I have been working on a few ideas and came-up with what I think is the most reasonable proposal that hasn't been suggested yet but is most likely to succeed. The problem is that Mars' atmosphere wants to stay near the triple point of water and that is fueled by geological processes, whenever liquid water is present the CO2 reacts with the present geology of some areas and is sequestered returning the atmosphere to around the triple point. So liquid water has already all but been sequestered into the ice sheets or the deep ground due to a billion years of this process and this near triple point barrier, so that when water migrates to the poles it stays there trapped virtually forever. Furthermore, the polar caps are a greater refrigerant than even doubling the CO2 would be a greenhouse effect, so simply increasing the CO2 won't be enough to over-come the ice caps in the long term. Furthermore, there is a vast (nearly the entire current atmosphere) amount of CO2 locked-up in a relatively small area of the south polar ice cap. Lastly, it is possible for astronauts to use the current life support system of the ISS to produce Methane which will be important for Martian terraforming. So the process is something like this: Build vast channeling systems from the two polar caps to areas suspected of having enough pressure and temperature to keep water from boiling on the surface of Mars (assuming some aquifer couldn't be found to sequester water there). It is important to find a location to melt the polar caps into so that we sequester the water, that is prevent the water from returning to the atmosphere and being trapped back into the ice sheet thereby refrigerating the planet. It is also important to find a location to sequester the water that won't react with the regional geology to cause carbonate precipitation to sequester the added CO2. Then, once the channeling system is ready, hit the CO2 ice located in the south polar region with a bolide or if it would be sufficient just start burying nuclear waste there. The radioactive waste can be contained but the heat would be used to release the CO2. The region I'm talking about is a specific region a lot smaller than the general CO2 ice that forms seasonally, but it contains a lot more CO2, it's like a giant block versus a sheet. I think hitting it with even a small bolide, something like the size of a bus, would be sufficient to vaporize it into the atmosphere. That CO2 is known to be sufficient to allow liquid water to exist, so it would only be a matter of taking advantage of that time frame to artificially melt the ice caps into the water sequestration regions. Meanwhile, the astronauts on the surface will bring in ships full of Methane, and release methane into the atmosphere, because there is no O2 to react with the Methane will not react and convert to CO2, but will stay a more potent greenhouse gas for much longer. Meanwhile Astronauts on the surface will simply expel the CH4 of their own life support systems into the atmosphere... I think this is the only starting path sufficient to terraform Mars, nothing else seems to address the several major chemical hurdles I have mentioned here, meanwhile this solution utilizes the resources mostly already there (except for importing Methane) and the best part is as O2 is added to the atmosphere by other possible processes (reduction of the regolith, or photosynthesis) it will consume the Methane converting it into CO2. The target psi only needs to be about 3-4 psi to be sufficient to sustain life in the open atmosphere, currently a long shot...but not that much of a long shot considering the planet's atmosphere can be doubled by the one ice pack alone. A doubling which naturally occurs anyway over 100,000 year cycles. (Currently at the about half way point and increasing naturally).
Start steering objects with mass at Mars. Mars must have more mass to hold an atmosphere and water in liquid form. Then restart, ignite the core to create a magnetic shield from solar wind. easy peezy
I think NASA should try to first help terraform the Sahara. I would take every Muslim invader/asylum-seeker currently in Europe and America and place them far inland, without modern transportation of course. They could placed by a system of wells above the vast water tables in parts of the desert. Supplies could be airlifted until such time as enough crops or livestock could be brought up to the standard for basic sustainabilty. I would estimate that the soil would have the added nutrients from the blood that would naturally be spilled by large numbers of Shia, Sunni and Kurds killing each other over their prophets. Not only would this make the Earth a greener, cooler place---it would also help make it a much safer place. A far better idea than terraforming Mars.
We can't take care of the planet we live on. The temperature swings on Mars and the lack of air to breathe makes making the planet suitable for human habitation a monumental task and nearly impossible. It may be possible to start small settlements under domes or underground.
