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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: an0n on March 29, 2004, 05:26:43 am

Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: an0n on March 29, 2004, 05:26:43 am
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3577551.stm

Volcanoes are good enough, because it means we could tap the geothermals. But microbes would be friggin awesome.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Sandwich on March 29, 2004, 05:30:47 am
Coolness
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Nico on March 29, 2004, 05:35:56 am
Well, microbes would be cool because of life on Mars and stuff, but honestly, bof, we already know t could have life, so it's not such a big deal to me. Volcanoes, on the other hand, I think that could be useful to us, as An0n said.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: an0n on March 29, 2004, 05:38:11 am
Hmmm. Infact, the mere presence of methane is good. Because we could filter it from the air and use it as fuel.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Nico on March 29, 2004, 05:48:44 am
Hmm, dunno, depends of the amount really. If it were volcanic activity, tho, imagine, that means it's probably underground, otherwise it would have been found already I believe. That means there might be huge caves filled with methane. Now THAT would be cool and interesting.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Sandwich on March 29, 2004, 05:49:50 am
Quote
Originally posted by an0n
Hmmm. Infact, the mere presence of methane is good. Because we could filter it from the air and use it as fuel.


:wtf:

...or we could just hook up methane catching bags to cows' mouths to get the methane from their burps.

Or was it the other end of the cow that expelled methane?
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: kasperl on March 29, 2004, 05:51:23 am
the other end.

you'd never geuss how many farms went up in flames because of a smoking vet examing a cow with "digestion issues".


anyway, i think an0n meant fuel for the guys on Mars, not down here
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: aldo_14 on March 29, 2004, 06:24:46 am
A cow farts enough methane in a year to inflate a hot air baloon, apparently.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Nico on March 29, 2004, 06:26:11 am
and pigs crap to run a city, according to madmax3 :p
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Crazy_Ivan80 on March 29, 2004, 11:13:56 am
Quote
Originally posted by aldo_14
A cow farts enough methane in a year to inflate a hot air baloon, apparently.



hehehe, if I was any good with photoshop you'd see a funny pic here instead of some text... :lol:
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Flaser on March 29, 2004, 02:12:58 pm
Though the thing I don't know why people tend to forget is that propan and buthana - and I pretty much think methane too - have no smell at all.

It's the merkaptanes that are artificially added to the mixture which you can smell when you open the gas vent. Which were added to make it apparent and detectable.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: jdjtcagle on March 29, 2004, 04:15:34 pm
This almost proves there are methanogens living there, but it still a limited chance there are:)
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: an0n on March 29, 2004, 06:34:33 pm
I hope to ****ing GOD that it is life and not volcanoes. For a start, it'd kill the odds of intelligent life being out there by a factor of like 1000, which would make the bookies and insurance firms with alien abduction stuff on their books start crapping their pants.

And then there's the added bonus of it being indigenous life. Which means no-one would be allowed to send a manned mission without the approval of the UN, and that means no "I claim this planet in the name of America".
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Martinus on March 29, 2004, 07:36:30 pm
[color=66ff00]I thought that planet claiming was a no go, didn't they create some kinda rule just prior to landing on the moon that said no country can claim a celestial body/planet/whatever?

If not I claim the sun in the name of Ireland.
[/color]
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Gank on March 29, 2004, 07:52:26 pm
Claiming it? They're actually selling it
http://www.buy-moon-property.com/
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Grey Wolf on March 29, 2004, 08:42:25 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Maeglamor
[color=66ff00]I thought that planet claiming was a no go, didn't they create some kinda rule just prior to landing on the moon that said no country can claim a celestial body/planet/whatever?

If not I claim the sun in the name of Ireland.
[/color]
Yep. Some random Cold War era treaty. One we haven't pulled out of yet, even.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Knight Templar on March 29, 2004, 08:58:22 pm
Shame, that.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: phreak on March 29, 2004, 09:56:22 pm
private entities such as buisinesses and individuals are able to buy territories, but governments aren't.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: an0n on March 29, 2004, 10:13:01 pm
They should start establishing some protocol and Martian Law for when they do start shipping people off. Like an owner-ship permiter that gives control of the land for X number of miles around any base, installation or outpost to whomever controls that structure.

