The exploration of Mars has recently been one of the main topics that have attracted close attention of the world scientific community. "Popular Mechanics" tried to understand how realistic the terraforming of the Red Planet is, taking into account the capabilities of modern technologies, and offers you a detailed overview of the potential ways to colonize it and other planets of the solar system by humans.
For decades, people have been searching for life, or at least traces of it, on Mars. So far, these studies have not brought the desired results, but the idea of a "living" Mars continues to haunt the minds of the scientific community around the world. If we have not found life on the Red Planet, then perhaps we ourselves can bring it there? What if a person could one day succeed in transforming the sandy, rocky landscape of Mars into a blooming garden - a semblance of our homeworld?
While this sounds like science fiction to the layman, researchers in the public and private sector are seriously investigating how modern technology can terraform Mars, in large part because it will make colonization and further exploration of the planet much easier. …
So is it possible to terraform Mars?
The answer is yes. However, scientists believe that this is feasible in a much less dramatic way than Elon Musk's idea of detonating a nuclear projectile in the thin atmosphere of Mars. “It is a mistake to believe that a nuclear charge contains enough energy. If you take all the existing nuclear weapons on Earth, then this would be equivalent to the energy that Mars receives from the Sun in just an hour,”explains Chris McKay, NASA planetary explorer. According to him, as well as other scientists, sunlight will help humanity to heat Mars. A striking example of this is global warming on Earth, caused by the depletion of the ozone layer and, therefore, an excess dose of solar radiation, which increases the temperature on the planet. Michael Chaffin, a scientist working on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) project, is confidentthat the atmosphere of Mars needs to be made even thicker in order for it to become similar to the earth. “We found that in the early stages of the formation of life on the planet, it is imperative to keep water on its surface, which is possible only with a much thicker atmospheric layer than that which exists now on Mars,” he says.
At present, the atmosphere of Mars is so thin and so poorly retaining heat that water can exist on the planet's surface only for short periods of time. “If you take a glass of liquid water and pour it on Mars, then part of it will freeze, and the other part will turn into steam. In any case, it will not remain liquid for long,”Chaffin is sure. Theoretically, if we could pump some of the greenhouse gases from the Earth's atmosphere to Mars, then it would be possible to warm the planet to such a state that a large amount of liquid water could quietly exist on it, as it was in the distant past (about 3.5 billion years ago). The thicker the atmosphere, the more stable the atmospheric pressure and temperature on the planet, which means the water will also stabilize.
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McKay is confident that one of the ways to implement such a program is the production of super-greenhouse gases - perfluorocarbons (PFCs) at special plants. They would not disturb the planet's thin ozone layer or become a toxic threat to potential colonists, but they would be able to sufficiently keep the heat on Mars. After that, 100 years after the planet warms up, people will be able to start planting plants on Martian soil. By consuming CO2 and releasing large amounts of oxygen, greens would gradually alter the chemical composition of the atmosphere, making it breathable - a process that, in the current state of biotechnology, will take thousands of years.
This landscape is one possible model of how Mars looked in the distant past.
Practical problems
One of the main features that future terraforming programs will have to take into account is that Mars already contains greenhouse gases, such as the well-known CO2. If you carry out work without taking into account their influence, then you can heat the planet too much. As a result, instead of Eden, you get Venus - a planet with a dense atmosphere, which consists of greenhouse gases, which is why the temperature on the surface is so high that it can melt lead. In addition, the atmospheric pressure there is so high that on Earth this can only be observed in the ocean, at a depth of about 900 meters.
McKay is currently working on calculations that will estimate the amount of CO2 in a frozen state located near or under the polar ice of the planet. According to experts, there is still not enough carbon dioxide to heat the planet, but its exact number is still unknown. But suppose we managed to create a planet that is humid and warm enough for life. However, what will happen to its atmosphere over time? Mars will certainly lose her again. However, according to the forecasts of scientists, it will take about 100 million years, which on the scale of mankind is such a huge period that it is worth at least trying.
Are the planets different, but the rules are the same for everyone?
The differences between Venus, Mars and Earth are at first glance pretty obvious. One is too hot, the other is too cold, the third is just right for a person. But, by and large, they are all just medium-sized rocky planets. Climate change models developed on Earth can most likely work on other planets - you just need to take into account the differences in the thickness of the atmospheric layers, the size and relative proximity of each planet to the Sun. However, some aspects of the Martian climate remain a mystery to researchers.
“The data from the rovers show that the planet had liquid water about 4 billion years ago. If you go back in time, then on Mars you will find a large number of lakes and rivers that can perform the same important function for life as those on Earth. But here's a mystery: if you used to have large masses of liquid water, but now you don't, then what happened to the planet's atmosphere?”Asks Chaffin. This is where MAVEN comes in. NASA's probe has been orbiting the planet since 2014, studying the composition of its atmosphere and background radiation. Researchers are trying to figure out what led to the sudden loss of much of the atmosphere in the past. “Mars loses 180 grams of charged atmospheric particles per second. This is enough for the entire current, thin-layer atmosphere to disappear in the entire history of Mars, but this does not explain the loss of the early,a denser atmospheric layer,”says the scientist.
MAVEN satellite model, scanning the Martian atmosphere since 2014
Conclusion
Be that as it may, the issue of terraforming Mars is much deeper than simply solving the issue of warming up and moistening the planet. Martian soil is poor in nutrients and is rich in persulfides and perchlorates, which means that terrestrial bacteria may simply not take root in it. What if, during Musk's expedition, the colonists find their own bacteria on Mars, which will be destroyed as a result of terraforming and, thus, a unique xenobioculture sample will be lost? Scientists believe that serious debates and plans for the development of the planet can only be built when a person first enters the Red Planet and can explore it independently, without resorting to probes and satellites.
Vasily Makarov