> Terraforming Mars

Is it possible turn Mars into Earth: conditions for terraforming the planet, research, problems, creating a habitat, benefits, Elon Musk's plan with a photo.

The entire scientific community is buzzing about Mars right now. Despite its dryness and frost (-153°C), there is talk of colonization. Why?

The fact is that there are many similarities between these terrestrial planets. In addition, the Red Planet has water and the necessary Construction Materials. There are many ideas for planetary exploration. Let's look at specific proposals regarding the terraforming of Mars.

Terraforming of Mars in fiction

While scientists were trying to land astronauts on the moon, the writers were already mentally colonizing the Martian lands. Early references hinted at the presence of canals and even vegetation. This was prompted by the findings of Giovanni Schiaparelli and Percival Lowell.

But these fantasies gave way to more realistic ideas in the 20th century, when the first photographs of Mars from space were considered.

The transition is best depicted in The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1950). Plots in short stories develop on Mars, where settlers, visiting Martians, as well as their genocide and nuclear war are indicated.

In the 1950s Arthur C. Clarke wrote about Martian colonization. Released in 1952 interesting story from Isaac Asimov, where there was a conflict between Martians and earthlings.

Philip Dick in his works presented the Red Planet as a cold desert without indigenous settlers. In the 1990s comes a trilogy from Kim Robinson, which describes the colonization of the entire system. "The Great Wall of Mars" by Alastair Reynolds (2000) described future events where colonization had already taken place, but earthlings had to fight aliens.

The far future of Mars was shown by Henri Weir in The Martian (2011), where an astronaut is stranded on the planet and forced to survive while waiting for a rescue crew. The history of the colonized solar system was revealed in 2012 by Stanley Robinson in 2312, which states that oceans were created on Mars.

Proposed methods for terraforming Mars

NASA in the 2030s is preparing the Orion mission and SSL, with whose help they will launch. There are also offers from private companies and non-profit organizations.

The ESA is still building the ship, but they are focused on launching human missions. Roskosmos also plans to take part. In 2012, Dutch entrepreneurs announced that they were going to create a human base on Mars in 2023, which would later expand into a colony.

The MarsOne mission plans to deploy a telecommunications orbiter in 2018, a rover in 2020, and a settler base in 2023. It will be powered by solar panels with a length of 3000 m 2 . They will deliver 4 astronauts on a Falcon-9 rocket in 2025, where they will spend 2 years.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, does not hide his desire for Mars. He is going to create a colony for 80,000 people. To do this, he needs a special transportation system that would work in conveyor mode. He has already succeeded in creating a rocket reuse system.

In 2016, Musk announced that the first unmanned flight would take place in 2022, and the crewed flight in 2024. The forecasts are such that as soon as uninterrupted and safe transportation is established, many businessmen will start buying up territories, because this is an extremely profitable business. Yes, and science will receive a century-old platform for research. Geoengineering will eventually help create an acceptable environment for us. This will be facilitated by cyanobacteria and phytoplankton, which transform most of the CO 2 into the atmospheric layer.

In addition, there are huge reserves of carbon dioxide in the form of dry ice in the territory. south pole. If you manage to heat the planet, then you can sublimate ice into gas and increase Atmosphere pressure. This is not enough to breathe, but it would be easier for people to move around in suits.

This can be done by specifically activating the greenhouse effect. For this, they deliver ammonia ice from the atmospheres of other worlds in the system. Or use methane, which is abundant in Titan. Orbital mirrors and subsurface habitat creation are considered as methods. If you form a network of tunnels, you will not have to deal with the need for oxygen tanks and pressure protection. In addition, under the ground we are not threatened by radiation rays.

Potential Benefits of Terraforming Mars

For settlement, we are looking for worlds that are as similar as possible to ours. Mars is ideal for terraforming, because it corresponds to the length of the day - 24 hours and 39 minutes, which means that living organisms do not have to adjust to a new rhythm.

