Colonising Mars

[ClubMed]

If humanity were ready to colonise Mars, how would we go about doing that?

Would there be a government? What kind?.

How many people would go, would we set limits?

How many people from each country?

How would we ensure that all creeds and religions live side by side in peace and harmony?.

What IYO would be the perfect set up?

[Theophylact]

Read The Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) by Kim Stanley Robinson for some of the best ideas on the subject.

[nukes]

As to who would go:
It would probally be just scientists as they would be pretty much cut off from communication with earth. But they may find a large number of people willing to go.
I know I couldn't live without communication, and the only people likely to go would be miners etc.

[Barney]

I imagine it would be pretty similar to the colonization of the New World, only a bit more modern and without the pesky Native Americans.

[Theophylact]

If it should turn out that there's a significant amount of water (in the form of permafrost), then a lot of work will make it liveable (barely). Otherwise, you'll have to crash a couple of ice comets into it first. There's not much oxygen there, and precious little hydrogen. The place makes Antarctica look like Tahiti.

The indigenous peoples will probably not be the major problem; you won't have to swindle them out of their land or kill them to steal it.

[Epidemic]

Terrafarming would be an interesting concept but with the low gravity I am not sure it people living their a life time could ever come back. Theo, even if you could achive an atmosphere on mars could you get the air pressure up to a useable level around 10 psi. I would guess it would take more atmosphere to generate such density than that of earth. Carbon dioxide would have to be raised above that of earth to insure that temperatures reach livable levels.

Who says that we would not have to blow up some natives.

If we change the environment enough for our existence we probably would kill anything that might live there.

[ClubMed]

Im not talking about the steps leading to colonisation, but about a scenario where colonisation is possible, and how anyone thinks that might take place, please stick to the topic, thanks.

[Epidemic]

What ever country gets there first and establishes a permenent foothold owns the new world and it's resources. If there is a colition of governments that go establish a foot hold then there is a joint rule government where all agree to the rules.

as for the who can live there who ever has the money or the skills needed to utilize the new world. The same as anything on earth.

Peace on the new world, simple if you steal you are shot, if you rape you are shot, if you murder you are shot, if you die you are not shot but used for aggriculture and desicated for your water like dune.

To make the atmosphere good you need only turn on that machine I saw in the arnold movie ummmmm? Total Recall.

Where you gonna plug in that machine on Mars? it's gotta be a bio-solar-laser oxygen regeneration and warmer machine. Its cold there too.

Maybe solar-powered laser guided mirrors to track the sun and beam power rays to the machines antennae. Seems expensive to me.

[nukes]

It would be as Epidemic said, anyone who has the skills or money would get over, but it wouldn't be easy living and would probally be under martial law.
If they were to do that, it would be decades or even centuries before anyone could actually LIVE over there in the open 'air' and so the earth will be decimated by then.
I don't think it would be a worldwie effort, at least not if it happened now. It would just be people who could work together and could do the job.