Future Chinese Space Colonisation Projects

Equation

Lieutenant General
Here's a good article about terraforming. In it the question ask is which planets would be easier to terraform (keep in mind we're talking ground base colonization) and Mars is the winner. It's pretty interesting.

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solarz

Brigadier
Here's a good article about terraforming. In it the question ask is which planets would be easier to terraform (keep in mind we're talking ground base colonization) and Mars is the winner. It's pretty interesting.

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One thing that article doesn't address is the paucity of Nitrogen in the Martian atmosphere. Nitrogen is one of the three macronutrients of plant life (the others being Phosphate and Potassium), and it also plays an essential role as an inert stabilizer in atmosphere composition. Since N2 composes 79% of the Terran atmosphere, we would need to import an astronomical amount of it onto Mars (or find a local source for it) in order to make the Martian atmosphere similar to Earth's.

Another issue is protection from cosmic radiation. A thicker atmosphere could partially address this, but Mars also lacks a magnetic field. We would need to either keep settlements inside radiation-proof domes, or find a way to generate an artificial magnetic field for Mars.
 
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solarz

Brigadier
Maybe China should send a probe to Europa?

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Europa is a water world covered by a mantle of ice. This has the sound of a perfect environment for life to develop. It would be amazing if we could actually find traces of life on that moon.
 
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