They are similar in axial tilt, which causes the seasons to change. This means that the Martian colonists can count on harvests and a predictable change in weather conditions. Mars is located within the habitable zone, so it is best suited for establishing a settlement. Also suitable is the distance to the Earth of 57.6 million km (with a close approach), which reduces the time for transporting cargo.

Mars has water ice hiding in the polar regions. But it is believed that a huge amount is also contained under the surface. It can be mined and refined for further use. As a result, we can come to autonomy, where the colonists themselves produce air, water and fuel.

Analyzes show that building bricks can be created from Martian soil. When processing in the ground, vegetation can be planted.

Problems in terraforming Mars

Earthlings will have to face a cold environment, where the average temperature of Mars during the day is 20°C, and at night it drops to -70°C. Gravity reaches only 40% of the Earth's, which will lead to a loss of muscle mass and a decrease in bone density.

Approximately 95% of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, which means you can not do without oxygen. Lack of large-scale magnetic field deprives protection from cosmic radiation. Models show that the first astronaut will suffocate in 68 days, and the rest will die of starvation, dehydration, or burn up in the atmosphere during landing.

In general, we will have to solve many more problems before we go. But we are forced to do this if we plan to turn a foreign world into a second home. Who knows? Maybe the survival of the whole civilization depends on it.

We've been trying to get into space for decades, but until 2000 our stay in orbit was usually temporary. However, after the three astronauts moved to the International space station for a four-month stay, this marked the beginning of a decade of continuous human presence in space.

After the trinity of astronauts settled on the ISS on November 2, 2000, one of the representatives of NASA noted:
“We are forever going into space. First, people will circle around this ball, and then we will fly to Mars.”

Why go to Mars at all? Images from as early as 1964 showed that Mars is a desolate, lifeless planet with seemingly little to offer humans. She has an extremely thin atmosphere and no signs of life. However, Mars inspires some optimism regarding the continuation of the human race. There are more than seven billion people on Earth, and this number is constantly growing. Perhaps overpopulation or a planetary catastrophe, and they force us to look for new homes in our solar system. Mars has more to offer us than what the Curiosity rover shows us. After all, there was water.

Why Mars?

Mars has long attracted people and captured the imagination. How many books and films have been created based on life on Mars and its exploration. Each story creates its own unique way of life that could have settled on the red planet. What is it about Mars that makes it the subject of so many stories?

While Venus is said to be Earth's sister planet, the conditions on this fireball are extremely uninhabitable, although NASA planned to visit Venus with a side trip to Mars. On the other hand, Mars is closest to Earth. And despite the fact that today it is a cold and dry planet, it has all the elements suitable for life, such as:

1. Water that is frozen in the form of polar caps
2. Carbon and oxygen in the form of carbon dioxide

There are surprising similarities between the Martian atmosphere of today and the atmosphere that was on Earth billions of years ago. When the Earth first formed, there was no oxygen on the planet, and it looked like an empty, uninhabitable planet. The atmosphere consisted entirely of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. And there was no oxygen until the photosynthetic bacteria that evolved on Earth produced enough oxygen to possible development animals. The thin atmosphere of Mars is composed almost entirely of carbon monoxide. This is the composition of the atmosphere of Mars:

95.3% carbon dioxide
2.7% nitrogen
1.6% argon
0.2% oxygen

In contrast, the earth's atmosphere consists of 78.1% nitrogen, 20.9% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and 0.1% carbon dioxide and other gases. As you can imagine, any people who want to visit Mars tomorrow will have to carry enough oxygen and nitrogen with them to survive (we don't breathe pure oxygen, after all). However, the similarity between the atmospheres of early Earth and present-day Mars has led some scientists to speculate that the same processes that converted most carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen on Earth could be repeated on Mars. To do this, you need to thicken the atmosphere and create a greenhouse effect that will warm the planet and provide a suitable habitat for plants and animals.

