posted 09-03-2001 03:41 PM            

lots of charts and graphs...

Super-greenhouse gases are useful for a number of reasons: they are very efficient and even at a concentration of only a few parts per million will warm up the planet significantly, they are non-toxic, have long lifetimes, they can be easily made on the Martian surface, and can keep Mars warm even with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/marsfront.html

posted 09-04-2001 10:24 AM            

Actually, though, if super greenhouse gases will aid in terraforming Mars, getting rid of super greenhouse gases would help to terraform a better candidate in our Solar System -- Venus.

I'm not all that familiar with designer critters (GM bacteria, in this case), but I'd bet we could build a bug that would convert CO2 to O2 within a decade. Seed the upper atmosphere of Venus with a couple billion of those boogers (say, about a tablespoon-full), let them use all that lovely UV for energy, and eat up the carbon.

Given the rate that they grow, within a couple of years Venus could lose 99 percent of its CO2, add beaucoup oxygen to the atmosphere, allow the heat to escape (CO2's almost opaque to IR) and within a century or two, the ground would be cool enough to walk on.

Of course, after they ate up most of the CO2 in the upper atmosphere, the bacteria would all die, but we could put up a plaque to them somewhere -- like the town square in South Venusburg.

posted 09-04-2001 04:25 PM            

If there's a one-km range, I guess the FTIR had to be transported to Mars. But obviously it wasn't done from orbit, because a 1-km orbit has a habit of decaying with annoying rapidity!

But OP-FTIR, despite its limited range, sems like a good candidate for determinimg cloud composition. Now all we need to do is wait for a longer range model available for lease somewhere.

Dunk

posted 09-04-2001 04:52 PM            

But you cant make a Fool of me because I know about sulfurick acid because oncet suzie got into the batery in the pickup and nocked it over and she got her hand burnd and her butt burnd too when her Daddy came home you can Bet on it.

And you dont have to be some profeser to knoe that H2SO3(aq) -----> H2O(l) + SO2(g). Where (aq) is an aqueous solution (l) is liquid and (g) is gas, so You could take that sulfurik Acid and turn it into yelloe mud or Something and if suzie had knowed that she would not have got her hand burnd but she still would hav got her Butt burnd because Bubba was drunk when he came home that evning and was being Mean anyway.

posted 09-04-2001 06:43 PM            

have a wonderful evening...