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Move Deimos

To start life on Mars
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See linked picture of shadow of moon on the earth. That shadow is pretty small, and since it is already anomalous in the solar system that the moon is so big and that there is only one, that the eclipse shadow just barely touches the surface of the earth is an area for speculation as to its connection to other anomalous events. Which makes me wonder if it has gradually changed over time and, if it has, then what other changes might coincide with the point at which the shadow either first touched the earth or became small enough that it was a locality and not effectively a planet wide phenomena. And if that coincidence was life, why would that happen. I have heard a theory about the fact that the moon just barely occludes the sun during a solar eclipse with the similarity between the two apparent curvatures causing an interference pattern of intermittant light and shaddow right before and after a full solar eclipse being a speculated reason that monkeys may have first been caused to look up and become intelligent - through some kind of association between the rapid repetition of the light and dark, the lines of shadow it creates rushing across grasslands right before and after an eclipse, the curvatures and the relationship between the sun the moon, light, dark, night and day, but what if the effect also had some organizing influence on patterns of complexity in the much earlier history of the earth, if that moon shaddow, once it gets sharp enough, acts like a needle on a record and starts vibrations that resonate at a planetary and epoch- ranging scale?

So one way to test this would be if we sent out a Deimos lander with steering rockets that could put this Mars satellite in a stable orbit so that its shaddow just barely touched the surface of Mars, would it have a similar needle and record effect? Who knows and we might not find out for a couple of million years, but it is fun to speculate.

Also, as an Ares myself, I like the symbolism of bringing Deimos, which is supposed to signify the dread and terror that accompany war, into bridled purpose (see linked Wikipedia article).

JesusHChrist, Nov 05 2012

(?) Shadow of moon on earth https://www.google....7;d|vvWZL72YwtlZmM:
[JesusHChrist, Nov 05 2012]

Moons of Mars Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Moons_of_Mars
[JesusHChrist, Nov 05 2012]

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       To summarise your idea, you seem to be saying that:

A: Earth has a satellite of a size and at an orbiting distance such that it appears to be the same size as the sun.
B: Earth has intelligent life (no laughing at the back there!)

You then, I think, make the leap of logic that, as these two things are unique in the Solar System, that it is reasonable to assume that A causes B. You then go on to conclude that we can therefore sensibly propose the hypothesis that we may be able to create intelligent life by moving a satellite of another planet to a distance from that planet that it appears the same size as the sun when viewed from the surface of that planet.
hippo, Nov 05 2012
  

       // no laughing at the back there! //   

       <muffled sniggering>   

       Sorry … do carry on.
8th of 7, Nov 05 2012
  

       //pattern of intermittant light and shaddow right before and after a full solar eclipse being a speculated reason that monkeys may have first been caused to look up and become intelligent//   

       Apart from being, a priori, a ludicrous idea, that one has another flaw or two. The moon is moving away from the Earth at quite a rate, which means that any effects caused by the precision of the eclipse would not have occurred very far back in the past.   

       Also, intelligence didn't just get switched on like a light - it evolved over many millions, millions of years, during which any particular eclipse phenomenon would have only lasted a short while, again due to the movement of the moon away from the earth.   

       Also also, fireflies and other phenomena provide much more abundant blinkenlights than eclipses.   

       Also further also, few (if any) new intelligent species have arisen since the invention of roads and car indicators.   

       Your leap of imagination is worthy of the The Mighty Bean himself.
MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 05 2012
  

       One book I've read, if I recall right, indicated that Deimos, just where it is, is almost perfectly placed to be a counterweight to a Martian Space Elevator. The problem is that PHOBOS should be moved out of the way. Leave Deimos where it is!
Vernon, Nov 06 2012
  

       What about the Roche limit? It would have to be ridiculously close to Mars to cover the Sun. Also, it's not even round.
nineteenthly, Nov 06 2012
  

       // leap of logic //   

       There's a leap alright, but precious little logic. This is ridiculous [-]
BunsenHoneydew, Nov 06 2012
  


 

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