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https://www.universetoday.com/articles/c...mars-green
EXCERPTS: Dr DeBenedictis, the CEO of Pioneer Labs authored a workshop summary that was prepared for the 2025 Green Mars Workshop, makes the case plainly and simply. Thirty years ago, terraforming Mars wasn't just hard, it was impossible. But new technologies, from SpaceX's Starship potentially slashing launch costs by a factor of a thousand to advances in synthetic biology and climate modelling, have fundamentally changed the equation. The question is no longer whether terraforming is physically possible, but whether we should even pursue it and how we might approach such an incredible undertaking.
The workshop summary presents an intriguing narrative, beginning with possible planetary endpoints and tracing back to the steps required to reach them. The vision unfolds in phases. First comes warming, raising Mars's average temperature by tens of degrees within a few decades using engineered aerosols or greenhouse gases. Recent research suggests Mars harbours enough water ice to then form an ocean covering nearly four million square kilometres at depths of 300 metres. A temperature increase of around 30 degrees Celsius could begin melting these frozen reserves, creating conditions where liquid water could exist on the surface.
[...] The second phase involves establishing microbial life. Here's where synthetic biology becomes crucial. Researchers propose engineering extremophiles, microbes that thrive in harsh conditions, combining traits like temperature tolerance, radiation resistance, and indifference to atmospheric pressure. These hardy organisms could potentially cover Mars with algae like growth within decades, beginning the slow process of atmospheric transformation through photosynthesis.
The final phase stretches across centuries or even millennia, building an oxygen rich atmosphere thick enough to support complex life. The team suggests starting within enormous domed habitats, 100 metres tall, where photosynthesis or water electrolysis could generate breathable air. Beyond these structures, spreading plant life would gradually contribute oxygen to the broader atmosphere, though this natural process alone would take a thousand years. Eventually though, human explorers could leave the protective domes and live on the planet’s surface... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: Dr DeBenedictis, the CEO of Pioneer Labs authored a workshop summary that was prepared for the 2025 Green Mars Workshop, makes the case plainly and simply. Thirty years ago, terraforming Mars wasn't just hard, it was impossible. But new technologies, from SpaceX's Starship potentially slashing launch costs by a factor of a thousand to advances in synthetic biology and climate modelling, have fundamentally changed the equation. The question is no longer whether terraforming is physically possible, but whether we should even pursue it and how we might approach such an incredible undertaking.
The workshop summary presents an intriguing narrative, beginning with possible planetary endpoints and tracing back to the steps required to reach them. The vision unfolds in phases. First comes warming, raising Mars's average temperature by tens of degrees within a few decades using engineered aerosols or greenhouse gases. Recent research suggests Mars harbours enough water ice to then form an ocean covering nearly four million square kilometres at depths of 300 metres. A temperature increase of around 30 degrees Celsius could begin melting these frozen reserves, creating conditions where liquid water could exist on the surface.
[...] The second phase involves establishing microbial life. Here's where synthetic biology becomes crucial. Researchers propose engineering extremophiles, microbes that thrive in harsh conditions, combining traits like temperature tolerance, radiation resistance, and indifference to atmospheric pressure. These hardy organisms could potentially cover Mars with algae like growth within decades, beginning the slow process of atmospheric transformation through photosynthesis.
The final phase stretches across centuries or even millennia, building an oxygen rich atmosphere thick enough to support complex life. The team suggests starting within enormous domed habitats, 100 metres tall, where photosynthesis or water electrolysis could generate breathable air. Beyond these structures, spreading plant life would gradually contribute oxygen to the broader atmosphere, though this natural process alone would take a thousand years. Eventually though, human explorers could leave the protective domes and live on the planet’s surface... (MORE - missing details)