The average surface temperature of Mars is minus 62.77 degrees Celsius, and ranges from plus 23.88 degrees to minus 73.33 Celsius. For comparison, the average temperature on Earth is 14.4 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, Mars has several features that allow us to consider it as a future home, such as:

1. Orbital time - 24 hours 37 minutes (Earth: 23 hours 56 minutes)
2. Rotation axis tilt - 24 degrees (Earth: 23.5 degrees)
3. Gravitational attraction - a third of the earth's

The red planet is close enough to the sun to experience the changing seasons. Mars is about 50% farther from the Sun than Earth.

Other worlds that are considered as possible candidates for terraforming are Venus, Europa (moon of Jupiter) and Titan (moon of Saturn). However, Europa and Titan are too far from the Sun, and Venus is too close. In addition, the average temperature on the surface of Venus is 482.22 degrees Celsius. Mars, like Earth, stands apart in our solar system and can support life. Let's find out how scientists plan to transform the dry, cold landscape of Mars into a warm and habitable habitat.

martian greenhouses

Terraforming Mars would be a massive undertaking, if at all. The initial stages may take several decades or centuries. Terraforming an entire planet into an Earth-like form would take several thousand years. Some suggest tens of thousands of years. How do we turn dry desert land into a lush environment in which humans, plants, and other animals can survive? Three methods are offered:

1. Large orbital mirrors that will reflect sunlight and heat the surface of Mars
2. greenhouse factories
3. Dropping ammonia-laden asteroids onto the planet to raise gas levels

NASA is currently developing a solar sail engine that would allow large reflective mirrors to be placed in space. They will be located several hundred thousand kilometers from Mars and will reflect sunlight onto a small area of ​​the surface of Mars. Such a mirror should be about 250 kilometers in diameter. Such a contraption will weigh about 200,000 tons, so it is better to assemble it in space, and not on Earth.

If you point such a mirror at Mars, it can raise the temperature of a small area by several degrees. The point is to concentrate them on the polar caps to melt the ice and release carbon dioxide, which is believed to be trapped in ice. Over the years, rising temperatures will release greenhouse gases like the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) you might find in your air conditioner or refrigerator.

Another option for thickening the atmosphere of Mars, and hence increasing the temperature on the planet, is the construction of factories that produce greenhouse gases, powered by solar panels. Humans are good at releasing tons of greenhouse gases into their own atmosphere, which some believe lead to global warming. The same thermal effect can play a good joke on Mars if hundreds of such factories are created. Their sole purpose will be to release chlorofluorocarbons, methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Factories for the production of greenhouse gases will either be sent to Mars, or created already on the surface of the red planet, and this will take years. To transport these machines to Mars, they must be light and efficient. The greenhouse machines would then mimic the natural process of plant photosynthesis by inhaling carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen. It will take many years, but gradually the atmosphere of Mars will be saturated with oxygen, so that the astronauts will be able to wear only breathing apparatus, and not pressure suits. Instead of or in addition to these greenhouse machines, photosynthetic bacteria can be used.

There is also a more extreme method of greening Mars. Christopher McKay and Robert Zurin have proposed bombarding Mars with large, icy ammonia asteroids to generate tons of greenhouse gases and water on the red planet. Nuclear-powered rockets should be tied to asteroids from the outer part of our solar system.

They will move asteroids at a speed of 4 km / s for a decade, and then turn off and allow an asteroid weighing ten billion tons to fall on Mars. The energy released during the fall is estimated at 130 million megawatts. This is enough to power the Earth with electricity for ten years.

If it were possible to smash an asteroid of this size into Mars, the energy of one impact would raise the planet's temperature by 3 degrees Celsius. A sudden increase in temperature will cause about a trillion tons of water to melt. Several such missions in fifty years could create the desired temperature climate and cover 25% of the planet's surface with water. However, bombardment by asteroids that release the energy equivalent of 70,000 megaton hydrogen bombs will delay human settlement by many centuries.

