Star Trek Picard SPOILERS thread

Morrus · Feb 15, 2020

MarkB said:
Put it this way, the Moon in Star Trek has multiple cities on it, and it doesn't even have an atmosphere. If Mars was minimally populated, why would they have bothered to terraform it to the extent of having a breathable atmosphere?

I assume Mars has a few domes? Dunno!

FitzTheRuke · Feb 15, 2020

Morrus said:
I assume Mars has a few domes? Dunno!

I don't think Mars had much more than the shipyard and some other industry. I mean, really, why would anyone want to live on Mars? Even if they terraformed it all the way to atmosphere, it's still got low-gravity. (Though I suppose they have some kind of gravity generators or something.)

Vael · Feb 15, 2020

Star Trek: First Contact stated that over 50 Million people lived on the moon, I'd assume Mars had a larger population, it's bigger and even more habitable.

FitzTheRuke · Feb 15, 2020

Vael said:
Star Trek: First Contact stated that over 50 Million people lived on the moon, I'd assume Mars had a larger population, it's bigger and even more habitable.

Yeah, it's better than living on the moon all right (other than proximity to Earth).

trappedslider · Feb 15, 2020

So,let's look and see what Memory Alpha says about Mars:

Mars was the first planet to be terraformed by Humans. Colonists originally dwelt within domed cities while the verteron array was used to redirect comets and asteroids towards the Red Planet to impact in the polar caps. This freed carbon dioxide and released it into the atmosphere, increasing the planet's temperature and water volume. By 2155, conditions in the lowlands of the Martian surface were sufficiently altered to allow Humans to roam freely without heavy environmental suits, though one would still have to dress warmly for the near-arctic surface temperatures. (ENT: "Demons", "Terra Prime")
[The final draft script of "Terra Prime" explained, "Conditions on partially terraformed Mars are the equivalent of being half a mile higher than Mount Everest."
Based on the planet's appearance in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", "Relativity", and "Children of Mars", the terraforming of Mars appears to remain incomplete as of 2385.]

And the actual attack on Mars:

Though initial reports estimated over three thousand killed, the death toll was eventually revised to 92,143 in total.
(Star Trek; ST: "Children of Mars"; PIC: "Remembrance", "The End is the Beginning")

MarkB · Feb 15, 2020

FitzTheRuke said:
I don't think Mars had much more than the shipyard and some other industry. I mean, really, why would anyone want to live on Mars? Even if they terraformed it all the way to atmosphere, it's still got low-gravity. (Though I suppose they have some kind of gravity generators or something.)

For a lot of people, lower gravity would be a selling point.

FitzTheRuke · Feb 15, 2020

MarkB said:
For a lot of people, lower gravity would be a selling point.

Maybe in their heads, but I expect we will find all sorts of terrible side-effects. Though I suppose, Star Trekkian medicine can easily deal with those. I doubt it would be comfortable for most people though (and people sure do like their comfort). I mean, look at that description: "half a mile higher than Everest" - that doesn't sound fun to me. Of course, the domes can probably easily dial the gravity up as part of their life-support.

In real life, mark my words: Living on Mars is going to suuuuck. Presumably we will find out soon enough.

Morrus · Feb 15, 2020

Star Trek has plentiful artificial gravity. That's not going to be an issue.

MarkB · Feb 15, 2020

FitzTheRuke said:
Maybe in their heads, but I expect we will find all sorts of terrible side-effects. Though I suppose, Star Trekkian medicine can easily deal with those. I doubt it would be comfortable for most people though (and people sure do like their comfort). I mean, look at that description: "half a mile higher than Everest" - that doesn't sound fun to me. Of course, the domes can probably easily dial the gravity up as part of their life-support.

In real life, mark my words: Living on Mars is going to suuuuck. Presumably we will find out soon enough.

That "half a mile higher than Everest" line is about the air pressure, and possibly the temperature, not the gravity. You need to get considerably further away from Earth than a couple of miles before you feel any appreciable decrease in gravity.

Low gravity can exacerbate certain health issues, and has a significant effect on bone and muscle development during childhood, but on the other hand it would also greatly relieve many conditions such as joint pain, high blood pressure and cardiovascular degeneration due to old age, so maybe Mars is just one big retirement community.

trappedslider · Feb 15, 2020

I would note that time wise, ST:Enterprise takes place long before the attack on Mars,so there is a chance that conditions were different.
Here's a run down of locations on Mars that been mentioned in Star Trek over the years.