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MaybeTheDoctor t1_j1tfzu6 wrote

Reply to comment by egregiouscodswallop in "Speed up" terraforming of Mars by using Enceladus' icy crust? by LumberjackWeezy

Enceladus - too deep in the gravity well to not make a trip one way.

Asteroid belt objects - they are likely space building material for future space travers - would be a shame to drop them into a gravity well, even mars, which will never get a protective atmosphere anyway.

Colonising mars is such a short term small minded objective that will not really buy anything than a training camp for a future real goal

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LumberjackWeezy OP t1_j1th7v8 wrote

An atmosphere will take millions of years to be stripped away by the sun's radiation.

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egregiouscodswallop t1_j1tgnxe wrote

Very true, very true! I've always envisioned the belt as the first real shipping yard, interplanetary dock, and shipbuilding facility for our solar system. Keeping it free floating to create ships entirely in space, that's the real benefit. Have you read the Artemis by Andy weir?

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