Where could we go?

 

The body most commonly thought of in association with terraforming is Mars. There are several reasons Mars is looked upon favorably. The gravity on Mars is about 0.38 g, compared to 1 g on Earth. It is believed that humans could live in such a gravity without any side effects like bone shrinkage. The day on Mars is about 24.5 hours, compared to 24 hours on Earth. This means that there wouldn't be any agricultural problems relating to day length. There are large quantities of rust (FE203) which would allow production of iron, further enabling a colony on Mars to be independent of Earth. Mars has water in ice form which could be melted for use, and the soil is rich in necessary minerals.

 

 Temperatures on Mars vary from -133 C to 27 C, compared to Earth's -88 to 58 C. This, of course, means that humans would have to have some means of staying safe at lower temperatures, if we chose to inhabit an area where the temperatures got that low. The atmosphere on Mars is thick enough to prevent deadly storms from reaching the surface, and is mostly made up of carbon dioxide, with about 5% made up of oxygen, nitrogen, water, and other noble gases. Because of this carbon dioxide, it is currently poisonous to humans. However, with the introduction of plant life we could turn the carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen.

image courtesy of: www.nineplanets.org

 

One artist's idea of what Mars may look like after terraforming.

image courtesy of: http://www.redcolony.com/intro/index3.html artists: James Graham and Kandis Elliot

 

 

 

 

 
what needs to be done to terraform Mars?
So far there aren't any other bodies seriously considered possible for terraforming. The other planets and their satellites are, for the most part either wrong in temperature or in atmosphere to the extent that current technology couldn't make the necessary changes to support human life.
 

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