Can Scientists’ Plan to Blast Glitter into Mars' Atmosphere Make Red Planet Habitable?
For decades, scientists have been intrigued by the possibility of Mars being habitable for human beings. According to researchers, a huge barrier to this pursuit is the Red Planet's climate, Sky News reported. It is too cold for humans and must be heated up for any settlement.
Mars has various conditions that give experts hope that it can become a habitat for humans, Sky News reported. One-third of Mars' surface is water and as recently as 600,000 years ago it can be assumed that streams may have been flowing around the planet. But, now the water is all frozen because of the planet's temperature.
Mars needs to be heated to around 28C, to make the conditions hospitable for humans, according to the experts, Sky News reported. Heat is required to melt the ice and allow microbial life to flourish, as per scientists.
Scientists have come up with many ways to increase the planet's temperature, but all of the proposed methods have either been too complex to implement or expensive, Sky News reported. Researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University in Illinois, and the University of Central Florida came together to devise a technology that would be feasible to apply on Mars, for heating the planet.
The team proposes that experts can use engineered particles made from iron and aluminum, place them on the planet's surface to reflect light, and thereafter trap the escaping heat from the process, Sky News reported.
This phenomenon has already occurred on Earth, which has led to global warming, Sky News reported. But in the case of Mars, instead of carbon dioxide and methane, the experts want to use "conductive nanorods." Conductive nanorods are nanosized materials that have high electrical conductivity. These materials can be created in spaceships, meaning no transportation would be needed from Earth.
The team believes that by releasing particular materials into the atmosphere, the natural greenhouse effect of Mars can be enhanced, Sky News reported. As per the researchers, materials "not much smaller than commercially available glitter" could do the job.
According to the study, once Mars glitter is lifted in the atmosphere, it will stay there for a long time, leading to the heat getting trapped, Sky News reported.
University of Chicago planetary scientist Edwin Kite, who helped lead the study does understand the drawbacks associated with the method, Sky News reported. But, he believes it is a better alternative than the other proposed ways.
"You'd still need millions of tons [of 'glitter'] to warm the planet, but that's five thousand times less than you would need with previous proposals to globally warm Mars," said Mr Kite. "This significantly increases the feasibility of the project."