Terraforming on Mars

What is Terraforming?

“The Mars Exploration” (TME) deals with the the mars colonization by humans. A method is used on the red planet that transforms the entire surface from a life-hostile to a life-friendly environment. This process is called Terraforming. But what is behind it? This is discussed below.

Terraforming first appeared in 1942 in a science fiction novel by J. Williamson. At the same time, the art word described the change of the environment of a planet, to an earth-like form, so as to make human life possible with little or no additional technical effort. This concept was taken up again decades later by the scientists at the beginning of the planetary exploration at the end of the 1960s.

Goals

In contrast to the other planets, Mars is only a catapult. Likewise, it has a solid surface and has almost the same day length as the earth. Its planet surface is as large as the land mass of our blue planet.

However, to create a human-friendly environment, the temperature that is now around -40 to -60 ° C must be raised several degrees above zero to create the conditions for liquid water. At the same time water reservoirs should also be located. A goal of equal priority is to condense the atmosphere, because at the lowest point of Mars, it is 1% of the density of the Earth’s atmosphere at sea level. The goal of the terraformers should be 30% or more. In order for man to breathe freely at all, the Mars atmosphere should contain enough oxygen. Last but not least, it would be important to protect humans from the damage caused by cosmic and UV radiation.

Implementation

In order to bring the temperature to a suitable level, you should use the effect on our own planet for global warming – the greenhouse effect. This would, as on the earth, melt the polar caps. However, on Mars, caps are only fractions of water ice, with the largest part being frozen carbon dioxide. This leads to the desired greenhouse effect and thus increases the density of the atmosphere and prevents the rapid escape of the Mars heat into space. In order to evaporate the CO2 from the polar caps, there are several approaches. In TME, the variant is used to produce greenhouse gases on Mars itself, because the necessary raw material is available on site. The gases would heat up the atmosphere and finally release the CO2 out of the polar caps. An acceleration of the process would be that controlled entry of off-track asteroids and comets into the Mars atmosphere. The gases stored in them would be released. But this process also involves certain dangers for the first Mars settlers …

But even in a few hundred years, the first plants on Mars could thrive and the settlers would undertake walks without heavy space suits, but with breathing masks and radiation protection. For the “Marsians” to breathe freely, cyanobacteria and primitive algae and lichens have to be settled, because these are resistant to extreme temperatures and strong radiation. This process, the spreading of the plants and the sufficient oxygen production takes several centuries, but at the same time condenses the atmosphere and allows Mars to store more heat. In the end, there is still the question of where to take the water, which is so important for the plants and the people?

If today’s measurements are correct, water reservoirs are located under the permafrost and in the polar caps. This would come to light again in the course of the centuries by the warming of the marshes and the artificial solar mirrors that heat up the soil. This results in a positive effect for the planet. Because the chemical reaction of the flooded rock with the water would release further quantities of gases and further compress the atmosphere with evaporating water. After a thousand years, the air layer of the red planet could be so dense that the cosmic radiation is held in some way, and then Mars would be completely terraformed.

Just try to transform Mars into a new Earth with playing “The Mars Exploration” online:

Play “The Mars Exploration” online.