Moving Phobos to join Deimos for single moon.

[barycenter]

This is all about tides? Phobos and Deimos are *tiny* 6 or 7 orders of magnitude smaller than our own moon (in terms of mass). I doubt they would have much effect on tides, certainly not nearly as much as the effect of the moon on earth, even if they were somehow combined.

True, but currently Phobos and Deimos do not orbit Mars in an Orbital Resonance like Io, Europa, and Ganymede do with Jupiter. If we could create an Orbital Resonance with the moons of Mars, tidal friction would occur, possibly heating up Mars interior, to melt underground ice, releasing liquid water, making it easier for astronauts to create fuel, food, structures, etc. etc.

 

[barycenter]

If I had to guess, you're thinking about combining the two Moons in the hopes that it will give Mars some sort of tidal effect?

1] Many orders of magnitude too small.
2] Tides will not make Mars habitable.
3] Read Arthur C. Clarke's The Sands of Mars where they made Mars habitable by setting Phobos on fire.

1) Think what Tesla achieved in the field of "Resonance" with just a small oscillating piston. Now ask yourself, would life exist on Earth without the moon? No - This can be assumed because we have not found life on planets with zero moons, nor on planets with more than 1 moon, but have discovered life on a planet with 1 moon. Watch "If We had No Moon" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW_vmnfTeWM&feature=related . But a small Mars moon would be just the beginning to putting together a Mars moon equal to the Earth/Moon ratio that we see today.

2) Correct - but Liquid water will. And if a single moon is created, it will create tidal friction. Friction releases heat, which could melt ice, releasing liquid water which can be drank, used to grow plants for food, used to help create adobe houses, make factories, etc.

3) The sands of Mars was written 50 years ago and is a Science Fiction novel, which means it is not true. But do you think it is our job to try and make Mars habitable?

Thank you everyone your input is helping me to prepare to present my theory. If you have any other ideas, please feel free to write them down here. Remember, there are no wrong answers.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

1) Think what Tesla achieved in the field of "Resonance" with just a small oscillating piston. Now ask yourself, would life exist on Earth without the moon? No - This can be assumed because we have not found life on planets with zero moons, nor on planets with more than 1 moon, but have discovered life on a planet with 1 moon. Watch "If We had No Moon" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW_vmnfTeWM&feature=related . But a small Mars moon would be just the beginning to putting together a Mars moon equal to the Earth/Moon ratio that we see today.

This is incorrect. We do not yet have a comprehensive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis" so you cannot just pick something about the Earth and suggest that this gave it life. It is naive to ignore everything else that is different about the Earth such as it's orbit, water, magnetosphere etc.

It has already been pointed out that the energy needed to combine Phobos and Deimos would be gargantuan, it's hardly feasible to suggest increasing the mass a further 6 or 7 orders of magnitude.

2) Correct - but Liquid water will. And if a single moon is created, it will create tidal friction. Friction releases heat, which could melt ice, releasing liquid water which can be drank, used to grow plants for food, used to help create adobe houses, make factories, etc.

It is not that simple at all. To grow crops on Mars would require the relevant soil biology, soil nutrients, climate, atmospheric qualities etc.

3) The sands of Mars was written 50 years ago and is a Science Fiction novel, which means it is not true. But do you think it is our job to try and make Mars habitable?

What you are proposing is also science fiction. As for "our job" I am unaware that terraformer was an actual profession nor that we on this forum were in that field.

 

[D H]

Thread locked. barycenter, please read our rules on overly speculative posts.