And a "betterment of Mars" law so no-one can land on and exploit whatever natural resources Mars has unless they'e shipping **** off to everyone else fairly.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: phreak on March 30, 2004, 01:03:20 am
i don't think shipping resources between planets would be that economical until you have ships that can approach a fraction of C that can be easily expressed (like .0001).  Most anything we find on mars (resource wise) is going to stay there.  unless you want to wait 2yrs for a shipment of iron ore that would be more cheaply mined from asteroids.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Liberator on March 30, 2004, 02:01:08 am
This is neat.

About the two years between windows thing, that's only with the crap drive systems we have now.  If we did what we need to do, we'dd take our time and develop our tech in the space between here and the Moon and get it pert near perfect, where it only takes an hour or two to fly to the moon and then go to Mars.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: an0n on March 30, 2004, 04:52:15 am
Quote
Originally posted by PhReAk
i don't think shipping resources between planets would be that economical until you have ships that can approach a fraction of C that can be easily expressed (like .0001).  Most anything we find on mars (resource wise) is going to stay there.  unless you want to wait 2yrs for a shipment of iron ore that would be more cheaply mined from asteroids.
I didn't mean shipping it off Mars. I meant shipping it to other outposts and whatnot.

You wouldn't want a French outposts sitting atop a huge titanium vein and refusing to share.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Petrarch of the VBB on March 30, 2004, 05:22:21 am
Quote
Originally posted by PhReAk
unless you want to wait 2yrs for a shipment of iron ore that would be more cheaply mined from asteroids.


Surely most asteroids are somewhat farther away than Mars is?
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: karajorma on March 30, 2004, 06:18:30 am
Quote
Originally posted by Petrarch of the VBB


Surely most asteroids are somewhat farther away than Mars is?


Yes but you don't have to pay the fuel cost of lifting it from Mars's graviational field.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: an0n on March 30, 2004, 06:19:42 am
No, just the fuel cost of blasting it across space on a giant firework.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: karajorma on March 30, 2004, 06:24:19 am
Quote
Originally posted by an0n
No, just the fuel cost of blasting it across space on a giant firework.


You'd have to do that from Mars too :)
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: kasperl on March 30, 2004, 06:59:48 am
yep, and once you're outside the gravity well, and you have some time left, you don't  need all that much power....
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Bobboau on March 30, 2004, 07:03:08 am
Quote
Originally posted by an0n
You wouldn't want a French outposts sitting atop a huge titanium vein and refusing to share.


why not, if they showed the inititive of building a working facility, they should be rewarded with rights to determine what happens with it's material, the material that would otherwise be sitting in the ground if they haddn't built there base.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Crazy_Ivan80 on March 30, 2004, 07:41:38 am
Quote
Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
Yep. Some random Cold War era treaty. One we haven't pulled out of yet, even.


because it can be safely ignored... after all, a claim doesn't mean anything if you can't exert souvereignity. Planting a flag and then not going back regularly isn't exerting souvereignity :)
You need to put people there, either permanent or via regular missions.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: an0n on March 30, 2004, 07:43:25 am
Yes, but sheer luck and simply being the first there shouldn't give anyone the right to claim sole ownership of any resources.

If that were the case then someone could just land pods at all the water-ice sites and use it to subjugate the entire planet.
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Ghostavo on March 30, 2004, 11:06:29 am
Of course there is a law that denies countries the right to possess any extra-terrestrial territories. :rolleyes:

P.S.
And about the methane... sorry... that was me!

:nervous:
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Crazy_Ivan80 on March 31, 2004, 09:36:12 am
Quote
Originally posted by an0n
Yes, but sheer luck and simply being the first there shouldn't give anyone the right to claim sole ownership of any resources.

If that were the case then someone could just land pods at all the water-ice sites and use it to subjugate the entire planet.


being first is not good enough. You have be able to go back at any moment you want, or be there permanently.
just planting the flag is not going to do the trick
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Bobboau on March 31, 2004, 09:51:12 am
yeah, who ever is able to exploit what ever recorces is the one who should be alowed to. (and mineing marse for recorces for use on earth is ****ing stupid)
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Liberator on March 31, 2004, 03:27:33 pm
Why?  Would you have the same objection to mining Jupiter for He3 or Duterium in a few years?
Title: Mars: Methane - WHEEE!
Post by: Carl on April 02, 2004, 03:08:24 pm
Quote
Rebuttal originating from the wisdom of The Earl of Sandwich


:wtf:

...or we could just hook up methane catching bags to cows' mouths to get the methane from their burps.

Or wast it the other end of the cow that expelled methane?


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=8&u=/nm/20040402/od_nm/odd_canada_flatulence_dc