Assuming that to qualify as terraformed the Martian
atmosphere would have to be similar to that of the
Earth then if the Martian gravity is one third of Earth's
you would be unlikely to have an atmosphere of the
same density as Earth's.

I asked a similar question a couple of years ago but
it was in the summer - so here goes again. What configuration
of human survivable planet would give the best (i.e.
fastest) soaring conditions. Planet size and mass,
gravity, atmospheric density, heating from the (?)
Sun, proportion of land mass to ocean, precipitation
and cloud amounts etc. would all be interrelated.
Glider configurations would also differ - I guess we
could have bigger spans in low gravity and atmospheric
density planets like terraformed Mars. Only known
or realistic materials for glider design to be considered.

My guess is that the Earth would come out as pretty
close to the optimum planet for Soaring and probably
merits saving (although I realise this isn't thought
necessary by GWB et al) for future generations. On
the other hand if it turns out that the Earth is pretty
useless as a soaring planet we wouldn't need to bother
so much.

John Galloway


MAt 18:06 25 January 2004, Bill Daniels wrote:
OK, it's cold outside in Earth's northern hemisphere
and here's something
topical.

http://www.webolutionary.com/3d/imag...med_mars-1.jpg

What do you think the soaring possibilities would be
on a terraformed Mars
with an atmosphere as dense as Earth's?

For one thing, your compass wouldn't work - there's
no magnetic field. The
Sun's heating would be much less but the gravity is
only one third that of
Earth. Maybe a hang glider that folds into a backpack?

Speculation, Mr. Spock?

Bill Daniels