Lander Finds Ice on Mars - Page 2

danarhea · 08-16-08, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarzaUK

I'm interested if this ice permaforst in the Martian soil contains methane, like it does on Earth. If this is the case, terra-forming Mars to be like Earth became a whole lot simplier and quicker

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Exciting stuff. But does water on another planet mean there definitely was life at some point? I don't know.

There could not have been life on Mars, nor can you expect to terraform that planet. Mars contains practically no magnetic field, which on earth, is what keeps cosmic radiation from cooking us all alive. Even a human expedition to Mars will have to be a fairly short one if the astronauts want to stay alive, and even a short expedition there would give astronauts a "lifetime" dose of radiation.

(Not to mention the presence of perchlorate, an oxidant so powerful it caused the redness of Mars, on virtually every part of Mars)

Life on Mars? Not now. Not ever. Never was. Proof of life elsewhere in the universe is going to have to come from someplace else.

Bodhisattva · 08-16-08, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danarhea

There could not have been life on Mars, nor can you expect to terraform that planet. Mars contains practically no magnetic field, which on earth, is what keeps cosmic radiation from cooking us all alive. Even a human expedition to Mars will have to be a fairly short one if the astronauts want to stay alive, and even a short expedition there would give astronauts a "lifetime" dose of radiation.

(Not to mention the presence of perchlorate, an oxidant so powerful it caused the redness of Mars, on virtually every part of Mars)

Life on Mars? Not now. Not ever. Never was. Proof of life elsewhere in the universe is going to have to come from someplace else.

So you don't think that we could overcome this issue through science and create a field that could repel harmful radiation and allow teams or people to prosper on Mar?

Also, perhaps when the Sun was larger, and the Zone of Life was further out, life existed on Mars...
just as early life existed on Earth.