The dream of terraforming Mars to make it the second home for humanity has just experienced a significant theoretical breakthrough.
Instead of using nuclear bombs as previously suggested, an international research team has discovered that releasing artificial aerosols into the atmosphere could raise the temperature of the red planet enough to allow for the presence of liquid water.
Mars currently represents an extremely hostile environment for humans.
The average surface temperature is -55 degrees Celsius and can even drop to -125 degrees Celsius during dust storms that last for months.
The atmosphere is very thin, composed almost entirely of carbon dioxide (CO2), all the water is frozen, and the surface is constantly exposed to dangerous ultraviolet radiation due to the absence of a protective ozone layer.
Previously, billionaire Elon Musk had proposed using continuous nuclear explosions to create an “artificial sun” to melt the CO2 ice caps, thus reducing the greenhouse effect.
However, scientific analyses conducted in 2018 indicated that this method only increased the surface temperature by a maximum of 10 degrees Celsius. This value is far insufficient to achieve the necessary 30-degree Celsius increase for stable liquid water on the surface.
Recently, scientists have turned to a new, more feasible method: the release of artificial aerosol particles to generate infrared radiation pressure to heat the surfaces.
In a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a team of scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil, led by Mark I. Richardson, created a global 3D model to track the dispersion of these particles.
Unlike previous, simpler models that assumed the particles were stationary, the new model calculated their movement, dynamic interactions, and global dispersion.
The research team integrated two types of particles into the simulation: graphene discs (about 250 nanometers in diameter) and aluminum rods (about 8 micrometers long and 60 nanometers in diameter).
These two types of particles have the ability to strongly absorb and scatter the infrared thermal radiation emitted from the surface of the red planet, with much better performance than interacting with solar light.
The simulation results reveal an extremely promising scenario. If these aluminum particles were continuously injected into the atmosphere from the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere at a rate of 3 liters per second for 5 martian years, then increased to 60 liters per second, a spectacular transformation would occur.
In about 8 martian years (equivalent to 15 Earth years), the surface temperature would increase by about 25 degrees Celsius compared to the initial temperature.
After 15 years, the temperature would stabilize around 35 degrees Celsius. This significant warming is sufficient to allow the appearance of liquid water on the surface of Mars.
The study also indicated that if this artificial nuclear release process were interrupted just before a significant temperature increase, the Martian atmosphere would quickly return to its initial glacial state within about four martian years.
Despite these innovative results, the researchers acknowledge that the method still has obstacles to overcome. The authors specify in their article: “This study only addresses some aspects of how the release of infrared radiation-reactive particles could alter the martian climate: atmospheric processes are inherently complex, and many questions remain unanswered.”
One of these unknowns is the interaction of the water cycle on Mars. When the temperature of the lower atmosphere exceeds the freezing point of water, the amount of water vapor (which is also a greenhouse gas) increases, leading to additional warming of the planet.
On the other hand, artificial aerosol particles could potentially serve as condensation nuclei for ice or clouds, causing them to be removed from the atmosphere.
These complex interactive loops will require scientists to conduct even more in-depth research in the future.
