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An absolutely bonkers plan to give Mars an artificial magnetosphere:
As the study points out, if you want a good planetary magnetic field, what you really need is a strong flow of charged particles, either within the planet or around the planet. Since the former isn't a great option for Mars, the team looks at the latter. It turns out you can create a ring of charged particles around Mars, thanks to its moon Phobos.
Phobos is the larger of the two Martian moons, and it orbits the planet quite closely—so closely that it makes a trip around Mars every eight hours. So the team proposes using Phobos by ionizing particles from its surface, then accelerating them so they create a plasma torus along the orbit of Phobos. This would create a magnetic field strong enough to protect a terraformed Mars.
It's a bold plan, and while it seems achievable, the engineering hurdles would be significant. But as the authors point out, this is the time for ideas. Start thinking about the problems we need to solve, and how we can solve them, so when humanity does reach Mars, we will be ready to put the best ideas to the test.
Simple solution, really. It's the dependencies that are a bear...
Journal Reference:
R. A. Bamford, B. J. Kelletta, J. L. Green, et al How to create an artificial magnetosphere for Mars How to create an artificial magnetosphere for Mars
(DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.09.023https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.09.023
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday November 23 2021, @07:55AM (2 children)
What, we're gonna cover it with strip mines and tar sands and concrete?
For your magnetic field, reheat the core and get the juices flowing again, should be ready in a few million years...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 23 2021, @03:06PM (1 child)
I dunno, I saw some Mars terraforming thing with Arnold Schwartzenegger that did that and it worked pretty quickly. Also had a nice user interface to turn it on.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday November 23 2021, @04:07PM
The new Total Recall reboot was almost more believable. Except for the whole, drill through the earth thing . . . I mean, seriously. That is so far fetched, it's mind boggling. It is much, much, much easier to send a rocket to space, and land it on the other side of the Earth than it would be to create a tunnel that got anywhere near earth's core. Let alone one that was structurally sound that led from Australia to Great Britain. Sure, it didn't go through the core on their little diagram, but the depth that it reached likely hasn't actually ever been reached.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"