While we may reach Mars in the next decade, terraforming will take thousands of years. It took the earth billions of years to evolve into a planet where plants and animals can thrive. Transforming the landscape of Mars into Earth is an extremely complex project. Many centuries will pass before human ingenuity and the labor of hundreds of thousands of people can breathe life into the cold and deserted red world.

There are surprising similarities between the Martian atmosphere of today and the atmosphere that was on Earth billions of years ago. When the Earth first formed, there was no oxygen on the planet, and it looked like an empty, uninhabitable planet. The atmosphere consisted entirely of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. And there was no oxygen until the photosynthetic bacteria that evolved on Earth produced enough oxygen for the eventual development of animals. The thin atmosphere of Mars is composed almost entirely of carbon monoxide. This is the composition of the atmosphere of Mars:

• 95.3% carbon dioxide
• 2.7% nitrogen
• 1.6% argon
• 0.2% oxygen

In contrast, the earth's atmosphere consists of 78.1% nitrogen, 20.9% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and 0.1% carbon dioxide and other gases. As you can imagine, any people who want to visit Mars tomorrow will have to carry enough oxygen and nitrogen with them to survive (we don't breathe pure oxygen, after all). However, the similarity between the atmospheres of early Earth and present-day Mars has led some scientists to speculate that the same processes that converted most carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen on Earth could be repeated on Mars. To do this, you need to thicken the atmosphere and create a greenhouse effect that will warm the planet and provide a suitable habitat for plants and animals.

The average surface temperature of Mars is minus 62.77 degrees Celsius, and ranges from plus 23.88 degrees to minus 73.33 Celsius. For comparison, the average temperature on Earth is 14.4 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, Mars has several features that allow us to consider it as a future home, such as:

• orbital time - 24 hours 37 minutes (Earth: 23 hours 56 minutes)
• rotation axis tilt - 24 degrees (Earth: 23.5 degrees)
• gravitational attraction- a third of the earth

The red planet is close enough to the sun to experience the changing seasons. Mars is about 50% farther from the Sun than Earth.

Other worlds that are considered as possible candidates for terraforming are Venus, Europa (moon of Jupiter) and Titan (moon of Saturn). However, Europa and Titan are too far from the Sun, and Venus is too close. In addition, the average temperature on the surface of Venus is 482.22 degrees Celsius. Mars, like Earth, stands apart in our solar system and can support life. Let's find out how scientists plan to transform the dry, cold landscape of Mars into a warm and habitable habitat.

martian greenhouses

Terraforming Mars would be a massive undertaking, if at all. The initial stages may take several decades or centuries. Terraforming an entire planet into an Earth-like form would take several thousand years. Some suggest tens of thousands of years. How do we turn dry desert land into a lush environment in which humans, plants, and other animals can survive? Three methods are offered:

• large orbiting mirrors that would reflect sunlight and heat the surface of Mars
• greenhouse factories
• dumping asteroids full of ammonia on the planet to raise the levels of gases

NASA is currently developing a solar sail engine that would allow large reflective mirrors to be placed in space. They will be located several hundred thousand kilometers from Mars and will reflect sunlight onto a small area of ​​the surface of Mars. Such a mirror should be about 250 kilometers in diameter. Such a contraption will weigh about 200,000 tons, so it is better to assemble it in space, and not on Earth.

If you point such a mirror at Mars, it can raise the temperature of a small area by several degrees. The point is to concentrate them on the polar caps to melt the ice and release the carbon dioxide that is believed to be trapped in the ice. Over the years, rising temperatures will release greenhouse gases like the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) you might find in your air conditioner or refrigerator.

