In SpaceX's epic video that accompanies a recently unveiled vision of interplanetary travel and colonization, the last few seconds are the most intriguing. The planet Mars is spinning on its axis, and we see how this dry, cold, dusty world begins to turn into a place of a different shade, possibly with water and even greenery.
The idea of remaking the planet - terraforming - is not new and not for the faint of heart. But given the audacity and success of many of Elon Musk's projects, the idea that we could change Mars to suit us more needs to be rethought.
Terraforming is just one item on a long list of ways that can allow people to live in another world, which was created, apparently, to not give us a peaceful life. If you don't die en route, on landing, shock, stress, you will die from low pressure, extreme temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, cosmic rays, corrosive Martian regolith (perchlorate-riddled), hunger, long-term exposure to low gravity, and inability to breathe. Not to mention something we haven't even thought about yet.
There is also the question of protecting any possible life on Mars. Do local androids dream of electric sheep? What rights do stone-eating microbes have? They will be of fundamental scientific importance that cannot be overestimated, and it would be a galactic crime to land thousands of unwashed apes on the surface of a virgin natural environment.
Before we go the long way to terraforming, there are intermediate steps ahead of us to reduce the danger of life on Mars to large numbers of people. You can build residential structures - possibly buried in regolith for greater isolation and radiation protection. You can build structures like "biodomes", create the Earth in a bubble. This approach is called "paraterraforming". But in the end, you will drop all these options and want to use the land you are standing on.
You can close the canyon with an awning. Mars is full of all sorts of canyons, craters or lava tubes that could be closed with a "lid" - and the house is ready. Launch the atmosphere, moisture there and monitor the situation.
But to master the entire planet, you have to resort to full terraforming. What is needed for this?
The first step will be to try to add density to the Martian atmosphere - currently not even one thousandth of the pressure of the Earth's atmosphere. A thicker atmosphere and higher temperature will allow liquid water to form on the surface - something we will take from the large Martian glaciers.
Promotional video:
The deposits of frozen carbon dioxide on Mars are huge, they lie in the form of polar caps. If this gas is released, there will be a double benefit: atmospheric pressure will rise and the global capacity to contain infrared radiation will increase - a "greenhouse" effect. At present, the Martian atmosphere transmits much better infrared radiation than the Earth's.
If we could release most of the frozen carbon dioxide on Mars, we could raise atmospheric pressure to about a third of Earth's and get to the point where the polar temperature would freeze above the sublimation point - and prevent carbon dioxide ice from forming again. In this regard, we have the following options:
- many, many nuclear explosions over the poles (this approach was mentioned by Elon Musk, albeit indirectly);
- giant mirrors in space to focus solar energy on polar regions (a mirror with a radius of 125 km will be able to raise polar temperatures by 5 degrees);
- discharge of ammonia into the atmosphere using comets. Along with this, "buffer" nitrogen will also appear in the Martian atmosphere;
- pumping CFCs into the atmosphere in order to increase the greenhouse effect - about 40 million tons are needed (three times more CFCs than people have produced at the moment);
- spraying paint on the Martian surface to make it less reflective (the effect will take a long time to take effect);
… and these are just the first steps.
The list of potential overlays is just as long:
- the climate is difficult. We can just turn Mars into a dull storm warning.
- you won't burst at low pressure, but what to do with oxygen? It will take centuries to create a breathable atmosphere.
- we do not understand very well how Mars loses elements into space - as soon as there is enough water vapor, it will begin to disintegrate in the process of photodissociation in the upper atmosphere and hydrogen will be lost forever. We can just drain Mars.
- Mars is much less active geophysically than Earth, it does not have plate tectonics. This will be a key factor for long-term climate stability. In other words, we could make Mars habitable in a few thousand years.
- The earth is literally teeming with microbes of enormous genetic diversity, they penetrate even the rocks. Will we be able to seed Mars in this way, replicate the systems that allow us to preserve the Earth?
Obviously, answering these questions will take time. SpaceX's vision is surprisingly provocative and provocative. After all, space exploration stalled sixty years ago. In addition, the colonization of Mars is necessary for man as a species - you cannot keep all eggs in one basket. On Earth, we have been conducting an out-of-control experiment since the Industrial Revolution. Will a controlled experiment on Mars succeed?
ILYA KHEL