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Of course, the colonization of Mars is possible with us living indoors in giant domes, but the whole would certainly be easier if the atmosphere of the planet resembled that of the Earth. One way to do this would be to use the carbon dioxide already trapped in the surface of Mars to thicken the atmosphere to the point where Mars is hot enough to keep the water in the liquid form that we know and love. Simple, no?
"By changing the Martian climate to a more Earth-like climate, we would like to increase the atmospheric pressure, so that we can walk without space suits, and the temperature, so that the ice would melt and we do not have to. we would not need to use as many heaters, "said Bruce Jakosky, a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder." To do this we need to add a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the best greenhouse gas available – it is very efficient and should be abundant on Mars.
Unfortunately, science is there to act like Debbie Downer, according to a new research paper by Jakosky and Christopher Edwards. There is simply not enough carbon dioxide to circulate.
"The short answer is that much of the CO2 has been lost in space," Jakosky continued. "What is left is not enough to increase the pressure or temperature enough to be useful, and it is very difficult to mobilize CO2." In practice, it is not possible to use CO2. use CO2 on Mars to terraform the planet, and terraforming can not be done with current technology. "
Even though it was possible to melt the polar caps on Mars using thermonuclear explosions put forward by the CEO of SpaceX and the emigrant of Mars, Elon Musk), the amount of CO2 released would only be sufficient to bring the atmospheric pressure of Mars to 1.2% of the Earth. Even for the most ambitious Martian settlers, it's pretty hard to live!
Do not give up hope, though. This is not because this method does not work as terraforming is out of the question. "It would still be possible to terraform Mars by producing, for example, high-efficiency greenhouse gases such as CFCs that could raise the temperature," Jakosky said. "But that would require large-scale manufacturing processes that clearly exceed our current capacity."
In other words, things may seem desperate now, but there is still hope for the March 21 enthusiasts. Is it wrong to be envious of your great-great-great-grandchildren?
An article describing the research was recently published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
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