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A review by jaybatson
How We'll Live on Mars by Stephen L. Petranek
3.0
All an average person is looking for on the topic
The author itemizes the various challenges associated with humans inhabiting mars, and the best thinking (to date) on how we'll be able to tackle them. There is some attention paid to the relative difficulty, and readiness to achieve each one.
My personal conclusion is that some of the proposed solutions are unlikely to happen as described. Example: terraforming in order to release oxygen stored in surface ice to create an atmosphere presumes we can control the outcome precisely enough. But we (humans) can't seem to control the greenhouse gas emissions enough to minimize impact on the planet we have; how are we going to be any better at hitting a target on Mars?
But, this was an interesting read nonetheless.
The author itemizes the various challenges associated with humans inhabiting mars, and the best thinking (to date) on how we'll be able to tackle them. There is some attention paid to the relative difficulty, and readiness to achieve each one.
My personal conclusion is that some of the proposed solutions are unlikely to happen as described. Example: terraforming in order to release oxygen stored in surface ice to create an atmosphere presumes we can control the outcome precisely enough. But we (humans) can't seem to control the greenhouse gas emissions enough to minimize impact on the planet we have; how are we going to be any better at hitting a target on Mars?
But, this was an interesting read nonetheless.