August 16, 2024
Only now is it becoming apparent that this science-fiction dream of terraforming Mars yesteryears is close at hand. New studies suggest that added to Mars’s atmosphere, just a few specks of particles, would heat it by over 10°C in months, potentially making it hospitable for liquid water.
It relies on resources easily procurable from Mars. The idea is to manufacture small rod-like particles using Martian dust, a material rich in a lot of iron and aluminum. Such artificial particles would trap the escaping heat of the Sun and scatter some of the light back to the surface, therefore boosting the weak greenhouse effect of the planet. This would warm the planet to an extent far greater than previous proposals that would require shipping gases from Earth or mining Mars for its rare materials.
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Bugs Marlowe