Research and Development Sphere

Tear a Form?

Terraforming is the process by which the land and atmosphere of Mars are made more like earth. It is called terraforming because in Latin, Terra means Earth. So, it literally means forming Earth.

The terraforming of Mars is taken in steps. The first step of the Martian terraforming is to create an atmosphere. Since Mars is very cold, carbon dioxide remains frozen in the soil, instead of in the air where it is on earth. To release this, the planet's temperature needs to be raised. Fortunately, this is a self-sustaining process. Perhaps you have heard of the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that will trap heat from the sun. While greenhouse gas hurts the Earths' environment by causing global warming, they are good on Mars, because global warming is what the terraformers want.

The next stage is to get oxygen into the atmosphere. To do this, they use single-celled life forms. These life forms carry out photosynthesis constantly, and reproduce just as quickly. After a few years, a good amount of oxygen should be built up, since it is a by-product of photosynthesis. Then, water should be able to exist as a liquid, since the atmosphere will provide pressure and the greenhouse gases will provide heat.

If water can be found in a liquid state, plants can survive. Once there are plants, photosynthesis will occur even more quickly, creating more oxygen. After that, it is just a matter of time before humans can walk outside the colony without an environmental suit!