> ----- Original Message ----- > From: BlazeEagle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [gundam] [OT]Martian Settlement? > Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 04:24:56 -0400 > > > I would NOT go! I'm happy here on Earth. I'd miss my family, doggy > and friends and Internet too much! > > How would they get food once permanently settled on Mars? Cattle > and plants in a sealed bio dome? >
Slaughtered animals are notoriously inefficient when it comes to turning vegetation into energy that the human body can use. So any starting colony would have to rely on plants (presumeably using nuts for protein). Plants also have the added advantage of converting carbon dioxide into the oxygen that the colonists would need to survive. So even without the need for them as a food source, plants would almost certainly be an asset for any long term stay. On the other hand, since Mars is further from the Sun, there would probably be issues with photosynthesis, and an artificial form of sunlight might be required. And that would mean additional energy expenditure to keep the plants alive. There would be plenty of space for a solar array, of course, but I'm not sure how much the differing distances between the Earth, Mars, and the Sun, would impede the collection of solar energy. On the other hand, you wouldn't need to worry about clouds... It would help if there were any information indicating what, if anything, the brains behind this scheme planned to make the settlement look like. Unfortunately, all I've seen to date is a request for money, and the idea that robots build the infrastructure before the initial colonists arrive. The closest thing that I've ever seen to a take on any of this was the very old Sierra game, Outpost (not the sequel, which had little to do with the original and was basically a standard RTS game). It posited that Earth was destroyed by a rogue asteroid and required you to establish a colony with the few survivors in a distant solar system. Unfortunately, while there were some interesting things in the game, it was bug-ridden and many of the features of the game flat out didn't work or were problematic. junior -- _______________________________________________ Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number. -Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 -------------------------------------------------- The Gundam Mailing List MK-II [email protected] Archives: http://www.gundam.com/gml Help: Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with this in the BODY: help list
