NASA Proposes Warming Mars

hotsauce writes "The Guardian reports a NASA scientist has proposed releasing a gas on Mars to start a global warming of the planet in order to make it more hospitable for life. No word on how much traction this has amongst geophysicists. I wonder how much simulation and testing you need before we feel safe about affecting an entire planet."

Bad idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Everyone knows that protomatter is unstable.

Easy!

[Anonymous Coward]

Shouldn't be that hard considering how good us humans are at causing global warming!

testing

[kharchenko]

Ohh, just a few more decades and we'll have a viable test bed right here on earth.

Smokers?

[Shadow Wrought]

Maybe we could ship all of them to Mars? Well worth the cost if you ask me.

College guys, beer, nachos and cheese...

[Zondar]

With all that methane being generated, it should warm the place up quickly

Sims and testing?

[nizo]

I wonder how much simulation and testing you need before we feel safe about affecting an entire planet."

Apparently none, since we are modifying the earth in bad ways every day. Having another planet we can live on sounds like a great idea to me, since this one is becoming less habitable every day.

Don't send anyone down the derelict spacecraft!

[csoto]

And if anybody comes back with a big spidery thing attached to their faces, for ged's sake, DO NOT LET THEM INTO THE HABITAT!

What's new?

[BaseLineNL]

I wonder how much simulation and testing you need before we feel safe about affecting an entire planet. We've been affecting Earth for quite some time. Hell, we're experts in global warming. Bring on Mars!

Re:No !

[Anonymous Coward]

Right, because we absolutely cannot risk damaging the delicate ecosystem on Mars, thereby rendering the planet inhospitable for human life!

Sorry, it won't work.

[brewer13210]

It's a nice idea, but it just won't work. According to the Bush administration, there is no such thing as global warming, thus we would be unable to raise the temps on Mars. ;-)

Todd

cool lets do it!

[brainburger]

Last one to open a burger restaurant on Mars is a sissy!

Re:Hmmm

[loucura!]

Is now a good time to tinker with another planet's atmosphere?

When isn't it a good time to tinker with another planet's atmosphere?

Re:Pipe Dream

[Fr05t]

Hey can't they just kick start the core with a big nuke? I'm sure I saw that in a documentary or a movie.

Re:No !

[BaseLineNL]

When Mankind can prove it can live in equilibrium oni Earth, then it can spread elsewhere.

I don't think we have to abide by the laws of Star Trek.

Re:No !

[martinde]

> When Mankind can prove it can live in equilibrium oni Earth, then it can spread elsewhere.

What do we do when we prove we can't then?!

Genesis anyone?

[freddyfred89]

I sure hope Khan doesn't find out about this plan. Although, maybe if he does, we can send the dead scripts from Enterprise to the budding planet and resurrect a franchise ...

Re:Original NASA Article from Feb/2001 with more i

[Gilmoure]

If Mars can be made to look anything like Frank Cho's vision [libertymeadows.com], I'm all for it.

NSFW

(scroll down for Dejah Thoris drawings)

Yes! Kuato says so!

[momus_radar]

Please. Everyone knows Cohaagen doesn't want the reactor turned on because he's in the business of selling air.

--
Get your Ass to Mars!

Just elect Bush president of Mars.

[Anonymous Coward]

That will get global warming going in a hurry.

Re:Stupidest thing ever

[joeljkp]

Once again, someone avoids admitting his ignorance by lashing out at someone else.

Go call up Chris McKay at NASA and tell him your feelings about his project. My prediction is that he'll say something other than "Oh my gosh! You're right! I'll begin a more realistic project immediately!"

Terraforming, huh?

[John_Booty]

I wonder how much simulation and testing you need before we feel safe about affecting an entire planet

It's funny how they're talking about radically changing another world but thing that astonished me the most was the proper use of "affected" instead of "effected" in a Slashdot post.

Re:Hmmm

[hackstraw]

We can't seem to get our outdated shuttles off the ground safely, or keep a permanent space staion running effectively. Is now a good time to tinker with another planet's atmosphere?

But we are already good at fucking up planets!

Feel safe?

[crmartin]

Uh, and the risk would be what? That Mars would become uninhabitable?

Re:time scale

[khallow]

If you're willing to wait a few million years, sure.

I'm sure the previous poster is willing to wait as long as it takes to be correct. It is the Slashdot Way. ;-)

YES

[essreenim]

YES, lets populate Mars with a race of obsessively compulsive people!

Should be a raving success!

[crivens]

This should be a raving success. I mean, look at how successful we are at warming up the Earth!

Troll? Hell yeah!

Re:safety?

[alienmole]

Well, remember that NASA is likely to be involved here. A little confusion between megatons and gigatons, and blammo, Mars could be propelled inwards towards Earth's orbit.

Re:Wouldn't it be funny...