Another option for thickening the atmosphere of Mars, and hence increasing the temperature on the planet, is the construction of factories that produce greenhouse gases, powered by solar panels. Humans are good at releasing tons of greenhouse gases into their own atmosphere, which some people believe lead to global warming. The same thermal effect can play a good joke on Mars if hundreds of such factories are created. Their sole purpose will be to release chlorofluorocarbons, methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Factories for the production of greenhouse gases will either be sent to Mars, or created already on the surface of the red planet, and this will take years. To transport these machines to Mars, they must be light and efficient. The greenhouse machines would then mimic the natural process of plant photosynthesis by inhaling carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen. It will take many years, but gradually the atmosphere of Mars will be saturated with oxygen, so that the astronauts will be able to wear only breathing apparatus, and not pressure suits. Instead of or in addition to these greenhouse machines, photosynthetic bacteria can be used.

There is also a more extreme method of greening Mars. Christopher McKay and Robert Zurin have proposed bombarding Mars with large, icy ammonia asteroids to generate tons of greenhouse gases and water on the red planet. Nuclear-powered rockets should be tied to asteroids from the outer part of our solar system. They will move asteroids at a speed of 4 km / s for a decade, and then turn off and allow an asteroid weighing ten billion tons to fall on Mars. The energy released during the fall is estimated at 130 million megawatts. This is enough to power the Earth with electricity for ten years.

If it were possible to smash an asteroid of this size into Mars, the energy of one impact would raise the planet's temperature by 3 degrees Celsius. A sudden increase in temperature will cause about a trillion tons of water to melt. Several such missions in fifty years could create the desired temperature climate and cover 25% of the planet's surface with water. However, bombardment by asteroids that release the energy equivalent of 70,000 megaton hydrogen bombs will delay human settlement by many centuries.

While we may reach Mars in the next decade, terraforming will take thousands of years. It took the earth billions of years to evolve into a planet where plants and animals can thrive. Transforming the landscape of Mars into Earth is an extremely complex project. Many centuries will pass before human ingenuity and the labor of hundreds of thousands of people can breathe life into the cold and deserted red world.

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Terraforming Mars

Terraforming is a young science, the essence of which is to change the landscape, climate, environmental conditions, completely remake the very habitat on a separately selected planet. No, this is not the plot of another blockbuster and not a media duck - such a science really exists. Taking in and bringing together necessary knowledge from physics, chemistry, ecology and even economics, it streamlines them from the standpoint of its applied goal: to make planets previously uninhabitable a new home for Homo sapiens. Terraforming is gradually moving from the category of purely theoretical, philosophical teachings to an experimental, even practical area.

In order not to argue until you are blue in the face about the possibility or, conversely, the impossibility of the colonization of outer space, it is better to become more familiar with the theoretical premises, the history of scientific discoveries and possible options for moving from words to action.

3.5 billion years ago when solar system just formed into a kind of balanced orbital tangle, there were 3 planets with water, an atmosphere and the possibility of the origin of life: Earth, Mars and Venus.
On Earth, thanks to a successful set of circumstances, a stable and comfortable atmosphere was formed, which created the necessary pressure and temperature, not allowing the elements to escape into space or freeze into the soil, but also without crushing everything into a puree. At the same time, Mother Earth had a suitable chemical composition, did not thicken too much and allowed the ideal conditions for life to be established, in the only forms that we know.
Venus, being closer to the Sun, received many times more energy, and its atmosphere turned into a super-powerful oven. Because of this, the temperature (900 degrees Celsius) and atmospheric pressure on the surface of the planet are much higher than on Earth. The composition of the atmosphere is also very different from ours: instead of oxygen, oxygen is dominated by sulphuric acid. In fact, Venus perfectly describes the biblical concept of Hell, while at the same time demonstrating the most terrible version of the development of the greenhouse effect.

Mars, on the contrary, being further from the Sun and being a relatively small celestial body (its mass is 10 times less than the Earth), quickly cooled down, its atmosphere evaporated into outer space, and the water froze. Now Mars appears as a cold (-63 Celsius), lifeless desert, covered with ice and dust, where the intense ultraviolet radiation of the Sun kills all life on the surface. The atmosphere is rarefied to the limit, it is practically non-existent, and if the ice were to melt, it would immediately turn into vapor, but not into a liquid.

