Even ifBP's current "top kill" effort tostopthe gushing well works, theoilhangingatandbelow the surfacestillneeds to becleaned upbefore a storm makesitworse, Studwell said.
While it will probably take at least another 20 years before Zubrin -- or anyone else for that matter -- makesit to the Martian surface, NASA and other space agencies are already drawing up plans for a voyage that will present astronauts not only with physical but also psychological challenges never faced by humans before.
Solar energy can, of course, be gathered on Earth, but only about half of the sun's radiation ever makesit to the Earth's surface--the rest is either absorbed by the atmosphere or reflected back by clouds.