Hannes Hauswedell

I am generally quite excited about space exploration and other scientific pursuits. I also think that it is justified to spend resources on these even while humanity faces other existential crises (to a certain degree).

However, I am less and less convinced that “terraforming Mars” is a worthwhile endeavour.

This article may have been what finally tipped the scales for me:
https://defector.com/neither-elon-musk-nor-anybody-else-will-ever-colonize-mars

#Space #SpaceExploration #Mars #TerraformingMars #Terraform

Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars | Defector

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…

Oct 9, 2024 at 10:00amWeb
Show threadshnonksOct 9, 2024
@__h2__ My dream for Mars is to see canyons covered with a fish tank for a roof (to grow algae and provide radiation shielding) with adobe houses on the canyon walls and tunnels bored deeper to expand the usable space and offer even more radiation shielding. I'm picturing something like Ceres Station from The Expanse. I know that's literally sci-fi, but it's more fun to daydream than to be a pessimist.