Earthlings stride; Selenites bound; Martians lope.
A Lunarian "etaine" mines a water lode and a "courai" markets the water but the lode will soon be used up.
The Terrestrial "Synesis" stopped exporting water to Mars because the Martians had a supply and the easily mined comets had been used up.
On Luna, everything is of necessity sealed tight whereas, on Mars, water molecules escape into the atmosphere where ultraviolet radiation cracks them apart so that the oxygen binds to rocks while the hydrogen escapes into space. Soon, Martians will face the following options:
live underground;
leave Mars;
build ships and robots to mine the Kuiper Belt;
trade with the Proserpinans.
Their problems are similar to ours but also different.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Another possibility would be to terraform Mars! Does Anderson have his characters discussing that idea in THE FLEET OF STARS?
Sean
Sean,
They had talked of it but the population has declined and terraforming is now regarded as a dead dream. (5, p. 57)
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And I strongly suspect the cybercosm has been doing its best to undermine and subvert such hopes and plans!
Sean
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