Scientists propose warming up Mars by using heat-trapping 'glitter'

[Wicked Blue]

NBC
Aug. 9, 2024, 11:09 AM EDT / Source: Reuters

The idea of transforming Mars into a world more hospitable to human habitation is a regular feature of science fiction. But could this be done in real life?

Scientists are now proposing a new approach to warm up Earth’s planetary neighbor by pumping engineered particles — similar in size to commercially available glitter and made of iron or aluminum — into the atmosphere as aerosols to trap escaping heat and scatter sunlight toward the Martian surface. The idea would be to augment the natural greenhouse effect on Mars to raise its surface temperature by roughly 50 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) over a span of a decade.

This alone would not make Mars habitable for people, but the scientists who developed the proposal see it as a potentially doable initial step.

“Terraforming refers to modifying a planet’s environment to make it more Earth-like. For Mars, warming the planet is a necessary, but insufficient, first step. Previous concepts have focused on releasing greenhouse gases, but these require large amounts of resources that are scarce on Mars,” said University of Chicago planetary scientist Edwin Kite, who helped lead the study published this week in the journal Science Advances.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/mars-scientists-propose-warming-using-heat-trapping-glitter-rcna165952

[ret5hd]

1. OR...send a bunch of our CO2 there!

[Cirsium]

2. let's take care of what we have

Last edited Fri Aug 9, 2024, 08:00 PM - Edit history (1)

We have had a planet hospitable to human habitation.

[tostr2]

3. that'll never come out of the carpet...

[GreenWave]

4. And what about turning on its iron core?

Or switch places with Venus? Then give Venus a moon. then...

[BigMin28]

5. Wasteful

How much will it cost to explore another stupid idea. Even if we're able to create the technology to survive in such an environment, who trusts that technology with their life that it won't break down at some point?

[LunaSea]

6. I recollect Edward Teller proposing this idea quite a while back,

Except in the atmosphere of Earth, for the purpose of weather modification.

I suspect steering asteroids and comets onto Mars would be much cheaper than launching
millions of kilos of "craft herpes" all the way to the red planet.

[Bayard]

7. Hey, let's go wreck another planet!

[HAB911]

8. Science gurus please explain

If Mars has no magnetic field to protect an atmosphere, what's the point of making one?

[Warpy]

9. Thus melting Martian ice

so it can evaporate quickly into the thin atmosphere and get blown off by solar wind, destroying any extremophile life in the process..

I've got a better idea. Instead of letting a bunch of ignorant dudebros rush in with idiotic schemes that will foul up another planet in the name of terraforming it so they can create Galt's Gulch, why not accept the planet as it is, explore it with unmanned probes, and then consider whether or not our tech has advanced to the point small groups of scientists could be sent there to explore it more thoroughly.