Terraforming Mars: Can We Make It Habitable?

Humanity has had an ongoing curiosity about Mars, especially within the context of someday living on it. Known as “the red planet,” Mars is the most likely home for life in our solar system besides Earth, and potentially terraforming it is fascinating for many people.

But is this truly possible? Can humans make Mars habitable? That’s what we’ll be exploring further below.

Our History on Mars

Although humans have never set foot on Mars, we have an extensive history with the planet, with the first exploration dating back to 1965. That’s the year NASA’s Mariner 4 performed an early “flyby,” where it captured close-up images of Mars. Just over three decades later in 1997 during the Mars Pathfinder mission, the first rover, Sojourner, landed on the planet and physically explored its surface.

In 1979, NASA sent two twin spacecraft called the Viking Landers to learn about Mars’s weather patterns and perform experiments in an attempt to search for microbial life. The results were inconclusive. In 2011, the Curiosity rover analyzed Mars’ environment and discovered that the planet showed evidence of having water that’s essential for supporting life.

More recently in 2021, the modern rover, Perseverance, collected rocks and soil samples from Mars, which are being used to understand the planet better and determine if there is or has ever been life on it. There’s still plenty of mystery surrounding Mars, but we have made significant gains in understanding the red planet.

Why Terraform Mars?

Terraforming Mars, which is the process of modifying it to make it habitable for humans, could offer several key benefits. One is that it could potentially serve as a “backup” planet to Earth.

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, “The number of disasters on Earth has increased by a factor of five over the 50-year period, driven by climate change, more extreme weather, and improved reporting.” With global catastrophes on the rise, many people are understandably concerned about the future of our planet. If we’re able to make Mars habitable, it could be a viable alternative planet to Earth.

Another benefit is that terraforming Mars could create an extra living space. Even if there’s no major catastrophic event that forces us to seek refuge on Mars, it could still be a new habitat for humans where we could expand our civilization. With overpopulation becoming a growing concern in many countries, this could be a big help in easing that problem.

Also, it opens up new opportunities for scientific discovery, as we can further explore the planet firsthand and potentially develop new ecosystems. Exploring the Moon marked a major turning point in scientific discovery, and exploring Mars would take that to an entirely new level. Not to mention, Mars could provide valuable resources such as iron, nickel, and titanium.

Can We Terraform Mars? The Challenges of Making the Red Planet Habitable

The benefits of terraforming Mars are undeniable. However, it’s unclear if it’s a process within the grasp of human capability. Most experts say that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible to make Mars habitable. NASA has stated that, given our present-day technologies, terraforming Mars is not possible. However, others believe that with the further development of advancing technologies, it could become possible at some point in the future.

But if we are eventually able to terraform Mars, several major challenges must be overcome.

Atmosphere

One of the biggest challenges is making Martian air breathable. The natural atmosphere of Mars consists largely of carbon dioxide, which, at high levels, is toxic to humans. More specifically, Mars’ atmosphere consists of 95.32% carbon dioxide, 2.7% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, and 0.13% oxygen. By comparison, Earth’s atmosphere is 21% oxygen. Mars’s combination of high levels of carbon dioxide and minimal oxygen creates an atmosphere that isn’t suitable for humans to breathe and will require a viable solution to make terraforming a reality.

For us to survive on Mars, we would need either controlled habitats or spacesuits to create an artificial atmosphere that can sustain human life.

Gravity

An issue that gets in the way of people creating an artificial atmosphere on Mars is the lack of gravity. For perspective, Earth has a surface gravity of 9.82 meters per second square (m/s2), while Mars only has a surface gravity of 3.73 m/s2. This means the gravity on Mars is about 38% less than it is on Earth.

So if someone weighed 100 pounds on Earth, they would only weigh 38 pounds on Mars. It would be difficult to retain an atmosphere on Mars because gravity is necessary for holding an atmosphere in place, as well as for keeping water on the surface.

While we don’t fully understand the effect this lower gravity would have on the human body long-term, it’s suspected that it could be detrimental to muscle mass, bone density, and overall well-being. Unless we come up with a solution for overcoming the gravity issue, living on Mars will be very challenging.

Climate

Another major obstacle is the climate. The average temperature on Earth is 59° F, while the average temperature on Mars is -85° F. While there have been lower recorded temperatures than -85° F on Earth (the lowest ever was recorded was in Antarctica, which reached -128.6° F in 1983), the extreme cold makes it incredibly difficult to sustain human life.

Although this is something that would likely be easier to overcome than atmospheric and gravity-related challenges, it would take a lot of effort to keep humans alive — let alone comfortable.

Radiation

Earth is protected by what’s called the magnetosphere, which is a strong magnetic sphere that naturally protects us from harmful solar radiation that travels through space. You can think of it as a large protective bubble that keeps us safe and sustains life.

Mars, on the other hand, lacks a strong magnetic field and has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth. This means that it’s not nearly as protected from this radiation, which creates a major issue for keeping astronauts safe. To solve this, we would need to take precautions like designing more resilient spacecraft and developing more efficient shielding materials.

Soil

Another challenge we must contend with is Mars’s toxic soil. After analyzing soil samples, scientists have found the presence of perchlorates, which are chlorine-dense compounds that can be harmful to both humans and plants. According to The Guardian, “The surface of the red planet contains a ‘toxic cocktail’ of chemicals that can wipe out living organisms.”

Obviously, this isn’t ideal for attempting to terraform a planet, and it will require extensive research to come up with a solution. In the meantime, the toxic soil creates an environment that’s not conducive to human life.

Water

While water does exist on Mars in the form of ice and water vapor, it doesn’t exist in liquid form. There are two main reasons for this, which go back to issues we discussed previously — atmosphere and climate. Because Mars has an extremely thin atmosphere, water quickly evaporates, making it nearly impossible to collect for drinking, agriculture, and other purposes.

Also, the extremely cold climate, with an average temperature of -85° F, is far below the freezing point of water on Earth, which is 32° F. This means that even if there was liquid water, it would instantly freeze into ice. Between the thin atmosphere and cold temperatures, creating a legitimate water source is incredibly difficult.

When Can We Terraform Mars?

At this moment, it’s unclear exactly if or when it will be possible for humans to terraform Mars. Scientists are currently making strides in planning the first manned mission to the planet, which represents the first small step toward terraforming. However, there’s no concrete timeframe as to when we can expect to make it a reality.

That said, we’re at an interesting point in time where technology is rapidly advancing and humankind is making significant progress toward achieving goals like this. An authoritative news source can keep you up-to-date on the latest developments and discoveries concerning the red planet.