2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

E s s a y
site effort. And that will take an incredible degree of precision in
planning. But this is all in the future. Right now, the work is far
more simplistic, though it will affect future surveyors to a large
degree. There are fundamental questions being debated right
now:
* Do we use the Earth-style systems of longitude using two
sets of 180-degree hemispheres, or do we use a full sphere of
360 degrees Or do we realize that Mars will not just be settled
by Americans, and use international metric units
* Does the smaller diameter of Mars (less than 3400 km)
indicate that the octomatic base-8 number system may be more
appropriate as a standard instead of the Roman base-10 or
surveying’s traditional base-60 systems
* What physical monuments will be required to resist the
Martian climate and be easily found after a few dozen giant
sandstorms blow over it Or should physical monuments be
avoided altogether, replaced by detailed records of boundaries
supported by major landmarks and GPS
* How will all this affect land and development laws Certainly
our modern Machiavellian legal code has it’s limitations, and the
opportunity to build a new simplified and dynamic legal code is
undeniable. But what directions will these laws take
* It is estimated that Mars needs to have at least 25% liquid
surface water before it becomes fully habitable (no spacesuits
required), and much of this will come from frozen sub-surface
ice or imported from nearby sources. What will this do to Martian
topography, and how do we plan for those changes
* Martian colonization will be heavily computer dependent.
However, the space shuttle currently runs on the equivalent of
the old 386 desktop computers because more modern systems
have great difficulty working in low-gravity environments.
Someday this barrier will be broken, and how will we apply this
new generation of electronics to surveying
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