And at the moment, the closest, attractive and suitable planet for resettlement is Mars. Moreover, he was not always so dry and lonely. A few years ago, with the help of satellites, scientists were able to see and photograph the dried up riverbeds, lakes and seas scattered over its entire surface. Mars has been proven to be warmer and wetter in the indefinite past, possibly even own life. And the initial hope of mankind to meet with brothers in mind on Mars (it was with such thoughts that American scientists sent space probe in 1980) grew into a desire to create a new home there.

Today, the main difference between Mars and Earth, which does not allow life to exist, is the low temperature on the surface and the absence of a dense atmosphere. All that is needed is to add 2 terms to the red planet, and then the sprout will make its way.

Given the small temperature difference (there are planets in space -1000 to +20000), this does not look like an impossible task at all, and Mars needs to warm up by only 30 gr. Celsius. This, of course, is nonsense, but still, where to get this powerful source of energy? Initially, scientists proposed using nuclear energy: to bombard the planet hydrogen bombs. This would allow it to heat up very, very quickly. However, this is associated with undesirable and far-reaching consequences, and this option was rejected. The most obvious and convenient option, which is leaning towards today, lies on the very surface. Over the past 50 years, the temperature on Earth has increased significantly, which is caused by human activity in burning fossil fuels (haft, nez, etc.). As we produce carbon dioxide faster than the Earth can process it, the gases build up, increasing the atmosphere's ability to retain the sun's heat. And as a result, without wanting it, we get on Earth the results that are vital for Mars: the glaciers are melting, the temperature is rising. What prevents us from repeating the trick on another planet?

Thus, (by returning to Mars) we not only raise the temperature, but at the same time form a coveted atmosphere. All it takes is to build greenhouse gas factories! Moreover, it is not necessary to drag our long-suffering oil through space distances, here there are abundant minerals, which are 1000 times higher than the same oil in terms of the concentration of greenhouse elements. And as the temperature rises, the atmosphere thickens, trapping even more heat from the sun, warming the planet, and the process speeds up.

There is also every reason to believe that carbon dioxide and water from the former Martian atmosphere (at the poles, under a layer of dust, a glacier is literally a few centimeters from the surface) did not evaporate into space, but are locked in the soil, like in a sponge. It is known that in summer they are partially released, making the atmosphere denser by 30%, but in winter they condense and are again locked in the ground. So
Thus, even slightly heating the planet, a person can start a chain reaction that will help create a magic dome from the elements already existing in place.

Following this plan, it will take about 100 years to reach the required temperature, the appearance of the atmosphere and water in liquid state. Despite the obvious simplicity of the plan (even in comparison with the subsequent stages of terraforming the planet), this period seems to be the most difficult, because there is no infrastructure, and it will have to be built from scratch.

But let's imagine that a sick philanthropist is found and the budget problem is solved, the first stage is completed. Water evaporates and accumulates in the atmosphere - it starts to rain, it snows in cold areas and at high altitudes. This is not yet a five-star resort, and the climate is similar to summer beyond the Arctic Circle. A person will not yet be able to breathe the new atmosphere, however, the need for a space suit will disappear, it will be possible to get by with elegant breathing devices (reminiscent of scuba diving). However, these uncomfortable conditions are quite satisfying to the needs of many terrestrial organisms, which will prepare the ecosystem for the emergence of more complex creatures.

Among such biological pioneers, capable of surviving in extreme conditions, immune to any low temperatures, not even to radiation - mosses and lichens. They eat a very modest amount of water, do not require care, live on stones and are pleasing to the eye. But most importantly, they absorb sunlight and process it into useful substances, which in the near future will become elements of fertile soil, so necessary for trees.

