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Will it be possible to make Mars like Earth one day? – Tyra, 16, Mississippi
When I was in junior high school, my biology teacher taught the class the science fiction movie “Star Trek III: The Search for Mr. Spock.”
This plot made me think,Genesis Project” – a new technology that transformed a dead alien world into one teeming with life.
After watching the film, our teacher asked us to write an essay about such technology: Was it realistic? Was it ethical? And, to invoke the Spock in us: Was it logical? This assignment had a profound impact on me.
Fast forward to today, I am an engineer and a professor. Develop technology to expand human presence beyond Earth.
For example, I work on advanced propulsion systems to take spacecraft beyond Earth’s orbit, and I help NASA develop lunar construction technologies to support its goal. Long-term human habitation on the MoonAnd, I, How to 3D print a habitat on Mars.
Supporting humanity beyond Earth will take a lot of time, energy and imagination, but engineers and scientists are slowly starting to tackle many of the challenges.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Part of the checklist: food, water, shelter, air
After the Moon, the next most logical place for humans to live outside of Earth is Mars.
But is it possible to terraform Mars – transforming it to resemble Earth so that it can support life – or is it just the stuff of science fiction?
To live on Mars, humans would need liquid water, food, shelter, and a sufficient amount of atmosphere. Oxygen to breathe It is thick enough to retain heat and protect against radiation from the sun.
but Martian atmosphere teeth Almost all carbon dioxideIt is virtually devoid of oxygen and is very thin, with a density of only about 1% that of Earth.
The less dense the atmosphere, the less heat it can retain. Earth’s atmosphere is known to be thick enough to retain enough heat to support life. As the greenhouse effect.
However, because the atmosphere on Mars is so thin, nighttime temperatures regularly drop to minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 101 degrees Celsius).
So what’s the best way to give Mars an atmosphere?
Mars currently has no active volcanoes (at least that we know of), but scientists may be able to trigger volcanic eruptions with a nuclear explosion. Gases trapped deep inside the planet could cause volcanic eruptions. At the volcano Released and then Floating in the airHowever, this plan is a bit reckless, as the explosion would also release deadly radioactive material into the atmosphere.
A better idea would be to crash a water-rich comet or asteroid into Mars, which would also release gases from under the surface of Mars into the atmosphere, along with any water contained in the comet. NASA has already It’s possible to redirect an asteroid But to bring about change, it will take relatively big changes, and lots of them.
Making Mars a hospitable place
There are many ways to warm the Earth. For example, a giant mirror built in space and placed in orbit around Mars could Reflects sunlight onto surfaces Please warm it up.
Recent studies have shown that Mars colonists AerogelBy scattering aerogel, an ultra-lightweight, solid material, on the ground, where it acts as an insulator and traps heat, this could be done anywhere, including the polar ice caps on Mars, where the aerogel could melt existing ice to create liquid water.
We need soil to grow food. On Earth, Soil of 5 Ingredients: Minerals, organic matter, living matter, gas, water.
But Mars, RegolithThink of it as Martian sand: regolith has few nutrients, insufficient for healthy plant growth, and contains harmful chemicals. It is called perchlorate.On Earth, it is used in fireworks and explosives.
Purify the regolith and turn it into something livable It won’t be easyWhat foreign soil needs Fertilizer from Marspossibly made by adding Extremophiles Hardy microorganisms imported from Earth Survive the harshest conditionsGenetically modified organisms are also a possibility.
Through photosynthesisThese organisms then began converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. Over time, as Mars became more hospitable to Earth-like life, the colonists were able to introduce more complex plants and even animals.
Providing oxygen, water and food in the right proportions is incredibly complicated. On Earth, scientists have tried to simulate this. Biosphere 2It’s a closed ecosystem that features marine, tropical, and desert habitats. All of Biosphere 2’s environments are controlled, but scientists still struggle to keep the balance right there. Mother Nature really does know what she’s doing.
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Mars House
The buildings can be 3D printed, but they will initially need to be pressurized and protected until Mars has an Earth-like temperature and atmosphere. Autonomous Planetary Construction Technology from the Moon to Mars The program explores how to achieve exactly this.
There are many other challenges. For example: Unlike EarthOn Mars MagnetosphereThe magnetic field protects the planet from solar wind and cosmic radiation, which without it would be too much radiation for life to remain healthy. How to create a magnetic fieldBut so far, the science is highly speculative.
In fact, all of the technologies I have described are far beyond what is currently possible on the scale required to terraform Mars. Developing these technologies would require vast amounts of research and funding that would likely make them unfeasible in the near term. While the Genesis device in Star Trek III could terraform a planet in minutes, terraforming Mars would take centuries, if not millennia.
There are a lot of ethical questions that need to be answered before we start turning Mars into another Earth. Is it right to make such drastic, permanent changes to another planet?
If all this makes you feel disheartened, don’t worry. At the same time that scientists are creating innovations for terraforming Mars, we will also use them to make life better on Earth. Remember, we are developing technology to print 3D habitats on Mars? Now, I am part of a group of scientists and engineers who are using the same technology to print houses on Earth. This is Global housing shortage.
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