genericrich t1_j8dl72p wrote on February 13, 2023 at 3:03 PM

Reply to comment by Scoobywagon in Would an arcology be conceivably possible? by peregrinkm

Biospheres were failures, though. Nobody has succeeded in this yet.

billtowson1982 t1_j8e6ryc wrote on February 13, 2023 at 5:33 PM

Didn't biosphere 2 fail due to CO2 off-gassing from the concrete they used to make it? And that was in the 90s. That both seems like an avoidable problem and in general it seems like we ought to be able to do somewhat better anyway a 1/4 century on.

Of course it would be vastly more expensive in space regardless.

genericrich t1_j8edv7b wrote on February 13, 2023 at 6:20 PM

Sure. But the time to do it is now and the place to do it is on Earth, before we send some poor slobs on a one way trip to a Martian grave.

billtowson1982 t1_j8eef8j wrote on February 13, 2023 at 6:24 PM

I'm fine with doing it either way. If people want to volunteeer for a Mars trip, knowing the severe risks, good for them. People with explorer spirits have been doing that since time immemorial. In general it makes much more sense to risk the lives of a few volunteers than it does to spend extra 10s or 100s of millions on safety procedures for a few folks, when the same money could easily be spent on healthcare services for the poor that would save many more lives.

Hell, I'd probably do it myself. What's the value of a life here on Earth? You live, you die, it was all pointless and your only legacy is the resources you used and the environment you wrecked along the way. Whereas if you die on Mars...well at least you got to see Mars!

[deleted] t1_j8f7tmp wrote on February 13, 2023 at 9:34 PM

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Think-Syco-2021 t1_j8f7q1k wrote on February 13, 2023 at 9:33 PM

Sign me up, either way. A Nobel cause, if I've ever seen one.

paperwasp3 t1_j8g066h wrote on February 14, 2023 at 12:54 AM

I see what you did there, you sly boots

Scoobywagon t1_j8frew9 wrote on February 13, 2023 at 11:48 PM

I'd need to go look them up (which I'm too lazy to do right at the moment), but as I recall, one of them failed due to outgassing of something or other. Obviously, that's a solvable problem since we already know how to build sealed modules for the space station that do not have outgassing (i.e. materials) problems. The other, I think, failed because the crew were having problems, not because the structure itself failed. If you know otherwise, that'd be interesting to know.