APOD: Road to Mars (2018 Jul 09)

[APOD Robot]

Road to Mars

Explanation: What's that light at the end of the road? Mars. This is a good month to point out Mars to your friends and family because our neighboring planet will not only be its brightest in 15 years, it will be visible for much of night. During this month, Mars will be about 180 degrees around from the Sun, and near the closest it ever gets to planet Earth. In terms of orbits, Mars is also nearing the closest point to the Sun in its elliptical orbit, just as Earth moves nearly between it and the Sun -- an alignment known as perihelic opposition. In terms of viewing, orange Mars will rise in the east just as the Sun sets in the west, on the opposite side of the sky. Mars will climb in the sky during the night, reach its highest near midnight, and then set in the west just as the Sun begins to rise in the east. The red planet was captured setting beyond a stretch of road in Arches National Park in mid-May near Moab, Utah, USA.

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[ygmarchi]

Lost Highway

[heehaw]

Gosh, I wonder if there might be LIFE on Mars? Oh, wait...

[neufer]

---

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/figur ... 6_fig2.jpg
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/earth- ... -from-mars

What's happened to Mars? In 2001, Mars underwent a tremendous planet-wide dust storm -- one of the largest ever recorded from Earth. At left, the onset of smaller "seed" storms can be seen near the Hellas basin (lower right edge of Mars) and the northern polar cap. A similar surface view, taken over two months later, shows the fully developed extent of the obscuring global storm. Although this storm eventually waned, in recent days a new large dust storm has been taking hold of the red planet.

[MarkBour]

This lovely image might give someone the idea of trying to drive a car to Mars.
That's ridiculous, of course ... http://www.whereisroadster.com/

[neufer]

This lovely image might give someone the idea of trying to drive a car to Mars.
That's ridiculous, of course ... http://www.whereisroadster.com/

<<The Tesla Supercharger network is a system of 480-volt DC fast-charging stations built by American vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc. to allow longer journeys for their all-electric manufactured vehicles (Model S, 3 and X), through quick charging of the vehicle's battery packs. As of May 2018, there were 1,229 stations globally, with 9,623 chargers. The Supercharger is a proprietary direct current (DC) technology that provides up to 120 kW of power per car (depending on circumstances), giving the 90 kWh Model S an additional 270 km of range in about 30 minutes charge and a full charge in around 75 minutes.>>

[Fred the Cat]

This lovely image might give someone the idea of trying to drive a car to Mars.

Perhaps NASA is paving the way

[starsurfer]

This looks like a good image for the cover of a UFO book.

[Visual_Astronomer]

"The red planet was captured setting beyond a stretch of road..."

Ummm... Mars is *rising* in this shot.

[Apu]

Didn't I see Richard Dreyfus fixing a power line on that road?

[Diana0216]

My question is will we be inhabiting Mars someday? and if so estimation of when and how will we survive on Mars?

[rstevenson]

My question is will we be inhabiting Mars someday? and if so estimation of when and how will we survive on Mars?

We will certainly begin to send exploration/science teams to Mars fairly soon, as we are already planning to do. But inhabiting in the sense of families and schools, politicians and shopping centers? That would be at least hundreds and perhaps thousands of years in the future. In fact it seems unlikely that we'll ever do that unless we can figure out how to terraform Mars, and that in itself will take many thousands of years. Best guess is that Mars will be inhabited in the same sense that Antarctica is inhabited, by rotating teams of scientists sent there at enormous expense. That should be happening regularly within a few decades.

As for how we will survive there, have a look at www.mars-one.com

Rob

[neufer]

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<<The Road to Mars is a 1999 science fiction comedic novel by Eric Idle.

Told from the point of view of Professor Bill Reynolds, a scholar in the (formerly) fictitious discipline of 'micropaloentology', this novel is set in the 24th and 25th Centuries, when the solar system has been colonised. Reynolds is writing a thesis on fame and in his research discovers a dissertation on comedy submitted by Carlton, a robotic secretary for two stand-up comedians on an interplanetary comedy circuit. Most of the action in the novel follows this trio's adventures during the time when Reynolds believes Carlton was developing his theories. During this time, Carlton and his owners, Alex Muscroft and Lewis Ashby get caught up in a series of disasters including loss of work, parental responsibility and close scrapes with terrorists, the law, other entertainers, and a refugee crisis. Carlton seeks to understand the nature of comedy and human laughter, and attempts to describe humor as a mathematical formula.
.........................................................
Characters:

Professor Bill Reynolds: The story's narrator, who is writing a thesis on fame.

Carlton: A "Bowie" robotic secretary owned by a comedy duo. He is of a now-obsolete series based on David Bowie, with one green and one blue eye, with Carlton's particular model, the 4.5, being based on Bowie circa 1985. He is studying his owners as part of his research on comedy.

Alex Muscroft: The comedian who bought Carlton, and sees him like a person much more than most of the human cast, having a concern and affection for him not commonly shown towards robots. Short with short red hair, a ruddy complexion in appearance, loud and personable in temperament. Carlton describes him in his thesis as having the boisterous troublemaking slapstick qualities of his "Red Nose" comic archetype.

Lewis Ashby: Alex's comedy partner, he is tall, skinny, has thinning black hair and is gruff and introverted. Carlton describes him in his thesis as having the grave deadpan and somewhat cruel qualities of the "White Face" comic archetype.

Katy Wallace: A mysterious woman who befriends Alex.

Tay: Lewis's daughter

Keppler: Owner of the space liner the Princess Di

Brenda Wooley: An aging pop-star who is still popular in the outer Solar System, and Keppler's wife.

The Amazing Keith: A comedy-magician whose act utilizes explosives.

Boo: Another comedian, he appears to be somewhat mad, providing a contrast to the story's other somewhat more professionally minded comedians.>>

[GoshOGeeOGolly]

Speaking of life on Mars .. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/arti ... ada-arctic

[Chris Peterson]

My question is will we be inhabiting Mars someday? and if so estimation of when and how will we survive on Mars?

There's no compelling reason to do so, and the costs and difficulties involved are tremendous.

[Ann]

This lovely image might give someone the idea of trying to drive a car to Mars.
That's ridiculous, of course ... http://www.whereisroadster.com/

Can't help it. I like the roadster. Best thing about it is that someone is in the driver's seat, wearing a space suit... but the driver is just a mannequin and can't be killed.

No worries, people! It's all just fun and games, much like the proposed teapot in orbit in our Solar system!

Ann

[neufer]

My question is will we be inhabiting Mars someday? and if so estimation of when and how will we survive on Mars?

There's no compelling reason to do so, and the costs and difficulties involved are tremendous.

We are in desperate need of a place to dispose of our plastic straws so they won't pollute our oceans.

[Chris Peterson]

My question is will we be inhabiting Mars someday? and if so estimation of when and how will we survive on Mars?

There's no compelling reason to do so, and the costs and difficulties involved are tremendous.

We are in desperate need of a place to dispose of our plastic straws so they won't pollute our oceans.

True enough.

[GoshOGeeOGolly]

There's no compelling reason to do so, and the costs and difficulties involved are tremendous.

We are in desperate need of a place to dispose of our plastic straws so they won't pollute our oceans.

True enough.

Bigger problem is, how do we keep rain out of the garbage dump that the oceans now are so the rain doesn't get polluted? Suck it up, folks, the problem is bigger than humanity.