Hello, my name is Ryan- and I wanted to pass along an idea I had recently for a new Boinc project.

The short and skinny: We need to create and test models for how to go about "Terraforming" the red planet. Essentially, if we just start dumping tons and tons of greenhouse gasses into Mars' atmosphere, we will eventually make it so that the atmosphere is able to trap enough of the sun's energy for liquid water to form on the surface- and over a long enough time frame, we *should* be able to make Mars 'relatively' Earth-like.

This project may sound a little far-fetched, but let me assure you that it is of absolutely vital importance to the long-term existence of the human race! At the present moment, we [humans] Literally have ALL of our eggs in One basket... With the possibility of asteroid Apophis impacting the Earth in 2036, the warning sirens are sounding the call for us to get started on what is going to be BY FAR the biggest undertaking in all of our history!

There are a lot of people working to try and ensure that the first manned mission to Mars gets underway within the next 10 years. Very shortly after that, the very first small-scale tests and proof-of-concept trials of the equipment and methods used in the terraforming process- and in order for that project to get started, we're going to need to crunch LOTS of data, and run all sorts of different scenarios through computer models- so that we can make the right decisions, and maximize the cost efficiency of the trips we'll be making to Mars, and the cargo we'll be bringing along.

A friend of mine from the physics community had mentioned that he was 'almost certain' that there are some scientists who've been studying the Mars climate, and whose research and input would be pretty vital to this project. And of course, we're going to need some computer scientists to design / code / deploy the new project, etc.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions you might have about the project...

If [to whom this may concern] would be so kind as to pass along the terraform-modelling project proposal to the right people, it would be an enormous help!

Thank you very much for your help and consideration.

Dear Ryan Muehlberg,

I support you and I agree 100% with your post.
Go for it.
I know that we humans are destroying our only home ... Planet Earth :(
But we must move forward.
one question:
Do you have Scientists that can support you and give you advise for your project?

Best Wishes
Byron

We manage not to return on the moon, then in March...

On arrive pas à retourner sur la lune, alors mars...

@+
*_*

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Ryan, I agree with you, but isn't it a little early to start running Martian climate models? Do we even know enough about the Red Planet at this stage to run any meaningful models? Look how difficult it is to make good climate models for Earth, and we have been studying this planet for thousands of years.
Terraforming is an extremely slow process, I really do not see the point in putting resources into it before we have even landed on the planet.

Submit your project here ->

https://secure.worldcommunitygrid.org/research/viewSubmitAProposal.do?language=en_US

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Ryan, I agree with you, but isn't it a little early to start running Martian climate models? Do we even know enough about the Red Planet at this stage to run any meaningful models? Look how difficult it is to make good climate models for Earth, and we have been studying this planet for thousands of years.
Kenneth Larsen

#1: Luckily, the Martian atmosphere is comprised of far less matter than Earth's atmosphere... AND, there are almost no other consistent input-variables besides heat/radiation from the sun, and winds generated from the rotation of the planet accompanied by night/day changes in temperature. This means that it should be FAR simpler to model than Earth- (since we have to deal with ocean currents, volcanic eruptions, wild fires, heat from man-made structures, CO2 CH4 N2O, and other greenhouse gasses, pavement and rooftops absorbing rays from the sun, as well as clouds and snow/ice caps/glaciers reflecting rays from the sun, O2 from plant photosynthesis, and whatever other variables there are continually changing the Earth's climate/weather...)

Spend all that time, money and effort terraforming Mars so we can destroy it like we're destroying Earth? .... where is the sense?
Dagorath

I know that we humans are destroying our only home ... Planet Earth :(
But we must move forward.
Byron

#2: It is an absolute an undeniable FACT that the long (long long) term survival of the human race (as well as all other life forms on Earth) will require us to branch out and colonize other worlds. As it stands right now, we literally have all of our eggs in one basket- AND, we honestly do not know whether a major extinction event is going to occur BEFORE we establish any sustainable colonies. Knowing that Apophis could strike the Earth in 2036 (and that we currently have NO asteroid mitigation strategy), that Yellowstone or another super-volcano could blow it's top at any moment, that solar flares could cripple our electrical grids- permanently damage the Earth's magnetic field, or whisk a huge amount of the Earth's atmosphere off into space, that a gamma-ray burst could hit us sometime- with no warning at all, knowing that there are far more people and far more resources being dedicated to making Infomercials than there are tracking Near Earth Objects, and knowing most of all that we DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING- and could be blindsided by some threat that no one even knows exists... Knowing all of this, procrastination sounds suicidal.

