Re: Re Mars: NOW!

Michael S. Lorrey (mike@lorrey.com)
Mon, 19 Apr 1999 11:14:51 -0400

Brian D Williams wrote:

> From: "O'Regan, Emlyn" <Emlyn.ORegan@actew.com.au>
>
> >Absolutely! Mars, no question. Space, the final frontier, these
> >are the voyages, etc. I've always wanted to go into space, and I
> >would definitely go to that Japanese resort on the moon.
>
> >Except I'm not colonist material. I'm a flabby office worker,--snip--

> >Mars would need paranoid survivalists, smart enough to adapt,
> >scientists maybe, but not the sort of people who missed their
> >creature comforts. They'd need to work well in groups, be happy
> >with no privacy, and have a high boredom threshold. Farmers?
> >Military people? Engineers? I don't know.
>
> Welcome to the list Emlyn, you might enjoy reading the Mars trilogy
> of Kim Stanley Robinson (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars).
>
> As to not being colonist material, you could become colonist
> material by adopting a good diet, state of the art
> vitamin/antioxident protocol, and plenty of exercise.
>
> These will serve you well just being on this planet (you are
> already a colonist, spaceship earth remember...).

The first step to preparing people for colonizing Mars should be setting up a training camp dedicated to the purpose in Antarctica.

My cousin, who just returned from there a month or so ago, tells me that he's now qualified to apply for the Mars mission team NASA is exploring putting together. All he needs is the actual astronaut training. As a geologist specializing in ice age hydrogeology, he's a primary candidate for exploring the Mars polar caps and figuring out the best way to melt them down...

Mike Lorrey