[Rockhounds] How ending mining would change the world

[Alan Silverstein]

> Mars has no strong magnetic field to keep the solar wind at bay.  You
> can't "give" Mars an atmosphere...  the sun would blow that away as
> soon as it forms.  Secondly:  living on Mars would seriously shorten
> your life due to radiation.  Same problem, no atmospheric shielding.

Oh, didn't I mention that?  Left it out because I'd already rambled
long enough...

Yeah, Mars also needs a magnetic field/shield IN THE LONG RUN.  But
wouldn't an Earthlike atmosphere persist for a long (enough) time, at
least in human terms?  Centuries, millenia?  Long enough to worry about
the magnetosphere separately. :-)  And provide some radiation shielding
too?  Maybe enough, especially if the settlers mostly lived underground
in lava tubes, etc.

Cheers,
Alan Silverstein