[raju1kabir]

I'll laugh my ass off if we try everything we can to warm Mars up and it all fails, proving that our arrogant belief that we can really fuck the Earth up beyond its ability to flush us off its surface and recover, bringing rise to a much more humble species that doesn't try shit like that or think that it can, is flat-out wrong.

I'd settle for replacement by a species that can draft coherent sentences.

Re:The Earth IS at Equilibrium

[ObiWanKenblowme]

Anyone else see the irony in someone with the name "ArthurDent" saying that the Earth is not in imminent danger of destruction?

Forget global warning for a minute, earthman, and consider a meteor the size of Texas slamming into us at a few million miles per hour. The effects of that would be, in a word, bad.

Re:Easy!

[I_Love_Pocky!]

Please, it is common knowledge amongst conservatives that humanity's ability to affect climate change on a global scale is a fairy tale. A fairy tale put forth by the liberal media to hurt American industry, leaving us ripe for communist invasion. Clearly we would have no chance of changing Mars's atmosphere either. Liberal wackos.

Re:No !

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck 'em both!! Mod 'em sideways, and then diagonally!!

Re:Yes! Kuato says so!

[DudemanX]

"These people need air!"

Heh... Sounds like it could be Arnold's campaign slogan for governor of Mars.

Re:Original NASA Article from Feb/2001 with more i

[AndroidCat]

To warm Barsoom, all we have to do is locate the Atmosphere Plant and fix whatever has been damaged. (There's a few regions which had their own local plants, so maybe if we locate all of them, we can MacGyver something out of all the parts.)

I recall...

[blackmonday]

I've studied this extensively and can tell you that Governator Arnold can set up an atmosphere on Mars in just a few minutes. I totally recall watching this happen.

Re:No !

[Photon Ghoul]

But then we'll just get cancelled.

Re:The Earth IS at Equilibrium

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no life-ending catastrophe even on the most distant horizon.

While you're at it, can you give me next weeks lottery numbers?

Re:Easy!

[EpsCylonB]

Honestly can't tell if your joking or not, and thats sad.

Re:Bad idea

[Anonymous Coward]

"Bossting CO2 emmissions on another planet - gee, how the hell are we gonna pull that one off"

I have a '73 Buick I think could do it.

Re:The Earth IS at Equilibrium

[GaepysPike]

My guess is you're conservative because you'd rather save $5 today than avoid a possible global crisis. The narrow minded, poor planning, ethnocentric, pathetic administration is right up your alley.

Sorry, but that pre-judgmental, unsubstantiated, conversationally shallow, narrow-minded, and just dead wrong comment, meant to do no more than enflame a meaningless confrontation... warrrants no further reponse than this.

Re:Easy!

[Anonymous Coward]

That's right. Given the choice between believing so-called "Scientists" with their facts and their experiments, and a best-selling sci-fi author that tells me what I want to hear, I know who I want to believe!

Re:Stupidest thing ever

[govtcheez]

I picture an enormous d20 crashing to the Martian surface and someone at NASA ominously saying "You've just failed your saving throw versus PROGRESS."

Join Now!

[paranode]

I am starting the People Unified to Stop Science In Extraterrestrial Settings. Join today to help us stop this senseless disregard for possible microbial life on Mars! Life is life and we must preserve it to the end!

Hang on... one planet at a time...

[spectecjr]

We can make Mars like Earth when we're done making Earth like Venus.

Let's try to focus here, people.

It's our planet.

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

We found it. It didn't have anyone's name on it.

Re:Bad idea

[shokk]

In other news, shares of automakers flew through the roof today as speculators pointed to the need for tens of millions of automobiles that will need to be left idling for a week to trigger this. Contruction on the 6-lane highway that the cars will be parked on has begun this week, complete with toll booths and signs for Jersey City exits.

Scientists are positive that the past 100 years of atmospheric modeling on US roads has produced the most effective greenhouse booster possible.

Re:No !

[Racter]

Ann? Ann Clayborne? I know it's you!

Screw the martians

[boristdog]

Given the chance they'd kill all of us for our wine, water and women. I say wipe them out now before it's too late!

Re:Easy!

[Anonymous Coward]

"They can't predict for sure that GW is caused by humans"

What, are you claiming that the illustrious US president is a extraterrestrial planted here on Earth?

Re:Easy!

[Alan Partridge]

He wrote "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park", too! He was damned sure right about both of those subjects!

Re:Easy!

[losinggeneration]

DDT is dangerous? So is that why my uncle is slightly stupid because he used to think it was fun to ride his bike "in the fog." It all makes sense now.

Better Idea

[rhesuspieces00]

Launch a fresnel lens the size of Australia at the sun adjustable to keep its focus on the red planet. then videotape all the little green guys as they crawl out of the ground with their heads on fire.

Ancient Civilization

[mynickwastaken]

Some millions years before an ancient civilization was forced to leave their planet and move to earth because of a ecological catastrophe which they have generated.

Now, a civilization will be forced to move back because of Bush.