08 Mar '10 23:51>
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/05/13/phobos-might-only-have-10-million-years-to-live/
This piece suggests Phobos will crash into Mars in 10 million years but will reach the Roche limit of about 7000 Km from the center of mars, 3620 Km above the surface, in about 7.6 million years and be torn to bits by tidal forces.
So here it is: Say it's a couple thousand years from now, Mars is fully inhabited, huge cities circle the globe, billions of people live there. Now they come to realize all that about Phobos is true. They also have many gambling casino's there and VERY high rise high cost hotels. So they are saying to themselves, how much force do we need to apply to Phobos to keep it from falling any more?
It now orbits about 9380 Km from the center of Mars now, so it only needs to lose about 2380 Km of altitude to get to the Roche limit. It masses 1.08 E16 Kg and if the number of 7.6 million years to reach Roche limit is correct, it is losing about 313 meters per year altitude. Is it possible to show how much force (choose your own units, Newtons, Kg, Tons, whatever) or thrust continuously applied like maybe a rocket on a circumferential railroad, constantly pointing to Mars or some like technology to provide Mars facing thrust, how much thrust is needed to keep it in a steady orbit?
This piece suggests Phobos will crash into Mars in 10 million years but will reach the Roche limit of about 7000 Km from the center of mars, 3620 Km above the surface, in about 7.6 million years and be torn to bits by tidal forces.
So here it is: Say it's a couple thousand years from now, Mars is fully inhabited, huge cities circle the globe, billions of people live there. Now they come to realize all that about Phobos is true. They also have many gambling casino's there and VERY high rise high cost hotels. So they are saying to themselves, how much force do we need to apply to Phobos to keep it from falling any more?
It now orbits about 9380 Km from the center of Mars now, so it only needs to lose about 2380 Km of altitude to get to the Roche limit. It masses 1.08 E16 Kg and if the number of 7.6 million years to reach Roche limit is correct, it is losing about 313 meters per year altitude. Is it possible to show how much force (choose your own units, Newtons, Kg, Tons, whatever) or thrust continuously applied like maybe a rocket on a circumferential railroad, constantly pointing to Mars or some like technology to provide Mars facing thrust, how much thrust is needed to keep it in a steady orbit?