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We've gone a long way from Mars in this thread...

Mars won't be ready for colonization until it gets some IPv6 ranges allocated. Until then I'm staying away, I can't go anywhere without internet. :D

And for the TIL crowd Martian packet - Wikipedia is a term for an internet packet "from Mars, a place from which packets clearly cannot originate".

So I'll need that to be vestigial terminology before I go. Maybe the correct way to say it is that term needs to be deprecated before I'll go? However you label the old term I want IP packets streaming to/from mars/earth if I'm going there.
 
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Ooh ooh ooh! Call on me call on me! I wanna answer!

Thank you.

The answer is NO. Carbon dioxide ice is not slippery.

The reason that we usually find water ice to be slippery is because under atmospheric pressure and most temperature conditions, the pressure exerted upon an icy surface melts a fine film of ice; that soild-liquid-object interface has only a minuscule coefficient of static or dynamic friction. Even on earth, when you get down to reallly cold temperatures, this no longer occurs. I've never gone iceskating at -40º but I believe that oft-reached number (around here) is sufficient for such slipperiness to disappear.

Regardless, CO2 does not have a liquid phase at what we and Martians would consider reasonable pressures. Rather, solid carbon dioxide sublimates directly to the gaseous state. Ergo, consider it sandpaper. Do not bring along your Flexible Flyers to Mars.

That's true. I didn't try to skate or ski when we had -40⁰. But I have at -20⁰ .. -30⁰ C. It is not easy. But even layer of sand or gravel on tarmac can be slippery. If CO2 is not firmly attached to road, it could prevent tires to connect to firm surface.

Lack of down-force amplifies problem.
 
Does anyone else think that really the ultimate goal of the boring company is to create the first long term habitable buildings on mars? In order to protect the early setlers from solar radiation they need to go down about 100 meters below the surface of the planet. Not only that but in the companies published FAQ it states that they also plan to use all that dug up dirt to make bricks for the tunnel with plenty left over for resale. On mars those bricks would come in real handy in constructing buildings and other city structures. Far easier to make your construction materials onsite than to fly everything there on a rocket. Thoughts?
Great post!
 
Great post!
Except the “100 meters” figure is almost certainly excessive.
See upthread.
According to this source (which I am not saying is the best source) How much radiation will the settlers be exposed to? - Health and Ethics - Mars One QUOTE: "Five meters of [Martian] soil will provide the same protection as the Earth's atmosphere-- equivalent to 1,000 g/cm2 of shielding."

Here is another source, possibly more definitive Journal of Cosmology QUOTE: "From these authors, we see that attenuation to very low levels has occurred by the 3 to 4 meter depth. These models are mostly using "soil", i.e. unconsolidated regolith, as the crustal material. Rock materials may have greater ability than regolith to attenuate radiation in some cases."

Your "100 meters" ballpark estimate is almost certainly far too high. But a significant layer of soil will be required.