Mars has been viewed as a multi-millennial effort to terraform since the inception of the term, but there is new evidence that the time frame has changed dramatically. A published study in Science Advances gives new hope to those wishing to terraform Mars through nanoscopic engineered aerosol-like dust particles made from iron and aluminium found abundantly in the soils of Mars. Specifically, scientists feel that if we inject these engineered aerogels into the atmosphere, the resulting greenhouse effect will raise Mars’ surface temperature by over 50 degrees Fahrenheit in only 15 years. This uses 5,000 times less energy than the previous propellant methods of transporting large quantities of cargo to Mars, as it uses indigenous resources as opposed to shipping large amounts from Earth. While not yet breathable, this alteration in thermal profile will create the first step necessary to support ongoing water existence and ultimate human habitation.
Mars’ surface could begin warming in 15 years through aerosol warming
The average temperature on the surface of Mars is -80 degree Farahanait, which is the biggest barrier to life on Mars. Recent studies of the atmosphere show that it is possible to design rod-shaped nanostructures that could be placed into the Martian atmosphere, which are atmospherically buoyant and have been engineered to trap the heat from the surface of Mars that rises up into the atmosphere.This is contrary to the greenhouse gases of Earth, which trap infrared radiation from the surface and return it to the atmosphere, whereas these metallic aerosols would backscatter thermal infrared radiation to the surface. The continued use of this thermal forcing may be sufficient to create a melting ice cap at the poles of Mars, releasing trapped carbon dioxide from the polar ice caps, creating a thicker atmosphere, and maintaining temperatures favourable to microbial life.
Utilising In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) for atmospheric engineering
In the past, traditional terraforming models required transporting millions of tons of greenhouse gases to Mars from Earth, which is impractical from a logistics perspective. However, NASA’s ISRU protocols and recent findings demonstrate that there are enough minerals on Mars to potentially accomplish this entire process using minerals available on Mars. Mars has an abundance of both iron and aluminium that can be used to create microscopic ‘particulate’ materials. The size of these particles is designed to be smaller than a grain of sand, but larger than natural Martian dust, allowing them to remain in the atmosphere up to 10 times longer and retain the heat they gained.
The transition from warming to oxygenation
The process of warming the planet is just one step towards an extremely complicated and long-term ecological change. The aerosols method will allow enough temperature increase for liquid water; however, 95 per cent of the Martian atmosphere is still carbon dioxide. NASA’s MOXIE experiment showed that it is possible to extract breathable oxygen from the Martian atmosphere (on a small scale). Beings such as cyanobacteria and/or genetically engineered plants will be introduced to support this process of creating a ‘Great Oxygenation’ for the planet through photosynthesis after warming of the planet occurs.
Overcoming the magnetic field and atmospheric loss
One large barrier to establishing habitats on Mars is its lack of a global magnetic field, which means it does not have any protection against the solar winds, which strip away the Martian atmosphere. Inferences obtained from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission indicate that terraforming efforts will need to consider ongoing atmospheric loss due to interaction with the solar winds.While warming the planet with the aid of aerosols has yet to be proven possible, researchers have been exploring the option to create a magnetic shield at the Mars/Sun L1 Lagrange point to provide future protection against solar wind erosion for the thicker atmosphere that will eventually form.
