Can Mars Ever Be Made Habitable?
Can Mars ever be made habitable?
Turning Mars from an inhospitable, barren wasteland into something that humans could one-day call home has been a science fiction staple for some time. Is it possible though? Well, the short answer is 'probably'.
It doesn’t have to involve massive, city-sized terraforming machines either. The surface of the Red Planet could be made hospitable one bite-sized chunk at a time, using a material called silica aerogels.
Humanity could, in theory, make parts of Mars habitable and it could be done relatively cheaply as well as efficiently. It would involve the placement of thin layers of silica aerogel either on or above the surface of the planet.
The insulation provided by the aerogel would sufficiently warm the surface so that the subsurface ice becomes water, and it would also block out the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. This in turn would potentially create the kind of environment where plants and similar life could flourish.
What is silica aerogel?
It is thought that a thin layer of aerogel, just 2-3 centimetres) will provide enough of a greenhouse effect, locking in heat close to the surface. Researchers have shown that this could raise the surface temperature of the covered area by as much as 50oc.
This temperature increase would be enough to keep any water below the surface as a liquid, as opposed to ice, to a depth of several meters. By absorbing ultraviolet radiation at the same time as still allowing in enough light for photosynthesis to occur, this method of insulation seems perfect.
How long would all of this take? Not as long as you might think.
Based on climate models, and results from experiments conducted with aerogels, it would take a minimum of 4 years (or 2 Mars years) to produce a region of permanent liquid water. That’s fast by anyone’s standards.
The trouble is, it would take a lot of silica aerogel to make it happen. Aerogel is much lighter than air, but getting enough quantities of it to Mars is a huge challenge – then there is the task of erecting structures made of it.
One way around the shipping problem is to manufacture the material on Mars, but that brings its own unique set of problems. Sending people to Mars is still on the cards, but it will not be happening for quite some time yet.
The realistic answer to how long it will take to make Mars habitable? Even if people were able to land on the planet tomorrow, it will still be a few generations before we see permanent areas of liquid water and the plant life that would have to follow. Don't pack your bags just yet.
