be exposed to the vacuum of space, resulting in a severe form of the bends—including ruptured lungs, dangerously swollen skin and body tissue, and ultimately death. The thin atmosphere also means that heat cannot be retained at the surface. The average temperature on Mars is -81 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 degrees Celsius), with temperatures dropping as low as -195 degrees F (-126 degrees C). By contrast, the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was at Vostok Station in Antarctica, at -128 degrees F (-89 degrees C) on June 23, 1982. Once temperatures get below the -40 degrees F/C mark, people who aren't properly dressed for the occasion can expect hypothermia to set in within about five to seven minutes.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday August 02 2019, @07:37AM (3 children)
Of course it is nonsensical, starting from invalid assumptions (all the energy captured by Mars is done by atmosphere only, soil doen't contribute, ignoring the energy captured in chemical bonds - those perchlorates [wikipedia.org]? Pretty energetic molecules.) one can't get valid results.
But it does demonstrate that the energy captured by one molecule of CO2 on Mars is likely higher than the one on Earth - where the collision with the other molecules will distribute this energy to other components of the system (and, conversely, "store" energy when the transfer happens towards the CO2 molecule).
And your point is?
I didn't see any consideration made by you on the speed of a CO2 molecule in Venus atm (Maxwell distribution - correlates with how a human or contact thermometer "feels" temperature), not the energy of that molecule in the gravitational field (Bolzmann distribution - determines the "thickness" of the atmosphere [wordpress.com] and thus contributes to the distribution of pressure with the altitude), neither the distribution of energy on the vibration modes of a CO2 molecule (IR emission when it emission happens). I haven't seen any considerations of the distribution of energy across other gases that makes up Venus atmosphere, or the interaction of atm with Venusian soil, nor the energy stored due to the separation of charges (which occasionally trigger lightnings and releases some energy in UV/bremsstrahlung), or how much in Venuses winds/storms or in creation/destruction of that sulphuric acid. No consideration whatsoever on day/night or seasonal cycles and the ways the energy is stored or dissipated over these cycles).
All of them and many others happens because the energy pumped by the Sun, yet I don't see any care for you to consider their contribution or to demonstrate that contribution can be ignored.
All I have seen from you is "Why doesn't CO2 retain heat on Mars?" without any proof this assertion is true.
Why the fuck I'm even wasting my time with you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @12:25PM (2 children)
Yep, there is no need to consider any of that stuff. It all cancels out once an atmosphere reaches steady state when averaging over a large enough area and timeframe. Eg, maybe CO2 has some warming effect but in repsonse then the system creates more clouds to block insolation so the equilibrium temperature is maintained. All that matters in the end is pressure and insolation.
Do we need to measure the speed of H20 molecules in your blood to know your average body temperature is about 37.2?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @04:52PM (1 child)
I'm yet to see the atmosphere of a planet in that "steady state" that you assert.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 02 2019, @05:28PM
Well, that is your problem... Just look at the temperature of Venus is across day and night sides for the same pressure.