Re:Mars likely to have enough oxygen to support life: study
by rohit2412 on Wednesday October 24, 2018 @07:57PM
(#18297522)
I am not seeing what you mean to say. Will starting a costly Mars settlement dependent on Earth for resources prevent these asteroids? Isn't a self sufficient pod on Earth/space/moon much easier starting point? Isn't a nuclear bunker under the Earth as safe from these calamities as a settlement on Mars itself?
Finally, I don't think a meteor which wiped out dinosaurs will wipe out humans. We can always use a nuclear bunker and save a few hundred humans with years of food to survive on.
Re:Mars likely to have enough oxygen to support life: study
by richardknop on Thursday October 25, 2018 @11:32PM
(#18306578)
Moon has no atmosphere so there is very little protection against cosmic impacts. For Earth, at least, small meteorites burn when falling through upper atmosphere. I am not sure about Mars' atmosphere and how much it protects against impacts.
And smaller impacts that might not completely wipe us off but could cause millions of casualties are possibly even more frequent. Something like Tunguska meteor can potentially kill millions of people if it hits a big metropolis given our current population density. If it hits Tokyo or New York instead of middle of nowhere in Siberia, it would be devastating.