Terraforming of Mars
The terraforming of Mars is an idea that humans can change the climate and surface of Mars. They would do this to make Mars a place where humans and other life forms from Earth could live. The project will rely on the idea that the environment of a planet can be changed through artificial means. There are a number of proposed methods.[1]
Reasons for terraforming
Mars is the most earthlike of all the other planets in our Solar System. It is also believed that Mars once had an Earth-like environment early in its history. Mars once had a thicker atmosphere and water. However, it disappeared over the course of hundreds of millions of years.
Future population growth and the demand for resources is necessary for human colonization of objects other than Earth, such as Mars and the Moon, and nearby planets. Space colonization will help harvest the Solar System's energy and material resources.[2]
The terraforming of Mars can also be helpful in the survival of the human race. Many catastrophic extinction events could occur on Earth, such as the meteor thought to have killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Earth's species, including humans, could live on Mars instead.
Terraforming Of Mars Media
Illustration of plants growing in a hypothetical Mars base
This diagram shows the change in the atmosphere escaping from Mars if it was close to the average temperature on Earth. Mars is thought to have been warm in the past (due to evidence of liquid water on the surface) and terraforming would make it warm again. At these temperatures oxygen and nitrogen would escape into space much faster than they do today.
Hypothetical terraformed Mars
The Mars Ecopoiesis Test Bed showing its transparent dome to allow for solar heat and photosynthesis, and the cork-screw system to collect and seal Martian soil together with oxygen-producing Earth organisms. Total length is about 7 centimetres (2.8 in).
Magnetic shield on L1 orbit around Mars
References
- ↑ Robert M. Zubrin (Pioneer Astronautics), Christopher P. McKay. NASA Ames Research Center (1993). "Technological Requirements for Terraforming Mars".
- ↑ Kondo, Yoji; Savage, Marshall T. (1994). ''The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps''. Little Brown and Company. ISBN 0316771635.
Other websites
- NASA - Aerospace Scholars: Terraforming Mars at the Internet Archive
- Recent Arthur C Clarke interview mentions terraforming Archived 2008-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Red Colony
- Terraformers Society of Canada Archived 2007-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
- Research Paper: Technological Requirements for Terraforming Mars
- Peter Ahrens The Terraformation of Worlds Archived 2019-06-09 at the Wayback Machine
- MARSDRIVE: Colonizing Mars. Red Colony parent organization planning the future exploration and colonization of planet Mars.