sxn@BBN-UNIX@sri-unix.UUCP (09/27/83)
From: Stephen X. Nahm <sxn@BBN-UNIX>
John,
While your comparison of Antartica to off-planet colonization destinations
seems plausible on the surface, it ultimately doesn't hold space. On the
surface of the moon, or Mars, the primary thing you have going against you is
lack of air (and some sun radiation problems, so grant it, don't plan on sun
bathing on the shores of Mare Imbrium). So if you set your solar power array
down outside your inhabitation facilities, you can expect it to be there in the
morning.
But in Antartica, the environment is actively against you. Forget solar
power, even during the summer there's very little light. And in the morning
you'll be lucky to find your inhabitation facility, much less any thing you
left outside it!
By contrast, the moon is a tranquil, benign environment. Sign me up for
the first settlement. Antartica? I'll give it the cold shoulder.
Steve Nahm