.jpg "ESO_-_The_double_asteroid_Antiope_%28by%29")
One of the most interesting asteroid in the solar system, Antiope is a double asteroid of almost equal size. It orbits each other in a distance of only 60 m or so. The center of mass lies in the space between them.
Another interesting visualization of Antiope is a visualization of a Mining Settlement on the asteroid, made by Walter Myers (http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/index.html), which is the winning entry for the NSS Space Settlement Art Contest and appeared in the 2008 Calendar.
Terraforming (literally, “Earth-shaping”), is a process of transforming a celestial body to make it habitable to humans. The concept was developed out of science fictions and science facts. Even though NASA claims that such engineering of making the environment of other planet to be habitable for human is not feasible, the theme of ‘terraforming’ create such a nice visualization of how does the planets will look in the future.
Mars
The above image shows a nice visualization of the process of terraforming Mars. In the visualization, the main water source come from the north pole, which then flows southward, filling the lower northern region of Mars, then flowing into the vaults of Valles Marineris, and later also filling the low lying craters. The temperature would probably be 5 degree more than that of average Earth, since the polar caps is missing from the picture :). Also in the visualization, trees are amazingly abundant, maybe because of the rich iron content in the soil (??).
In this view, the Tharsis Bulge on the left center shows 4 main volcanoes of Mars, all extinct, and all snow-capped. The highest one, the Olympus Mons (the standing alone white splotch) is about 25 km high. The volcano lies just on the edge of a coastline. The area between the sea and the volcano is likely to be an extremely popular resort area, providing leisurely activities such as swimming and skiing. Considering the low escape velocity of Mars (0.377 times that of Earth, the lowest escape velocity of all planet, even lower than Mercury), swimming in Mars would be extremely easy as you would be able to leap out from the water like a dolphin, and you is able to make a longest jump with your ski, probably as far as 500 meter! (talk about exaggeration..)
Moon
This will be our view of the waxing gibbous in the future. Since the moon locked its rotational period with its orbital period toward Earth, the moon will always shows this side to Earth. There is little land on this hemisphere because this side of the moon are mostly low lying region.
On the other hand, the dark side of the moon is higher in elevation. The sea on the south of this side is the lowest region in the Moon, sort of the Mariana Trench of the moon (probably more of a low basin). It is actually the South Pole Aitken, which is until now, the largest impact crater in the solar system. Moon will probably be able to grow a well-distributed forest, since the wind power will moves easily in Moon’s low gravity (although the ability of moon to hold a thin atmosphere is questionable, moon will probably have a thicker atmosphere like, same kind of atmosphere as Titan). The low gravity creates another interesting activity to do in Moon, you can probably splash a water with your hand up to the height of 10 meters.
Venus
In the future, the nickname “Sister Planet” will be much more appropriate for Venus. Unlike Mars and Moon, Venus has almost the same escape velocity as Earth does (about 90% Earth’ gravity), so the Earth-feel will still be there in Venus. Venus will probably be a more fertile than Earth, because land and water is well-spread in Venus, so mild water-influenced weather is basically everywhere. One of the most extreme differences in Venus is that there will be no seasonal change. Terraformed Mars will have seasons, but with a rotational tilt of 0, Venus will have no season at all. The most unearthy thing in Venus is that the sun always rises in the west and sets in the east, after lingering for 8 (Earth) months in the sky.
