I'm guessing that in a future post you're going to look at Robert Zubrin's ideas for Martian settlement? He seems to be the person who has given it the most rigorous thought, though whether he makes sense I can't say. Anyway, thanks for this interesting post!
Thanks for subscribing. Yes, Zubrin has been a leading light for Mars colonization since at least the 90s. Gregory Benford's novel 'The Martian Race' published in 1999 mentions Zubrin and the Mars Society. The book takes a realistic look at how we could start the manned exploration of Mars and what the future might hold.
I've never even heard of the Martian Canals before but it is so interesting to look back and see the sort of ideas people had before tech took us so far. It's especially interesting that even if there were never any canals that the idea was enough to drive a man to leave behind a legacy that still mattered in learning more about Mars as a whole.
Before the era of space travel it was perfectly reasonable to believe in widespread life on Mars. The dark areas looked green when compared with the generally red colour of the planet and some observers said that they could see seasonal changes. I was amazed to discover that Lowell thought he could see lines on Mars only a kilometre or two across. Most astronomers at the time realised that it would be difficult to see anything on the planet less than around 200 km across and so believed that any lines that did exist would be bands of vegetation either side of the water course.
I'm guessing that in a future post you're going to look at Robert Zubrin's ideas for Martian settlement? He seems to be the person who has given it the most rigorous thought, though whether he makes sense I can't say. Anyway, thanks for this interesting post!
Thanks for subscribing. Yes, Zubrin has been a leading light for Mars colonization since at least the 90s. Gregory Benford's novel 'The Martian Race' published in 1999 mentions Zubrin and the Mars Society. The book takes a realistic look at how we could start the manned exploration of Mars and what the future might hold.
I've never even heard of the Martian Canals before but it is so interesting to look back and see the sort of ideas people had before tech took us so far. It's especially interesting that even if there were never any canals that the idea was enough to drive a man to leave behind a legacy that still mattered in learning more about Mars as a whole.
Before the era of space travel it was perfectly reasonable to believe in widespread life on Mars. The dark areas looked green when compared with the generally red colour of the planet and some observers said that they could see seasonal changes. I was amazed to discover that Lowell thought he could see lines on Mars only a kilometre or two across. Most astronomers at the time realised that it would be difficult to see anything on the planet less than around 200 km across and so believed that any lines that did exist would be bands of vegetation either side of the water course.