I think there are several factors that go into the selection of a first 'base' landing site:1) Optimal for EDL. I believe in the latest Red Dragon sample and return talk the speaker stated you'd want to shed velocity by riding in at about 10k feet, and that this meant 'avoiding the southern hemisphere highlands'.2) Locate close to known reserves of (possibly close to the surface) water. (Don't we have pretty good data on this now?)3) Location with high solar radiation (i.e. close to equator) for solar power, plant growth, etc.4) Close to possible geothermal activity.5) Close to possible metal ore deposits.6) Close to optimal launch location (again equator).7) Close to caves/lava tubes for possible habitation. Close to 'interesting' geological features.I think the above list is probably close to the right priority order. I think 1 and 2 favor some mid northern latitudes, while 3 and 6 favor equator. No idea about the rest.
Personally, I kind of prefer the first colony be named someting like Bradbury Base. But that's just me.
but we have a chance of determining the parameters needed for at least a settlement, if they later find out that an other spot is better suitable, they might consider movement or foundation of a second settlement and start transporting goods back and forth.what the settlement will initially need: a wide flat area for landing spacecrafts, low altitude, and water supply. and those parameters can be determined from space.later on, when the settlement grows to a full colony, their demands will shift. equipment and materials initially brought from earth have to be manufactured on site. maybe we aren't looking at one colony but on a network of colonies, and every colony has its own goods (mining sites offering valueable metals, but lack of water), and those colonies trade and exchange their products.
Are you arguing that you need people on Mars for decades before you start a colony?
In a real scenario you start the colony and worst case you have to relocate later.
Quote from: JasonAW3 on 11/07/2014 03:11 pmPersonally, I kind of prefer the first colony be named someting like Bradbury Base. But that's just me.It won't be Elonsville. But the Mars president will have the title "The Elon". Wernher von Braun already knew that. Bradbury Base sounds good.
The altitude difference between the rim and the bottom is 9,000 m (30,000 ft). The depth of the crater (7,152 m (23,465 ft) ( 7,000 m (23,000 ft)) below the standard topographic datum of Mars) explains the atmospheric pressure at the bottom: 1,155 Pa[1] (11.55 mbar, 0.17 psi, or 0.01 atm). This is 89% higher than the pressure at the topographical datum (610 Pa, or 6.1 mbar or 0.09 psi) and above the triple point of water, suggesting that the liquid phase could be present under certain conditions of temperature, pressure, and dissolved salt content
Zed_Noir, you missed it. "The Elon" is a title that Werner Von Braun made up for Mars, way before Elon Musk was born.
Quote from: Robotbeat on 11/08/2014 01:06 amZed_Noir, you missed it. "The Elon" is a title that Werner Von Braun made up for Mars, way before Elon Musk was born.Knew about the Von Braun "The Elon" remark. Nevertheless E R Burroughs predate Von Braun.
Could you provide a reference for Von Braun's remark please? I'd love to read about it.
I guess, it would revolve just around a few parameters.1. is it possible to land there from space. a place that is suitable for landing MCTs (or more generally every landing system).2. is water available.the first colony will obviously need these two parameters, others are less important.3. local resources like iron, copper, phosphor and so on. the starting colony needs virtually everything. they will send prospection-rovers out to find deposits of what they need, and then found mining sites. those mining sites will eventually grow from small settlements to cities on their own.4. energy-production. first colonies will rely on solar energy. but depending on their energy requirement, they will soon switch over to nuclear power since most industries require large amounts of energy. I'm thinking about nuclear facilities with 100s of MW(el), maybe even GW-scale. that requires a large heatsink. a lot of chemical processes directly require heat, and a human settlement needs heat aswell.the 4th requirement does not depend on geology but on where they set up a nuclear reactor, and that would be the only a large settlement, which produces a lot of good.another equally important thing will be transportation between colonies. I guess, first transportation will be done with rovers on roads. but those roads will be just leveled regolith. no concrete, no asphalt, nothing (since it isn't raining, that's not a big problem). I guess, top speed will be 50 km/h.later on, when iron/steel production kicks in, they can set up railroads, allowing much higher speeds (150km/h) and larger transportation capacities. they'd even allow precision docking since a railcar moves on a precise track.