Another primary element for creating a model soil is ozone and special microbacteria that carry out the metabolism in the soil. They certainly were on Mars before, scientists say, and it is unlikely that they disappeared somewhere. Most likely, ozone, as a result of powerful climatic cataclysms, having entered into chemical reaction with other substances, formed new stable compounds with them and is underground, and frozen bacteria sleep there, waiting for the end of the polar winter. And when this triumphant moment comes, the temperature will rise by a couple of degrees, and the soil will be saturated with humus of mosses and lichens, nothing will prevent the full greening of the planet. Alpine pines growing on Earth are quite ready to act as pioneers from the "adult" fauna, because the conditions high in the mountains are almost identical to those of Mars (in its intermediate, already modified version). It will take the labor of several generations of terraformer foresters, with the possible intervention of genetic engineering, so that the further process of revitalizing the planet continues on its own. But gradually the forests will begin to grow, and a jubilant moment will come when the planet eagerly breathes in a new,
clean and not yet poisoned by industry air.

Here it is not difficult to guess, Noah's Ark arrives from the Earth, and the process of evolution, as such, will not be needed. You don't have to wait until the infusoria becomes a tadpole, until the reptiles get out of the water and grow into dinosaurs. Nothing like that, because we will be able to take advantage of the widest abundance of species on our home planet (unless they all completely disappear by this momentous coin)!

And here we are, fatherly, with a tear of tenderness, looking at the beautiful world recreated by man, where the elephant is uncertainly, suspiciously trampling the Martian grass, the monkey jumps along the branches, marking new territory, the crocodile by the pond is waiting for the antelope (which they promised to bring on the next week), and the wolf howls, not finding the moon. We look at how a complex community: microbes, bacteria, plants, mammals and various other organisms interact to form a single, complex and balanced, self-reproducing ecosystem. And this will take more than one millennium! However, enthusiastic scientists say that we are solving the problem of the 22nd century with the possibilities of the 21st century. By that time, technology will probably have reached such heights that they will offer options that are inaccessible to today's understanding, greatly accelerating the process of revitalizing the planets. Moreover, they are absolutely convinced that the terraforming of Mars is already a settled issue, and predict the beginning of such a large-scale project in the next 50-100 years. I want to believe! But even more I want to believe that we will not ruin our own Earth until this moment.

Mars is a prime candidate for terraforming and subsequent colonization.

Goals of colonization of the red planet

One of the main goals in the colonization of Mars is the creation of a second or third home in case of a global cataclysm on Earth.

Also, Mars can become a potential world for several billion people.

The bowels of the planet are rich in minerals.

Pluses of the planet

A day on Mars is almost equal to a day on Earth. They last 24 hours 39 minutes and 35 seconds. Those. just those 40 minutes, which are so lacking every morning when the alarm clock rings.

Mars has its own atmosphere, though very rarefied.

There are water reserves on the planet, although they are not enough. It is believed that when terraforming, the planet will have to be subjected to asteroid bombardment, which will saturate the planet with water, as well as other chemical compounds.

Cons of the planet

Mars is a relatively small planet. The entire surface of Mars is equal to the land surface on Earth.

The force of gravity on Mars is about 2.63 times less than on Earth. And this is very bad - the muscles will slowly atrophy if you do not constantly resort to additional physical activity.

The temperature on Mars is lower than on Earth. This is due, first of all, to the density of the atmosphere and the amount of incoming sunlight.

The atmosphere of the planet is 95% dioxide, which makes its surface deadly to humans.

The planet has virtually no magnetic field.

Due to the weak pressure on Mars, water will boil at a temperature of +10 degrees Celsius. Thus, water passes into gaseous state immediately from solid.

At the first stage, you will have to increase the pressure and gravity of the planet. Next, you need water, because of which it will be necessary to deliver water to the planet. It is believed that in order to maintain life, it will be necessary to create special terraformers on the planet that will maintain the atmospheric composition, an analogue of the ozone layer.

In addition, the magnetic field will have to be strengthened, which is very expensive, although doable.

Some scientists speculate that the colonists will have to be genetically modified, since humans will never be able to fully live on Mars.

It is believed that the most best places for the colony are located on the equator and in the lowlands.

In the case of terraforming, the first open water may spawn in the Mariner Valley.