Elon Musk dreams of this. This is the dream of the NASA aerospace agency. And Arnold Schwarzenegger has already managed to do this (though only in the movies). But, is it really possible? We are talking about terraforming Mars - turning the Red Planet blue using geoengineering, which will make its atmosphere denser, and the environment and climate more welcoming for people. Unfortunately, judging by the findings of a new study, an article about which was published in the journal Nature Astronomy, a fantastic dream that has been dreamed of for more than one generation of scientists, it seems, is destined to remain a dream. At least for the near future.
The idea of terraforming Mars implies solving several important key problems at once, but according to the general meaning, if they could release carbon dioxide contained in the bowels of the planet and fill the atmosphere with it, then in about 100 years Mars could become quite a place suitable for supporting extraterrestrial life … Scientists say they know how to heat the planet, since we are doing the same with the Earth now. However, according to the latest research, this sounds too good to be true for Mars.
“Our study shows that Mars has insufficient reserves of carbon dioxide to trigger the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere,” says planetary scientist Bruce Yakosky of the University of Colorado Boulder.
“Moreover, the bulk of the planet's available CO2 reserves remain inaccessible. We believe that terraforming Mars is impossible. At least when using current technologies."
In recent years, scientists have repeatedly spoken about the prospects for terraforming Mars, but the study of Yakoski and his colleague Christopher Edwards of Northern Arizona University is based on data collected by various orbiting spacecraft, and not on computer models. The researchers used for their work information obtained with the help of such orbiters as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Mars Odyssey, and MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution - "Evolution of the atmosphere and volatile matter on Mars").
Mars has a very thin atmosphere and, as a consequence, a lack of atmospheric pressure. In general, this means that any reserves of liquid water on the planet's surface will not linger there for a long time. The water there will either completely evaporate or freeze. According to the idea of terraforming, if we somehow transfer the carbon in the polar caps of Mars into a gaseous state (in the manner of Arnie's character from the movie "Total Recall"), then this would double the atmospheric pressure on the Red Planet. But unlike the effects that were shown in the film, in reality, doubling the atmospheric pressure on Mars would not be enough to recreate terrestrial conditions.
Jacowski notes that if the pressure on the planet's surface rises to 1 bar, the temperature on Mars could be slightly above 0 degrees Celsius. In this case, the water would not freeze, and in general the planet would become really habitable. The atmosphere itself would not be suitable for breathing, but people could wear special breathing masks without wearing fully enclosed spacesuits. Plants could grow on the planet without any problems, slowly increasing the level of oxygen in the atmosphere over the next several centuries. But for now, these are all fairy tales.
“This does not mean that terraforming itself is impossible. It will simply not be as easy as many people now imagine,”Yakoski commented to New Scientist.
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"We can't just take and detonate a few nuclear charges over the planet's ice caps and get what we want."
There are other sources of carbon on the planet. This element is present in both soil and mineral deposits, however, according to the calculations of the researchers, Mars contains insufficient natural resources in order to turn the planet's atmosphere into a temperate, moist greenhouse.
Recent speculations suggest that a large carbon pool may lie deep beneath the planet's surface. However, scientists currently do not have a sufficient set of data to support this assumption. And even if we could confirm this, we still would not be able to get to these reserves.
“We guess there is something there. Traces of carbon have been found in several impact craters on the planet. But we don't know how much carbon there is. Moreover, even if there are large reserves, it is not possible to get to them,”comments Jakoski.
Yet scientists continue to hope. The researchers believe that, if not in the coming years, then within several decades, technological evolution, as well as the subsequent colonization of Mars, will allow us to reach the level when the implementation of plans to terraform the Red Planet becomes possible.
“We can still terraform Mars. We could create artificial sources of highly active greenhouse gases on the planet, for example, chlorofluorocarbons. They could heat the planet. But this will require a higher technological level than what we have now. This goes far beyond our current capabilities. If this is done, it will clearly not be in the near future,”the researchers note.
Nikolay Khizhnyak