No future on Mars ?: NASA study reveals obstacles for the red planet to be inhabited by humans

The terraform is a hypothetical process that would change the conditions of a planet to make it habitable for the species of the Earth. Mars would be the most viable candidate for this transformation if it was not because it lacks sufficient carbon dioxide, according to a recent scientific report.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Burden and the University of Arizona, Bruce Jakosky and Christopher Edwards, respectively, reviewed the idea of ​​terraforming at the light of current knowledge about the red planet. Their results – published Monday in Nature Astronomy – come just after last week the existence on March of a liquid water lake and salt under the ice has been announced.

In the article, the experts said that such a terraforming process is not "a viable possibility for Mars with current technology ."

CO2, the great challenge

Among the possible ideas for "terraforming" Mars is the one that proposes to release into the atmosphere the greenhouse gases stored in its rocks and polar caps, so that the atmosphere was more dense, the planet warmed up and that the liquid water could stay on the surface.

Researchers focused on the CO2 available on the red planet the only greenhouse gas present in sufficient quantity to produce significant warming. For this, they used the data provided by the rovers (space exploration vehicle) and space probes of the last twenty years relating to CO2 accessible on both Mars and underground reservoirs, as well as the continuous emissions of this gas in the space.

In the best case, according to the authors, the easily accessible CO2 "could only triple the atmospheric pressure of Mars", a fifth of the change needed to make it habitable, and increase the temperature by less than ten degrees.

In addition, most of the CO2 present in reservoirs is not available and therefore can not be easily mobilized into the atmosphere. Thus, the authors conclude that "terraforming Mars using known CO2 on the planet would require technologies that are far ahead of those currently available."

Water, the great recent discovery

On July 25, scientists report a great discovery: a liquid and salty underground lake under a layer of ice on Mars. The discovery increases the chances of finding life on the red planet, according to predicted experts.

Scientists consulted by the agency EFE referred to the discovery of a group of Italian researchers who, thanks to the results of the radar installed in the Mars Express probe, they have got the water sample.

For Alberto González Fairén, of the Center for Astrobiology (CAB), with this discovery and badysis of the organic compounds that the robot Curiosity made a month ago, "now we know that Mars has the basic ingredients of which we are all living beings ". In addition, he explained that the next two machines that will be sent to the planet in 2020 (NASA's ExoMars and Mars2020) share a goal: find evidence of life . "It's an extraordinary time to do it," he concluded.