Well, staying along the thought process of the OPer, astronauts would just bring giant magnets to Mars. They also just bring rocks to Mars to increase it's diameter to add gravity. Then they could just change the rotation rate of Mars and its distance from the sun for temperature control by just bringing giant rocket engines to attach to Mars. That's after they just dig giant trenches the full length of Mars and just bring methane.
A great idea. Put the Syrians in the hottest desert on earth, give them shoves and say "if you want to eat and have something to drink, dig!" Those who dig fast enough get a pair of sunglasses.
If humankind decides to colonize Mars we will do so underground. Doing so would eliminate virtually every deadly aspect of the planet.
That's the sad part, Mars seems quite likely to have been nearly earthlike before its interior cooled and its magnetism shut off. Maybe a little less water but then it is a smaller planet
That is my thought as well. Mars is solid rock, and without a spinning liquid metal core it cannot generate a sufficient magnetosphere to 1) divert solar winds around the planet and 2) capture charged particles before they reach the surface. Human habitation on Mars will be mostly underground, and it may never be self-sustaining.
It's true that colonization is going to come decades, if not centuries, before terraforming. I'd be happy if we even did the colonization in my lifetime.
Well... it'd make a secure prison. It'd probably be scientists at first, sort of like Antarctica is to us today. Colonization of the deep ocean might make more sense first though.
From what I've read it's fundamentally impossible since Mar's gravity allows water vapor to escape into space. Any "terraforming" would require not just massive resources but also a fundamental change to the planet's gravitational field and we don't have a proven theory of how/why gravity works, much less a theory of how to manipulate it.
Prisons are expensive enough above ground on planet Earth. Very few people ever escape from maximum security prisons. I agree on the deep ocean. I think we're starting to see cities on the water a whole lot more - cruise ships are basically cities now, they accommodate over 6000 people. Perhaps this will expand such that we spread more evenly over the entire planet's landmass. 100 years is a long time in our development these days.
Does all that mean that Mars cannot sustain human life? If so, why is everyone so bloody obsessed by it?
Hmmm....let's see here: Protection from radiation, storms, climate, latent geology, impacts....etc. Access to resources. Unlimited expansion potential. Ability to create contained atmospheric conditions. Ability to create sustainable agriculture. Geothermal possibility and temperature regulation. These amongst many, many others.
Why don't you talk about a planet which is habitable? What's the point of talking about one which isn't?
I think you're basically right that if humans settle Mars, it will be underground, or at least in sealed habitats. Terraforming would take tens of thousands of years and require technologies that we just don't have or frankly, can envision at this point. And of course, who would pay for it for a payoff that exceeds the length of human civilization by multiples. Sealed habitats seem much more doable, and frankly, the human race, at least the ones who live in cities, are living in environments that are more and more cut off from nature anyway. My concern is that I'm not sure women can bring a child to term in that low gravity. We would need to build a permanent base there and test all of these things before we think about human settlement.
I meant over living on Earth. What's the point if you're underground on Mars, why not just dig a big hole here and live there?
For many reasons from the old "why climb a mountain" thingy to an insurance policy for Humankind. Underlying it all would be the need for exploration and technology advancement that inevitably follows it.
Well yeah, it'd be absolutely breathtaking to visit Mars, the highest mountain - but as far as I know nobody has yet made the top of a mountain their permanent habitat. There's a reason for that. Since it's unlikely they'll be able to return in the next 30 years/ever, they would be accepting living under the ground in darkn... Just realized that would be no different than the lives of most people anyway.
Terraform it the natural way: with life. Life terraformed earth. Just be sure that Mars has the basic building blocks for an earthlike environment available, and then introduce the kind of microbial life that can convert those building blocks into what we have now on earth. Accelerate the process by introducing other, more advanced lifeforms when appropriate (aerobic bacteria when free oxygen becomes available in abundance, photosynthetic life when appropriate, animal life, etc.). It begins with providing the necessary starting compounds, especially CO2, and an adequate atmospheric pressure for liquid oceans to exist. - - - Updated - - - Hehe. Right. Send nerds to colonise the Red Planet
I think trying to terraform is an insane idea and a waste of resources. How many years would this take...hundreds, thousands, millions ? That is assuming it would work. And finally...how can the expense be justified? It is science fiction.
