The terraforming of Mars could be kickstarted using artificially engineered dust particles sourced from the Red Planet itself to raise temperatures by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), a new study suggests
Currently, the average temperature on the surface of Mars is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 60 degrees Celsius), and the atmospheric pressure is just 6 to 7 millibars, compared to the 1,013 millibars at sea level on Earth. The thin Martian atmosphere is unbreathable, composed of mostly carbon dioxide, and the planet’s water is locked up as ice in the polar caps and in subsurface layers of ice found mostly at high and middle latitudes.
So, as things stand, Mars is not hospitable to human life. But interplanetary explorers dream of making it habitable by artificially changing conditions on the Red Planet, in a process known as terraforming.
The idea of terraforming Mars, making its atmosphere and environment more Earth-like for human settlement, goes back decades. During that time, many proposed methods have been considered and put aside as “too expensive” or requiring technology well in advance of what we have today. Nevertheless, the idea has persisted and is often considered a part of long-term plans for establishing a human presence on Mars. Given the many plans to establish human outposts on the Moon and then use that infrastructure to send missions to Mars, opportunities for terraforming may be closer than we think.
By warming the planet, the polar ice caps and permafrost would melt, releasing liquid water onto the surface and as vapor into the atmosphere. The abundant amounts of dry ice in both ice caps (especially in the southern hemisphere) would also be released, thickening the atmosphere and warming it further. As Robert Zubrin argued in The Case for Mars, this would lead to an atmospheric pressure (atm) of about 300 millibars (30% of Earth’s atm at sea level), which would allow for people to stand outside on the surface without a pressure suit (though they would still need warm clothing and bottled oxygen
Is it scientifically possible to terraform Mars?
Recent missions to Mars have shown it had a more substantial atmosphere at one stage, but this was lost quickly, leaving the thin atmosphere it has today. It appears that terraforming a planet like Mars would be an incredibly difficult – if not impossible – goal to acomplish
What would Mars be like terraformed?
Depending on whom you talk to, terraforming could take anywhere from 50 years to 100 million years to complete. The surface might one day look like our own Earth. It could also resemble a massive metropolis with people unable to live outside of domes or other manmade structures for hundreds of years.
A ResearchGate paper proposes a five-phase plan for terraforming Mars, which involves:
- Stabilizing the moon
- Creating a planetary shield
- Harvesting carbon
- Converting the atmosphere
- Making the planet habitable for humans
The plan would require creating an artificial Van Allen belt and an anthropogenic atmosphere. Here are some other ways to terraform Mars:
- Build up the atmosphere: Introduce ammonia, methane, or other hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. Methane could compound the greenhouse effect. CFCs could also be introduced by sending rockets carrying compressed CFCs on a collision course with Mars.
- Build up the magnetosphere: Create an artificial Van Allen belt
- Raise the temperature: Methane could compound the greenhouse effect
Mars is famous for being the “Red Planet” but that doesn’t mean we can’t color it green.
Dry, extremely cold, and with a tenuous atmosphere — Mars’ current atmosphere is extremely unlikely to sustain any form of life at the surface. It’s pretty much a hellscape, though it remains the most attractive planet to settle beyond Earth. But four billion years ago, Earth’s smaller, red neighbormay have been much more hospitable.
Mars had huge surface oceans and rivers of flowing water which carved huge canyons still visible today. In fact, around that time Hadean Earth was covered in a thick hydride-rich atmosphere and its surface was more molten than solid; so early Mars was probably more conducive to life than early Earth. But something happened in the meantime and the destinies of the two planets greatly diverged, one becoming a paradise oasis relative to the bleakness of other planets while the other morphed into a barren red rock
Scientists have long been fascinated with the idea of making Mars habitable. Now, a new study proposes a method that could warm the Red Planet by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) —enough to support microbial life. Researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Central Florida suggest flooding Mars’ atmosphere with engineered dust particles that trap heat
The new approach leverages Mars’ existing resources. Dust on Mars is rich in iron and aluminum, but these natural particles by themselves are not effective at warming the planet. To solve this, the researchers engineered tiny rod-shaped particles—similar in size to glitter—that can trap heat much more efficiently. These particles would scatter sunlight and enhance Mars’ natural greenhouse effect, potentially warming the planet within months, just enough to allow liquid water
This research opens new avenues for exploration and potentially brings us one step closer to the long-held dream of establishing a sustainable human presence on Mars,” Kite added.
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