And since:

Terraforming is an extremely slow process .... the point in putting resources into it before we have...landed on the planet.
Kenneth Larsen

Is This: We don't know how long it will take, nor do we know how long we will have before we NEED it. The only reasonable assumption is that we should start working on it right away.
#2.5: Cynicism about mankind's reckless and destructive behavior since the industrial revolution is absolutely appropriate, HOWEVER- the underlying reasons which perpetuate our rampant waste and increasingly unsustainable behavior on Earth, will necessarily NOT be playing any part in our behavior on Mars- because we simply won't have the option of wasting ANYTHING.

one question:
Do you have Scientists that can support you and give you advise for your project?

Best Wishes
Byron

#3: Unfortunately, I do not currently have many contacts in the climate or computer sciences fields-
One of my very good friends is an M.S. in Physics and works at NOAA, and I am a pretty active member of the Mars Society and several other space related facebook groups... And I know plenty of people with B.S. degrees in computer science who may be able to forward this to the right people. I'm also thinking about sending this to friend's at IBM, Google, Microsoft, etc. in the hopes that it will eventually get off the ground.[/b]

Terraforming Mars..
I beleive the best way to terraform mars is with icy asteroids directed at mars.
or a sceond Idea is to build a particle accelerator in space, then mine the asteroids for elements and point to a particle trap on mars to produce the terraforming elements.

Mark Mighell[url]https://www.facebook.com/mark.mighell [/url]

Hello Ryan,

one thing nobody did eyplain until now about BOINC projects: Thy are NOT started by the BOINC developement project!

You must not ask for permission to start one, you just do it. If you have something you need to calculate start a server, install the server software and write your application.

I'm sure you need to register here as a project but that's all at least the way I understand it.

So, as Byron Leigh already suggested with his post, find the scientist and programmers which are up to the task, rent a server and start the project.

Or go to WCG as suggested by Zarck.

Hope this helps,

Christoph

Hello Ryan,

one thing nobody did eyplain until now about BOINC projects: Thy are NOT started by the BOINC developement project!

You must not ask for permission to start one, you just do it. If you have something you need to calculate start a server, install the server software and write your application.

I'm sure you need to register here as a project but that's all at least the way I understand it.

So, as Byron Leigh already suggested with his post, find the scientist and programmers which are up to the task, rent a server and start the project.

Or go to WCG as suggested by Zarck.

Hope this helps,

Christoph

I personally don't believe WCG would be interested. It's really not a curing-disease-driven project idea. Maybe I'm wrong but it just--to me--doesn't appear to fit in their trend of projects.

Ok Blurf, that is a very good point which I didn't see.

try to contact, that project:

http://aerospaceresearch.net/constellation/

I personally don't believe WCG would be interested. It's really not a curing-disease-driven project idea. Maybe I'm wrong but it just--to me--doesn't appear to fit in their trend of projects.

WCG has Computing for Clean Water and the Clean Energy Project, neither of which are directly disease-related. Terraforming another planet for the longterm survival of the human species definitely seems appropriate for the World Community Grid to me.

[Edit] Perhaps a genetic engineering approach might be used in tandem with terraforming, focusing on areas Earth life-forms might be 'pre-adapted' to an 'only somewhat terraformed' Mars.

WCG has Computing for Clean Water and the Clean Energy Project, neither of which are directly disease-related.

If a person can't get clean water and has to drink dirty water to survive, they swallow bacteria from the dirty water and can make a person sick and yes, even death from dirty water. In 2006, it was claimed that 5000 kids die per day due to dirty water. This doesn't include people who die from not having any water ( clean or dirty).

1.8 million human deaths annually from water borne diseases. If they had clean water, you think they would be dying from this? I think NOT. So don't go around spouting off things you have no clue about. Do some research first :).

I participate in all of the WCG projects and recommend others to do the same.

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What I meant by not directly disease-related, dt, was that the project wasn't specifically targeting a disease the way Help Conquer Cancer does, for example. I'm well aware of the dangers of drinking contaminated water, and there are simple and relatively affordable things people can do to purify water right now. Thanks for assuming I "have no clue" though. This is getting off-topic.