Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

Although the slight problems you state do sound discouraging... Im sorry, I have to say it...

My Bags Are Packed! When Do We Leave?!?!??!!?=p

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

minor problems as such are irrelevant : D [/joke]

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

Interesting, but I wouldn't worry about ever really getting to one of these planets in the next century or beyond. The US can't figure out how to get another rocket to the moon and the Mars Mission is under consideration by the Obama Administration to be scrapped because of budget constraints, and I don't see how the European Union is going to pick up the slack, as they could only scrape up 4 million for the Tsunami victims a year ago because of how their economies are set up. Maybe the Chinese...:beer:

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

It's not an 'attitude', it's a fact - Mars' gravity is less than half that of Earth (closer to a third, in fact). Long-term human habitation would result in significant health problems.

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

Worse than multiple years of weightlessness in Space Stations? Testing has shown that regular exercise prevented bone loss and helped prevent loss of muscle mass.

The only problems I am aware of was time needed for the bodies muscles to re acclimate themselves to to carrying their old weight in earths gravity.

One of the problems being worked on for extended space missions is how to deal with trying to keep the people in shape for two years before they even get to Mars.

As for radiation in space I assume any base on Mars or the moon would have to deal with radiation and thus require shielding or be underground.

One of the proposed projects for Mars was to use lichen which is similar to lichens found in Artic areas to terraform Mars.

EDIT: Found this link which explains many of the problems.

http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/pdf/educato...cience_stu.pdf

In essence I dont think the problems are insurmountable. They may difficult to overcome or adapt to but so was trying to land a man on the moon 30 years ago.

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

Agreed. Anyone living on Mars would have to go through aggressive strength training or they would suffer severe organ, muscle and bone damage upon return to Earth. NASA figured this out after the first few orbits into space when astronauts complained about muscle fatigue and other problems, hence why daily exercise is so important for astronauts on the ISP and Shuttle. I highly doubt any of us would qualify (save one or two) given we spend most of our time on our ass in front of a computer.

The only way to get around this is artificial gravity (which isn't too far off in real world application) that is set to Earth norms.

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

You can look for the spectrum of a planet, to look for blues and greens - you know, plants and chlorophyll. Of course, there is no guarantee that any plants will be green (I think Sciam did a very good article on blue/red plants on other planets with parents stars of different spectra), but it's a good start.

Yes. Because you are not staying there for a few hundred days. You are staying there for decades on a planet with significantly lower/higher gravity than the Earth. You will get bone deformation because of the different stresses, muscle atrophy/hypertrophy, etc. Aside from the fact that being in a high gravity environment isn't that good for your organs anyway.

And Matty is right about the immune system as well; the physiological triggers to regulate the immune system are not fully understood, and it is entirely possible that the difference in bone composition/mass brought about by the change in gravity could have a profound, long-term effect on your immune system.

How about the radiation in interplanetary space? The Sun shields us from most interstellar radiation, but the sun itself puts out a lot of radiation, and with no Van Allen belts to protect us, you'll probably have either died or become terminally ill by the time you get to Mars.

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

Nobody ever said any of these new planets were Gas Giants. Just because they are the size of Jupiter, this doesn't nessecerily mean they aren't Rocks. :)

:nodding:

If life evolved on that planet, it wouldn't have to 'adapt', as it would have evolved to cope with the conditions.

Surely we'd adapt? Granted it may take time, but if you look at points across the globe, those people living in various locations have adapted.

This!. :)


Also, just a thought, but these planets may not even be there anymore... Its no secret that when we look at light through space, we're seeing these suns / planets as they were, not as they are. I'm sure also, that by the time we've figured out how to get to these 'rocks' we'll have developed a way to teraform these rocks, and turn them into suitiable planets.

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

I highly doubt that there is enough rocky matter in the entirety of our Solar System to make up a single body with 8 Jupiter masses. Most large bodies are gaseous because they contain leftover gas from the formation of the star; the negligible loss of mass from the star due to this process gives the gas giants. Whereas you'd be hard put to find a system with that much rocky matter, except from maybe a fifth, or even 6th generation star.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of years. I doubt many people would be happy living with a whole horde of physiological abnormalities brought about by the climate in the consolation that maybe a few hundred years down the track their descendants may be more suited to the climate. And in any case, that assumes that the ones unfit to survive just die. More likely, with medical technology, they'd survive, reproduce, and slow the whole process down.

That possibility is so infinitesimally small it may probably be more pertinent to figure out how to get there first before dwelling on the possibility that the planet may not be there when we get there. After all, even the shortest-lived stars have their lifetimes measured in the millions of years; for the yellow and brown dwarfs that we're ideally looking for, lifetimes are in the billions of years. It is so hugely improbable that we happen to travel there in the few thousand years when the star turns nova or something else happens to the planet, and we don't know about it, that I think it's kind of negligible.

Re: 32 New Planets Found
 

That's all science is. Man's best guess... to put it bluntly
If you manage to find enough fuel for a rocket to travel there, I'll be damned if you plan on using it for a missle.